"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."
- Mark Twain
The Kyle Cease Event I went to had a speaker who
was a co-author of a book that was about cultural
trends that go in 80 year cycles.
It is like a pendulum. It starts in the middle, swings
up 20 years in one direction, swings down 20 years
back to the middle, and then swings up 20 years in
the other direction, and then down 20 years, back
to the center.
One side of the pendulum is the "WE" side. The
other side is the "ME" side. Depending on which
side you are on, will depend a lot on where the
cultural values be and what the expected interactions
will be like.
If you were around in the 80s, or aware of the 80s,
you would recognize that it is nothing like it is now.
The 80s were a part of the ME time. We are now in
a WE time.
If I remember correctly, Hitler was in power in
a WE time. I say this because there apparently is
a potential danger in a WE time because the WE
mentality, while it can be good in the fact that it
unifies, it can also have a negative possible outcome
as well, as witnessed by what happened in the days
of Hitler.
I was recently thinking about how it may be a good
thing that we don't all think alike. Maybe it keeps
us on our toes. Maybe it keeps us THINKING.
Maybe it keeps us in an awareness that we wouldn't
otherwise be aware of.
If we all think alike, then there is a chance that things
could go awry. It is the mob mentality that can have
people saying and doing things that they wouldn't
normally do or say. It can place pressure on people
to conform.
So I guess what I am saying is that maybe we should
be thankful to those who vary from us. Maybe it
helps us keep our balance. Maybe that is what
Mark Twain was saying, too, in his own way.
Mark Twain was saying, too, in his own way.
(Btw, if you are interested in the Pendulum book,
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