-or- The bane of "group think"
I had an incredibly surreal experience on this site just a few minutes ago. An experience that not only shocked me, but worried me very deeply.
Someone informed me that I didn't have "the right" to post negative comments about a pop artist because she has so many fans.
I was, and still am, appalled. The notion that because something is popular it demands universal respect is anathema to me. That sort of thinking is, at its very core, a huge part of what is wrong with our world. Falling into "group think" mentality for no other reason than it is popular is disastrous. I truly believe that it is a cancer that can eat away at our moral fiber. We all bear the onus of discovering for ourselves what our own thoughts and stands may be. And while it may, at times, be a heavy responsibility to bear, we cannot abdicate that responsibility without also giving up some part of who we are.
Belonging to a group can be a very powerful and motivating experience. But only if we belong to that group because we have discovered for ourselves that we truly share those beliefs or opinions. I consider myself a member of a number of different groups, and every one is because I know that is where I belong. Not because it was popular, not because it was comfortable, not because it was easy, but because I exercised my right to think.
The ramifications of not thinking for ourselves are far and wide. Every day in the media we are offered examples of people who are striving earnestly to relinquish themselves of any responsibility for their actions. They are reacting to the world around them, not acting upon it. And I truly believe that many of them do not think themselves culpable of their actions simply because they never thought in the first place.
Let's fight the cancer of thoughtlessness. Let's be champions of our own autonomy. Let us investigate what we really think, that we might gain a more complete understanding and appreciation of who we really are.
So in the end I will continue to share my opinion, considering I have taken time to think it through first.
If that frightens you shame on you.