Following the crowd is by far the WORST
behavior trait that can ever be displayed by Americans and yet, it is
the only behavior trait that is predictable 99.7% of the time which
does not make it right or acceptable only understandable..
“Spineless,” “Without
Balls,” “Yellow Belly,” “Coward.” might
be a few words that pop to the top of my mind, when I think of those
who spend their lives following the crowd... and, they completely
remind me of a herd of Buffalo who would run right off the edge of a
cliff and plunge to their deaths in order to follow their leader.
Not being a mathematician, I know that
whenever one is dealing with large number and if the data from those
numbers are collected in sub groups of 5 or more, then one can ASSUME
that over time a normal distribution (bell shaped curve) will
appear... and, with its appearance, one can make pretty accurate
predictions, such as:
68.0% of Americans will follow the
crowd
27.0% of Americans may or may not
follow the crowd
4.07% of Americans probably will not
follow the crowd
0.03% of Americans will never follow
the crowd
But, as long as I know that 68% of you
guys and gals will follow the crowd, I can begin to design programs
where I can then alter the behavior of the crowd to be more in line
with how I want them to be.
Businesses know this
Marketing Executives know this
Political Parties know this
Military know this
But, 68% of Americans do not know this
and have not even got a clue that something like this even exists or
more importantly that it is being used to manipulate their behavior.
Now, before we go too much farther, let
me say that following the crowd is not all about good behavior. For
example, on the highway or interstates around this country, following
the crowd means driving one's vehicle 15-20 miles over the speed
limits because that is exactly how fast the crowd is traveling...
plus, if you vehicle is in a pack of other cars and as long as it is
not the last one, the odds are in your favor that they police will
never give you a ticket unless the stop the entire pack of cars;
however, if you are the last car, the reverse is true and almost
always will you get the speeding ticket.
Another example of following the crowd,
is withholding information when it comes time to file your income
taxes each year. In the past, the IRS allowed up to $25/day of
undocumented business receipts in order to claim business deductions,
making it very easy for the crowd to do this and following the crowd
to again take place.
Employee theft is almost always
something that the crowd does all the time, taking paper and pens
home with them, or using the Xerox machine or FAX machine for
personal business, or taking a little extra time each day on both the
morning and afternoon breaks, sometimes arriving late or leaving
early, especially if there are no time clocks. Following the crowd
happens all the time here as well.
But, the following the crowd behavior
that really bothers me is when you boss asks you to do something that
is unethical and you do it so that you can keep your job.
Or, you see another employees of a
higher rank than you doing something inappropriate, and you say
nothing so that you can keep your job.
Or, the quality of materials are
reduced to save money and you know that you are producing a part that
is not good or fit for use but you do so anyway because you want to
keep your job.
Or, you know that someone was fired
without just cause and you say nothing to keep your job.
Or, you know that a female has claimed
sexual harassment and the male was fired, when all along it was her
who was sexually harassing him and you say nothing to keep your job.
Are you one of the 68%? And, more
important, if you are, do you care that you are?
People who follow the crowd take no
risks and spend their entire lives taking no risks but if questioned
about what they would do differently about their lives, if given that
chance, they almost always answer, take more risks. What sublime
irony... and, who says God does not have a sense of humor... it
may be dry humor but it is humor nonetheless.
I personally am in the 5% where the
odds are in their favor where they will not follow the crowd and
while I have refused to follow the crowd during my 45 year career, I
have also been fired 10 times as I have previous mentioned in other
posts and I say this not to brag about it, but to say, I decide
what I will or will not do. But,
unless you are the very top man in an organization that attitude is
pure poison and can never be tolerated... and, I knew that from the
getgo but did what I did anyway.
Reflecting
upon that behavior a tad, I think I could have or might have avoided
half those terminations if I had been a “tad” more diplomatic in
my approach than I was as no one that I know actually likes the blunt
force trauma of being verbally slapped in the face in front of peers,
nor do they like being given the song, “Take
This Job and Shove It.”
But,
I must admit, at the time, I thought it was a great idea.
While I do not personally like those who follow the crowd, it is
those who follow the crowd that are the ones who end up with not just
Social Security Benefits when they retire but pensions from those
companies they stayed at 30-40 years whereas people like me don't get
shit from those companies. So, one can make a strong case for job
security but one can also make a strong case for integrity as well.
But where following the crowd is the most insidious is in the ranks
of the General Public who DO NOTHING about what their Government
Leaders are doing, know that they are doing that which the general
public does not want them to do; and yet, the general public says
nothing and the general public does nothing... other than complain
to each other when in check out lines at The WalMart.
America has become a country of DO NOTHING COMPLAINERS... So, who do
you think is going to change the way things are? I would guess that
those that are not in the 68%, leaving 32% are going to be the ones
who try to change the status quo. And, for the most part those are
always the ones who take chances and want change.
One day, you will wake up, and be told that America is no longer
America and WONDER how that happened on your watch... it is really,
really simply... all you have to do is follow the crowd.
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