I said it before, I’ll say it again: nearly all of us conform to the sociological norm and rest comfortably within the cultural box society demands of us, because, ultimately it’s too much effort to really be an outsider, a free thinker and doer due in part to the social consequences of being, well, different. Let’s face reality; most of us are sheep most of the time. Here’s round two of ‘what the flock’ just to further drive home the point.
Most humans end up being garbed in sheep’s clothing most of the time. For some further examples:
Continued from yesterday’s blog…
Giving
Some charity comes knocking on your door for a donation. You get an email request from a bona fide organisation you donated to in the past asking for you to volunteer some of your time for another really worthy cause. You get a phone call seeking support for those who are in need, or for medical research, or some other worthwhile cause. Your near neighbour down the street asks you to buy some of his daughter’s Girl Scout cookies. Your office colleague comes around hat in hand for the office sweeps, or asking for a donation for a gift for some worker who you’ve never met who’s about to retire. The collection plate is passed around at your local church service. Someone is always in your face with their grubby little paw sticking out asking for your money, or time, or both. Meekly, because it’s only $5 or just a couple of hours of your time, you cave in – again and again and again. The sheep can be relied on. They’re a soft touch since hardly anyone wants to be seen or known as a cheapskate. Baa!
Hype, Hype and More Hype
Hands up anyone that’s never experienced being on the receiving end of HYPE! No hands? I thought so. We’ve all experienced over-enthusiasm, especially when and where $$$ are concerned. The prime example is the super-ultra over-the-top month-long (plus) from which I cannot escape hype of all things Christmas. I asked a staffer at a local supermarket why we (staff and customers alike) were being saturated with in-store Xmas music. Well the obvious answer was to get those customers in the proper Xmas spirit and mood, which translated, meant customers spending, spending and spending their money in the staffer’s store (helping of course to keep staffers employed).
The British Royals get the Royal Hype by the press. It’s saturation media coverage for any Royal bit of news at all, including obviously any birth, death, marriage, divorce, or scandal, the sexier the better. Why the intense interest in these dysfunctional idiots is beyond me. I’ve never figured it out and I probably never will.
Sports are another hyped up category, especially the Olympic Games, but all others like the NFL Superbowl, grand finals of any kind, the Red Sox – N.Y. Yankee rivalry, etc. are grist for the hype mill. The more people that tune in, the bigger the target audience for the advertisers.
Then we have all those over-the-top at what seems like 100 decibel levels TV commercials hyping you to be the first on your block; try this new and improved; with a brand new taste; be the envy of your neighbours; never to be repeated; easy terms; it’s better than ever; it won’t last long; ends soon; act now; limited quantities; don’t miss out; and on and on and on it goes.
Then you get the saturation exposure to the premier of the newest must see ‘blockbuster’ film. What new fashion shows aren’t just pure hype and another form of planned obsolescence.
Why? Without all the manufactured hype, the average person just wouldn’t give nearly as much of a damn. And it works too! Baa!
The End of the World on the 21st December 2012
Every time some nutcase makes an end-of-the-world prediction, you can bet the family farm that he or she or they will attract a flock of sheep who believe that specific end-of-days prophecy. Often that ends in tragedy as the flock sell their family farm and possessions; leave behind family and friends, only to have to crawl back on hands and knees looking the absolute fool they were. Sometimes it’s more serious than that – mass suicides have taken place by the true believers. The latest in a very, very long line of case histories has been taken from the Mayan calendar which, much like our going from the 31st of December to the 1st of January, clicks over from one cycle to the beginning of a new cycle. Alas, the deluded, and/or those out to make a fast buck, have convinced many a human sheep that the end of the cycle is in literal fact the end of the world. The upshot, a lot of these end of the world soothsayers made a lot of money selling their tall tales to the great unwashed. They were the winners; the sheep, as usual, got fleeced. The world went on its merry way. As is now obvious to even the densest of morons, the world did not end on the 21st of December 2012, as any sane person tried to tell you before-the-fact. For those who believed regardless, sucker! Baa!
Anniversaries
There’s something very sheepish about nearly all humans attributing some special significance to the Earth making one complete orbit of the Sun, or in other words, returning to a specific point* one year later – otherwise known as an annual anniversary. Though it’s of no cosmic significance and purely a human invention and observation, god help you if you miss someone’s birthday or forget your wedding anniversary or fail to show proper respect for local, state, regional or national holidays, like the Fourth of July, or ANZAC Day, Washington’s Birthday or the Queen’s Birthday, VE or VJ Day, etc. Why a human invention? When’s the last time you observed your companion animal(s) or any animal in the wild ‘celebrate’ one of their anniversaries? They could care less – no muss and no fuss. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of their book; follow their example. Not even real sheep celebrate anniversaries! Baa!
*That’s actually incorrect since it’s not the Earth orbiting a stationary Sun, rather the Earth orbiting a rapidly moving Sun that’s moving it it’s own orbit around the central core of the Milky Way Galaxy. When the Earth orbits once around the Sun, it does NOT return to the exact same coordinates in space. And just to further complicate things, the Milky Way Galaxy isn’t standing still either, but moving position with respect to other galaxies, or whatever other points of reference you care to name.
New Year Resolutions
Speaking of cosmically non-significant anniversaries, the annual renewal of the New Year Resolution list comes close to top-of-the-pops. Most people make them; most people break them; year-in-and-year-out. There’s only one New Years resolution anyone need make, and that is to “never make any more New Years Resolutions”. I did that decades ago, and lo and behold, I’ve never broken that commitment. As to the rest of you, Happy New Year (which, truth be known, you’ll probably be wishing good riddance 364 days later). Baa!
Diets
Probably the New Years Resolution that’s top-of-the-pops is to lose weight, as fast and as painlessly as possible. To cater for that segment of the human population, nearly every week some new fad diet is put forward and just as predictable a flock of human sheep gobble it up only to move on to the next newest diet fad and the next when each in turn is found wanting and doesn’t provide the painless quick-fix promised. Baa!
To conclude, there’s just no end to those facets of society and culture that see those humans garb themselves in sheep’s clothing. Baa! Baa! Baa!
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