QUOTES from BERT but not ERNIE

Here are two quotes from Bertrand Russell, philosopher.

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."

The pressures that are put upon each of us from outside, and because of our enculturation, even more so from within, rule our lives like a sheep dog rules a flock of sheep. You can wander around a bit but generally you have to stay within the confines of the pasture. Yet, look at the great philosophers and giants in business and you will see that they are defined by their differences from most everyone else and rejection of the statues quo. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to "mess around" with computers, Thoreau went to live in the woods, and most celebrities whom we recognize by a single name, Madonna, Cher, Bono, did not get there by trying to fit in. I am reminded of the story of the Blue-Claw Crabs. When crabs are caught and put into a basket, on top of one another, some of them try to climb out of the basket to freedom. The other crabs grab for them and pull them back in. This is what we do to one another in society. Rather than celebrate our differences we are quick to point out and gossip about the choices of other people. The most unique among us are vilified, possibly even imprisoned and killed. Then after a little time passes, we build statues and make heroes out of them.

It is so easy to be a joiner. There are magazines everywhere that will tell you what to wear this season, how to cut your hair, what to believe (Oprah), and who to worship in Hollywood and Washington. So, if you are not one to want to "stand out" from the rest of the crowd, this is an easy task. If you specialize in easy tasks everywhere in your life you will eventually become mediocre and average, invisible , and easily forgotten.

There are those who think that they are doing their own thing when in reality they are just putting on the uniform of another tribe... the New College Goth, the X-games surfer dude, the pierced and the tattooed club, whatever. This is not marching to the beat of a different drummer or taking the road less traveled...it is just aligning ourself with another flock and a different sheep dog. You are in a group-think that approves of your choices..."Nice bone through your nose, Brenda." "Thanks, Bruce, I love the way you managed to stretch your earlobes to accept a hubcap from a Prius." I am talking about something entirely different.

Do you actually have to get Alzheimers to be excused from the "rules" of your tribe? At what age do "they" let you alone and "permit" you to not be like everyone else? We do it to our kids, our peers and it never stops. We justify it by quoting from an imaginary social book of rules. "You couldn't possibly not go to "X" because you will be expected to "Y". It takes courage to be different than the rest of your tribe members, and there will be Hell to pay from their rejection of your choices, but in the end., it's worth it. You have one life to live, this is not a dress rehearsal, yadda yadda, but most of us just pretend and learn to say "Baaaa".