I can’t think of a single instance where OBEDIENCE to “authority” or CONFORMITY with the herd has produced anything useful or admirable…
All our material and moral progress has been won by those who refused to be assimilated and who refused to allow others to define good and evil, right and wrong, true and false, success and failure for them.
Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, Gandhi, and Doctor King come immediately to mind.
Alas, the world wasn’t ready for any of them then, and the world is still not ready for any of them now.
Their audacity, freedom, and courage were quite naturally met with all manner of resistance… not just from the preachers, politicians, and other charlatans who profited from the status quo, but also from the cowering masses content with the lifeless comforts of their ignorance, superstitions, and prejudices.
And here we are. Still.
Oh, the insanity of it all.
The united states was founded on dissent. It really pisses me off when people call protestors unpatriotic. I think there is nothing more patriotic than being willing to break laws to implement change.
Hear, hear, old friend!
Beautifully written and too true. Thank you.
Thanks, as always, for being a voice of reason and decency, Gerald.