It is dangerous to attach one's self to the crowd

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For it is dangerous to attach one's self to the crowd, and so long as each one of us is more willing to trust another than to judge for himself, we never show any judgement in the matter of living, but always a blind trust, and a mistake that has been passed on from hand to hand finally involves us and works our destruction. It is the example of other people that is our undoing; let us merely separate ourselves from the crowd, and we shall be made whole. But as it is, the populace, defending its own iniquity, pits itself against reason. And so we see the same thing happening that happens at the elections, where, when the fickle breeze of popular favour has shifted, the very same persons who chose the praetors wonder that those praetors were chosen. Seneca

The partisan, when he is engaged in a dispute, cares nothing about the rights of the question, but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions. Plato

How very true this statement is! Whether we are talking about politics or religion, many people become so biased and partisan that they are just unable to think clearly and objectively, see things fairly and honestly. They have their own assumptions, beliefs and opinions and are only interested in convincing others of the truth of their ideas. They have been indoctrinated in some system of belief and are not really honest seekers of truth, lovers of truth. They are just interested in convincing others of their own ideas. In presenting their ideas they will distort, twist, omit, and bend the truth. And their ideas probably came from others and are either false or are half-truths.

In politics here in the USA I see it so much in both the Left and the Right. Instead of thinking for themselves people just follow some leader, believe the most fantastic and foolish things that some public person, some idol that they believe in, says. People are so easily influenced by others. They don’t have minds of their own. They don’t think for themselves. The liberals listen to all of the liberal news channels and believe everything they hear there. The conservatives listen to all kinds of conservative type personalities and believe everything they hear. They become enamored with some arrogant, egocentric leader and swallow everything he says. It is the same phenomenon that occurred under Hitler in Nazi Germany. The populace believed the Nazi line. It was a line based in Nationalism, Patriotism, biases and prejudices. The same thing is now occurring in Russia under Vladimir Putin. The Russian news channels issue the line laid down by Putin and nearly everyone there believes it and supports him. It is a line based in nationalism and patriotism and everyone follows.

Demagogue. n. a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. "a gifted demagogue with particular skill in manipulating the press".

I think demagoguery describes the mechanism by which power is obtained and held in most countries. It is the way Hitler got into power and the way most leaders in democratic countries acquire position and power. The reason this is so is because most people (the masses) are not primarily rational beings. They are primarily unthinking, emotional beings who are mostly influenced by biases, prejudices, and self-interest. Crafty politicians, by appealing to biases, prejudices, nationalism, promises of all kinds of “free gifts” in the form of great sounding government funded social programs, etc. win elections. Good looks is a great asset with politicians just as it is with preachers. Good looks will do what words will never do.

Man is not primarily a thoughtful, rational animal.

There can be great ambiguity in words. Take the words conservative and liberal. In fact a person can be conservative in many ways and liberal in many other ways. Consequently the words liberal and conservative can be very ambiguous and misleading. They may falsely stereotype someone. One should ask, “In what ways is he conservative? In what ways is he liberal?” It is better to explain exactly what a person believes than to simply call him liberal or conservative. A person might be, for example, conservative on most fiscal issues and liberal on many social issues.

In both the Conservative and Liberal camps in America there are people of a great variety of outlooks and shades of belief. There are radicals and moderates of many shades and varieties in both camps.

I am conservative in at least most ways. I detest Communism and Socialism and am conservative in most of my moral views. I believe in the Bible, its authority, its outlooks and moral standards. I detest the assumptions, beliefs, values, and outlooks of “political correctness” and the modern Left which are based in Socialism, Humanism, and atheism. Yet, it is possible that in that vast and diverse array of people who view themselves as conservative and vote conservative, only a relative few may be conservative in the same way I am conservative. For me a prime issue of concern is homosexuality and the West’s acceptance of homosexuality. I follow the Biblical outlook on the issue and view it as wickedness of the very highest order. And I think the Western world, in condoning it, is highly depraved, way off track morally. I find the modern progressive Left’s preoccupation with homosexuality and things like non-binary gender, gender fluidity, and usage of all of the correct inclusive non-binary pronouns really stomach-turning. It certainly alienates me. All of the Left’s “Wokeness” is far beyond my mind. I think it would be outside the mind of any good, decent person.

21 Apr 2022