Consensus of the Community
People are not like sheep; they are sheep. Where the masses go, the individuals follow, consciously or not. All of society's values, morals, and views are influenced by the "consensus of our community." It's evident from events throughout history, books, and individual experiences. The various "witch hunts" that have occurred throughout history are famous for the mob mentality they've fostered. In 1984, the government trains the masses to be homogenous followers. While the United States government is not as domineering, pop culture provides for a lot of modern examples of homogeneity. Witch hunts like the ones in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the Salem witch trials and the communist hunts in the 20th century exploit human fears to condemn innocent victims. People were accused of being witches, or of being communists. Before the accusations, no one would have considered it even remotely po
To them, we are the dissidents whose ideas and actions will cause chaos and disorder. Similarly, it is ironic when companies advertise for a product by encouraging consumers to be unique - through conforming with others who buy their product. We take our community's values as our own, making it extremely difficult to change such central beliefs. There are exceptions, like McCarthy, but those people are relatively few. In the latter half of the 20th century, individuality is stressed so much that being an individual has become another form of following the masses. It is so hard to dispose of society's role in our individual values because we don't recognize it. It has become a matter of which community you would rather be influenced by. In the McCarthy era, people who were accused would be blacklisted, even if they were never found to be guilty of anything. Some science fiction novels explore what happens when a government tries to force all its citizens into a particular mode of thinking. It is because we value ideas such as individuality, truth, and love, that we would criticize their government. People who want to go against society, break the rules, or be different must have an idea of the norm that they are going against. It is our perception of reality that declares their society to be wrong. Their intention was to make society better, and now we see that their goal was far from accomplished. ssible, but afterwards, the accused were as good as severed from society.
Common topics in this essay:
Winston Smith,
,
George Orwell,
witch hunts,
influenced consensus community,
extremely difficult,
throughout history,
influenced consensus,
consensus community,
people accused,
perception reality,
20th century,
|
Acceptance Essays
