Why Mindless Conformity Is Dangerous
Mindless nonconformity is stupid.
We all know the type. You're 9 years old, and it's a cold and snowy day and all the kids have on coats and gloves.
But then there's Harold. And Harold is already showing everyone that he's not a mindless conformist and he shows up at school wearing shorts and a t-shirt and sandals.
Which is dumb.
But while mindless nonconformity is dumb, a mindless conformity is often stupid - and dangerous.
Our earlier example of Harold causes no problems. People such as Harold either mature to a realization that this behavior is not really necessary, or sometimes become one of those eccentric people that one learns to tolerate. Either way, there's seldom any danger to society from a true nonconformist.
The last two years, however, have been replete with millions of people who in the name of a greater good have conformed to sometimes mindless edicts from governmental bureaucrats. There was anal swabs and double masking and wearing face coverings while outside alone in a wilderness area.
Some of which is, while eccentric, harmless when individuals do something of their volition. What is not harmless is when individuals in a society get in the habit of mindlessly doing what governmental officials - often unelected ones - tell them to do.
It seems cheap to invoke Nazi Germany parallels (the rise to power of Hitler and his minions is a very complicated issue) but if millions of Germans had stood up in 1938 to demand an end to the rising totalitarianism of that era, at the very least, the Nazis would have had a much more difficult time.
The lesson: stand up while you can. Be wise, be circumspect, and choose your battles. But choosing battles means choosing battles, and fight you must. Stand up against the countless petty tyrants of our time. At the least, make their lives and their work difficult. I want tyrannical bureaucrats to hate going to their job because of the free people who are making their lives difficult. Be one of those whom your descendants will admire because in the face of real tyranny, you did what you could to stop it. And start today.