Not much changes in the world as far as human emotions go. Emotions all too often form our character as well. The ancient Greek philosophers and others formed schools and wrote extensively about such things. Personally I have only read snippets of that from time to time. Being raised in New England the prevalent philosophy there was of a stoic nature. I think that is no longer the case but I'll leave that study to the sociologists. I read an interesting quote the other day by a fella named Grantland Rice, " A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion. " I looked him up and he was a sportswriter. He wrote a lot of life quotes based on golf. Philosopher and sports writer, a good combination.
That quote struck me as being especially relevant in todays world. I see many following public opinion. How quickly they adopt whatever the current agenda and popular opinion is. It's nothing new. Socrates wrote about that very thing. Many others have done so also. It is the Principles before Popularity argument. When we were in school we didn't have " schools of philosophy " we had cliques. Same thing though, it concerned principles and popularity. With what group did you identify ? Was it the group you really felt comfortable with, or did you seek to be in the " popular " group ? Depended upon how much you were willing to sacrifice your principles really. If you weren't privileged enough to be in that " popular " group by virtue of your families wealth or social standing in the community, you could become the token. All the really popular groups keep a few tokens around to show their superior moral virtues, a sort of smoke screen. Sadly, there are always those that will gladly accept the role. That did require a certain acquiescence on their part, a surrendering of principle.
Yes in school as children those choices may be nothing more than a fashion choice or style of music, nothing of any real importance or significance. The problem being that is where habits are formed. It becomes a habit to just go with the crowd. Feeding off of popularity and the popular opinion can starve the mind however. That is because you become dependent, incapable of independent thought. Many begin to believe that whatever the crowd is saying must be truth.
What makes a person popular ? Well, in general it is because they have something to give us. It is that simple. Whether it is money, social status, entertainment, wisdom, or something else it is to our advantage to be " friends " with them. There are times when we will sacrifice our principles to gain that " friendship. " It is usually for monetary gain or just to be associated with that person or group. Most recently think Harvey Weinstein. A whole lot of his " friends " knew about his behavior. They were willing to sacrifice their principles to remain friends with him until it was exposed ! When there was no longer any advantage to being his " friend " in fact, it had become a liability, they couldn't distance themselves from him fast enough. Did these folks just gain " principles ? "
Then there are those that share our principles. It is a connection on a different level. Those are the friends that remain with us for life. We all have one or two of those friends. That isn't to say our principles are good or bad, but merely the birds of a feather flock together analogy. It is my observation that the popular ones rarely stick to their principles. That is the nature of popularity, an ever changing landscape of feelings and emotions. What pleases the crowd at this moment. In order to retain popularity, which many translate as relevance, they choose popular opinion over principle. That is true even when the " principle " was popular and relevant just a short time ago. Think America following the attack of 9/11. Following that it was popular to be a Patriot, to fly the Flag proudly and pledge to defend her. Not so popular an opinion now is it ? Why ? A change in principle ? It is my fervent prayer that isn't the case and this too is just a passing fad, a popularity.
All I can say is I will never sacrifice my principles in that regard. No matter how many names I get labeled, how unpopular an opinion it may become, I will not relent. Principle before popularity is what I was taught as a child. I will stand firm. I've never been the " popular " guy, the life of the party or any of that. The reason is a simple one, I refuse to sacrifice my core principles or beliefs to satisfy anyone or any group. Many are complaining right now proclaiming Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. And my response is; thank God and the founding Fathers that they knew better than that. That is exactly why they formed a Republic, a government based on law, not popularity. A democracy is too fickle a mistress to govern a nation. Just because it is popular, doesn't' make it correct.
That quote struck me as being especially relevant in todays world. I see many following public opinion. How quickly they adopt whatever the current agenda and popular opinion is. It's nothing new. Socrates wrote about that very thing. Many others have done so also. It is the Principles before Popularity argument. When we were in school we didn't have " schools of philosophy " we had cliques. Same thing though, it concerned principles and popularity. With what group did you identify ? Was it the group you really felt comfortable with, or did you seek to be in the " popular " group ? Depended upon how much you were willing to sacrifice your principles really. If you weren't privileged enough to be in that " popular " group by virtue of your families wealth or social standing in the community, you could become the token. All the really popular groups keep a few tokens around to show their superior moral virtues, a sort of smoke screen. Sadly, there are always those that will gladly accept the role. That did require a certain acquiescence on their part, a surrendering of principle.
Yes in school as children those choices may be nothing more than a fashion choice or style of music, nothing of any real importance or significance. The problem being that is where habits are formed. It becomes a habit to just go with the crowd. Feeding off of popularity and the popular opinion can starve the mind however. That is because you become dependent, incapable of independent thought. Many begin to believe that whatever the crowd is saying must be truth.
What makes a person popular ? Well, in general it is because they have something to give us. It is that simple. Whether it is money, social status, entertainment, wisdom, or something else it is to our advantage to be " friends " with them. There are times when we will sacrifice our principles to gain that " friendship. " It is usually for monetary gain or just to be associated with that person or group. Most recently think Harvey Weinstein. A whole lot of his " friends " knew about his behavior. They were willing to sacrifice their principles to remain friends with him until it was exposed ! When there was no longer any advantage to being his " friend " in fact, it had become a liability, they couldn't distance themselves from him fast enough. Did these folks just gain " principles ? "
Then there are those that share our principles. It is a connection on a different level. Those are the friends that remain with us for life. We all have one or two of those friends. That isn't to say our principles are good or bad, but merely the birds of a feather flock together analogy. It is my observation that the popular ones rarely stick to their principles. That is the nature of popularity, an ever changing landscape of feelings and emotions. What pleases the crowd at this moment. In order to retain popularity, which many translate as relevance, they choose popular opinion over principle. That is true even when the " principle " was popular and relevant just a short time ago. Think America following the attack of 9/11. Following that it was popular to be a Patriot, to fly the Flag proudly and pledge to defend her. Not so popular an opinion now is it ? Why ? A change in principle ? It is my fervent prayer that isn't the case and this too is just a passing fad, a popularity.
All I can say is I will never sacrifice my principles in that regard. No matter how many names I get labeled, how unpopular an opinion it may become, I will not relent. Principle before popularity is what I was taught as a child. I will stand firm. I've never been the " popular " guy, the life of the party or any of that. The reason is a simple one, I refuse to sacrifice my core principles or beliefs to satisfy anyone or any group. Many are complaining right now proclaiming Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. And my response is; thank God and the founding Fathers that they knew better than that. That is exactly why they formed a Republic, a government based on law, not popularity. A democracy is too fickle a mistress to govern a nation. Just because it is popular, doesn't' make it correct.
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