Herd mentality

I find myself constantly talking about this herd mentality we have here in America. It’s not just some political quirk, either; it goes way deeper than that. In my opinion, the roots of this issue go back thousands of years to a deep-seated indoctrination that basically teaches people how to stop thinking for themselves.

Even though the article linked here touches on recent events in New York City and the Catholic Church, I think the message hits home much closer to our own backyard—and frankly, it's a universal problem.

An Open Letter to Amfilohi Radović

"....my gut feeling, especially given what's been happening in the country lately, is that things have finally reached a breaking point.
The old tradition of staying silent just to play it safe or "be smart" isn't an option anymore.
We have to speak up. And we need to do it loudly, clearly, and without sugarcoating anything."

It honestly makes me glad to see someone finally put into words exactly what so many people I've talked to have been feeling. 🙏

If you really want to get a grip on how herd mentality works, just take a look at Right-wing America.☕

Joseph Young57 said:If you really want to get a grip on how herd mentality works, just take a look at Right-wing America.☕

And who’s always sleeping in bed with the Right-wingers—even the absolute worst of them?

Franco, Mussolini, Dollfuss... names that still carry some heavy weight when you think about how they shaped the world. It’s wild to look back at those eras and see how much everything changed under their grip.

Joseph Young57 said:If you really want to get a grip on how herd mentality works, just take a look at Right-wing America.☕

Right? It's always the same—those complex leftists and democrats.

What actually drives the herd mentality?
Is it just an American tendency toward this weird, adolescent kind of maturity?
Maybe it’s plain old illiteracy, a lack of education, or just zero self-awareness?

Silence—that damn silence—is the cancer eating everything alive, ruling from the shadows.

Jedinka stada says: I’ve got my own opinion, I just don't happen to agree with it!

Mob mentality has this weird, sadistic streak to it.
Whether it stems from some deep-seated religious dogma or just old-school folk traditions, who knows? Either way, most of it flies in the face of basic adult logic. But people don't care—they just push things to the extreme.

It reminds me of what some students said back during those protests against Gaddafi in Libya: "We aren't against revolution. We're just against revolutions that spiral out of control."

Steven Allen9 said:Mob mentality has this weird, sadistic streak to it.
Whether it stems from some deep-seated religious dogma or just old-school folk traditions, who knows? Either way, most of it flies in the face of basic adult logic. But people don't care—they just push things to the extreme.

It reminds me of what some students said back during those protests against Gaddafi in Libya: "We aren't against revolution. We're just against revolutions that spiral out of control."

It all comes down to the fact that in this country, authority is built on tradition and ideology rather than actual merit or results. You see it all the time—an institution can spend decades completely trashing the very scientific principles its founders stood for, yet people still follow it blindly like it's some ultimate moral or ethical compass. And let’s be real, the connection between this mindset and the political landscape we've dealt with over the last twenty years in America is impossible to ignore...

bluemarlin19 said:It all comes down to the fact that in this country, authority is built on tradition and ideology rather than actual merit or results. You see it all the time—an institution can spend decades completely trashing the very scientific principles its founders stood for, yet people still follow it blindly like it's some ultimate moral or ethical compass. And let’s be real, the connection between this mindset and the political landscape we've dealt with over the last twenty years in America is impossible to ignore...

Are you seriously suggesting this phenomenon is exclusive to "us"? Because if that's your take, I’d suggest looking into Sagan, George Simmel, Gustave Le Bon, and the rest.

If this thread is supposed to be about how "badass" the Church is, honestly, I’m already starting to yawn.

Richard James2 said:Are you seriously suggesting this phenomenon is exclusive to "us"? Because if that's your take, I’d suggest looking into Sagan, George Simmel, Gustave Le Bon, and the rest.

If this thread is supposed to be about how "badass" the Church is, honestly, I’m already starting to yawn.

Look, what I'm saying is that I live here. Other people don't concern me, so feel free to keep yawning while I deal with reality...

bluemarlin19 said:It all comes down to the fact that in this country, authority is built on tradition and ideology rather than actual merit or results. You see it all the time—an institution can spend decades completely trashing the very scientific principles its founders stood for, yet people still follow it blindly like it's some ultimate moral or ethical compass. And let’s be real, the connection between this mindset and the political landscape we've dealt with over the last twenty years in America is impossible to ignore...

God bless you, bluemarlin19...
Just a bunch of bureaucrats protecting their own narrow interests, mixed with a heavy dose of small-mindedness, building walls against others who are just like them. It’s the ninth circle of stupidity.

Joseph Young57 said:If you really want to get a grip on how herd mentality works, just take a look at Right-wing America.☕

... Marshall, Stalin, Maddox...

It’s all just a bunch of snowflakes now. All that's left is the fragile left wing and whatever other tiny minorities are hanging on. 🤣

A herd sounds innocent enough, but mostly they just serve evil—preferring earthly glory over anything heavenly. A breed of corrupt souls that’ll wreck the planet unless we thin the ranks.

The people... just an anonymous mob and a mindless crowd that's pretty easy to manipulate. Give them bread and circuses and they're set.

Most people just have this mindless herd mentality—it’s mostly because there are so few educated folks out there who actually bother to think for themselves or cross-reference their news before jumping to conclusions. An uneducated person doesn't do that; they just soak up whatever garbage their favorite news outlet feeds them and couldn't care less about anything else. Then, when election season rolls around, they vote like hypnotized cattle for "their" candidate, and once the dust settles, they start whining like they weren't the ones who put them there in the first place.☕

Honestly, education is the whole damn key to fixing this!!!!

The games are increasing, but there's less and less bread on the table.

Ronald Garcia2 said:Most people just have this mindless herd mentality—it’s mostly because there are so few educated folks out there who actually bother to think for themselves or cross-reference their news before jumping to conclusions. An uneducated person doesn't do that; they just soak up whatever garbage their favorite news outlet feeds them and couldn't care less about anything else. Then, when election season rolls around, they vote like hypnotized cattle for "their" candidate, and once the dust settles, they start whining like they weren't the ones who put them there in the first place.☕

Honestly, education is the whole damn key to fixing this!!!!

Unfortunately, the American public has been burned repeatedly in every possible way. We've reached a point where individuals, as long as things are going okay for them personally, don't give a damn about the greater good; instead, they act like Pavlov's dogs, choosing whichever option they believe will cause them the least amount of pain rather than actual progress...

No matter how many people here try to appeal to social or national consciousness, Đura F. simply doesn't care as long as his own interests are being met. He’ll turn into a total lapdog if someone promises him regular meals and a little bit of affection, and frankly, that is exactly the kind of political science the Republican Party has mastered...

The masses are just a chaotic mess of stupidity.
The individual is what actually matters, like it does in the Anglo-Saxon world. That's the one who makes things happen.
That's how we should be doing things here in America, too.
Let's face it, you can't have every single leader acting like a philosopher.
So why does the public just sit there and take it until they hit their breaking point?
And why is it always the lone individual who actually sees the reason for the suffering?

Ronald Garcia2 said:Most people just have this mindless herd mentality—it’s mostly because there are so few educated folks out there who actually bother to think for themselves or cross-reference their news before jumping to conclusions. An uneducated person doesn't do that; they just soak up whatever garbage their favorite news outlet feeds them and couldn't care less about anything else. Then, when election season rolls around, they vote like hypnotized cattle for "their" candidate, and once the dust settles, they start whining like they weren't the ones who put them there in the first place.☕

Honestly, education is the whole damn key to fixing this!!!!

And honestly, looking at the state of things in this country, that's exactly what we're missing, along with a serious lack of basic civility. ☕