Mindless following and blind acceptance still plays a large part in today’s world, not just in the Russian Revolution. There are many people who simply follow the instructions and accept the opinions of others without thinking, simply because they’re the leaders. In today’s society, certain people (like celebrities, talk show hosts, and DJ’s on the radio) are seen as being “better” than the average person. They belong to a “higher order”. Even I find myself occasional watching political talk-shows (like the Daily Show or very rarely The O’Reilly Factor), reading books, or watching movies and simply accepting the views portrayed as my own. And whats even more disturbing, my opinion literally changes based on what show I was watching last. Just like in Animal Farm. A lot of the times, the animals’ votes coincided with the views of whomever was talking last, Snowball or Napoleon.
There is, however, an easy way to solve this. When watching TV, reading books, or watching movies, just try to keep all the facts in your mind. Because a lot of times you’re only being presented a portion of what actually occurred. This is a tactic used a lot by the newspaper. They only tell you the part of the story, or write it in such a way, that agrees with their views, or their sponsors views. Keep in mind, before forming any solid opinions, get all of the facts. And keep an open mind. Blind devotion can be dangerous as seen in the Russian Revolution, The Holocaust, the French Revolution, and George Orwell’s Animal Farm
April 12, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Its very true , but another thing people need to do is question authority respectfully. If they are unsure of something they should ask about it, not just accept the fact that it is true because someone with more “power” than you said it.
April 18, 2007 at 2:25 pm
great job Noah