Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

*Do you debate or argue or opine about issues more than you respectfully discuss them?
*Do you refuse to recognize the homeless people you pass on the streets?
*Do you speak critically about others when they are not present?
Chances are, you (like myself) answered “yes” to more than a few of these queries. If so,
it is important to remember that this doesn’t make you “bad” or “weak” or “less than” in
any way. The point of the questions was not to show you your flaws, but rather to
identify many of the subtle ways that you too are addicted to “fitting in”. After all, the
first step to altering a subconscious behavior is consciously identifying it.
But why is it important to do so? Why is it important for any of us to cleanse our
tendencies to conform to the “will of the masses”, or to check our tendency to bow down
to “those in power”?
The CONSEQUENCES of our ADDICTION to NORMALCY
We are all aware of the consequences of the more extreme forms of conformity. A
populace that is highly patriotic and neither questions the accuracy of media reports nor
holds its leaders accountable will watch quietly while its young men & women are sent
off to fight in contrived, immoral wars. An executive who has been told that he deserves
everything he has been given will coldly ignore the homeless woman on the street. A
teenager who is afraid to be seen as “uncool” will start drinking alcohol, or smoking
cigarettes, or engaging in promiscuous sex. An eye-witness who is afraid of the police
will allow them to convince him that he saw what he didn’t see – and yet another
innocent “criminal” goes to prison as a result.
And yet, as tragic as these examples are, they are not the most severe consequences of
our addiction to normalcy. Please consider the following:
*CONFORMITY ADDICTION LIMITS FREEDOM …
Essentially, conformity breeds a complacency that destroys judicial freedoms. In 2001,
under the pretense of protecting American citizens from terrorists, the “Patriot Act” was
passed – and with its passage, many of the rights and liberties that Americans have long
treasured were severely constrained. Because they were collectively angry & afraid,
Americans allowed their fear to be manipulated. They conformed to their fear, and their
fear inspired them to sit back and allow their Constitution to be raped and pillaged. In
May of 2011, almost ten years later, President Obama signed a four-year extension of
three provisions of that same Act – provisions that allowed the government to utilize
roving wiretaps (i.e. they can legally eavesdrop), search business records (i.e. they can
legally snoop), and follow “lone wolves” — those not affiliated with terrorist groups and
yet suspected of terrorism (i.e. they can legally spy). Were it not for their human
tendency to conform in times of “danger”, the majority of Americans would never have
allowed Obama to do such a thing, much less have allowed the Patriot Act to become law
in the first place.
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