The Cold War of Bumper Stickers
People are the main currency in Steemit, followers, the same is true for any government, any company, any cult or celebrity.
◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽
◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽
Being part of a vulnerable minority, I remember applying for international aid in order to carry out a few awareness activities looking to decrease the risks the group faces, but I was surprised to find how big the donors' interest was in knowing how many people the organization was able to mobilize. They wanted to know who was involved, to what degree, what their background was. I remember how these participants' reports became a routine to the point in which they began to feel forced.
While I wanted to work towards wider understanding, education, the donors were interested in the visibility potential of the group, its chances of being taken seriously.
◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽◽
To understand where this interest comes from one should first examine carefully the idea of democracy. I won't go much into it myself because what I wish to highlight about this idea is simple, democracy tells us that whatever the majority says goes.
This idea fosters a world of people spending all their time trying to be a majority or know whether they are in the majority. Because if your desires are not aligned with the majority then you are better off letting go of the desires for they won't be fulfilled. However, sometimes the desires of a group can change, people can be influenced to change their minds.
Symbols can create as much as they can destroy, the impact of symbolism can vary from person to person, but if there is one thing all symbolism share is the fact that its function is to influence.
Why would you need to tell anyone who you are voting for or worshipping?
I've seen bumper stickers everywhere I have been but I have never seen as many as in the United States, perhaps this speaks about how prevalent the idea of whatever the majority says goes is for this particular culture. In this place it seems like everywhere you go there is symbolism driving you to do or want something.
Freedom of expression is important, it's what allows me to say that there is such thing as visual contamination.
✒️ 100% Followback ✒️
Ha ha! I do love that final car image in your article - it really sums it up well!
Anything but Clinton or Trump eh!
humans are tribal creatures. Democracy is a less violent process for "proving" which tribe is "better". Bumper stickers allow tribal signalling without having to paint your face or get tatoos ;>
That's the problem, the assumption that whatever the majority wants is the better choice. It can be, but it doesn't have to be.
there will never be a "perfect" system of governance, as humans are flawed creatures. Our political thought hit it's peak in the 17th-18th centuries (including Mills here, tho).
Republic under rule of law is the best form of government, but it requires a moral and honest people to maintain it. Democracy has many flaws, and as you noted is not necessarily a good system.
I think promoting the majority wins mentality has the potential to feed those human flaws into growing. Someone who always happens to be in the majority never has to question themselves, they believe they are right, because so many others think like they do. Self criticism is very important when determining whether/how we are being influenced.
you are exactly right.
and there is another danger following from that thought,
Pluralistic ignorance, when the majority of a people act in a way they oppose, but do so b/c they think that EVERYBODY else has the wrong position, and don't want to leave the herd.
Thanks for the Steem, Tommy
Yeah, when I first read about that term, I thought:
well that explains a LOT
It explains everything about the human condition that this does not:
I knew the phenomenon, just didn't know there was a name for it. Thanks again! Less words to invent!