...what shocked me was the worldwide mass mind that sprang into existence seemingly overnight...
Authored by Bruce Davidson: At
a formal ceremony for retiring professors at my university, each
retiree got an opportunity to make a short speech. In my own speech, I
mentioned that my last few years coincided with the Covid panic. Far
more than the disease itself, what shocked me was the worldwide mass mind that sprang into existence seemingly overnight.
All
over the world, suddenly people were subjected to all-encompassing
propaganda and pressures to conform to the same Covid policies. In
contrast, a university should be a place to protect and encourage
individual thinking, I maintained.
Aside from the Covid phenomenon, in recent years I have often
observed the tendency for novel ideas to spread rapidly around the world
and quickly become established orthodoxy that precludes debate and
criticism. This amounts to a kind of toxic global conformism.
“Toxic
conformism” can be defined as aggressively promoted compliance with
evil and/or harmful behavior in order to remain in good standing with
others. In response to Covid, the universal, rapid implementation of
toxic conformity may be unique in history.
There is nothing wrong with conformity per se,
as long as it represents adhering to the reasonable expectations
of a sane society. For example, conformity to norms of politeness has
great merit in most circumstances, as anyone can appreciate who
participates in a civil society, such as Japan’s. Only the immature and
maladjusted believe that defying reasonable norms of behavior is somehow
always commendable.
However, the kind of conformity we currently
observe on an international scale is not organic or reasonable. It is
imposed by fiat from those with power and influence, despite the doubts
and objections of many. It is not the product of wholesome social
development and rational, willing acceptance.
