Apone
Permanent Fixture
- MBTI
- MEGA
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- MAN
What does fascism mean to you?
I just watched the movie 'Die Welle' (The Wave) in which a teacher decides to do a 'social experiment' and turns his class into a fascist regime. It's a crap film, but the real-life study it's based on is fascinating. Here's a link to the 'Third Wave' experiment:
http://libcom.org/history/the-third-wave-1967-account-ron-jones
It seems like some of his students got a lot of positive things out of the experience… and the way he describes his own anxiety in the face of these suddenly disciplined and committed students is what hits me the hardest (I guess because I know what it's like to be in front of people every day). Also, the students who thrived in a more individualistic setting suddenly become like 'special students', while the formerly unexceptional students suddenly find a purpose and a meaning and become more committed. In a lot of ways their individuality is eroded and they develop a sort of militaristic pride and strong sense of communal identity, which in some ways makes them better as students but also threatens to make them worse as people… well, except for the fact that former bullies now see their classmates as fellow 'members' and decide to stop bullying them, because they now belong together.
Do you ever wonder if the Western emphasis on individuality and 'free speech' is actually making people weaker? I know that this probably isn't a popular opinion, but it seems to me that a society where everything is subjective and there are no standards whatsoever empowers stupidity just as often or perhaps even more than it empowers excellence.
I just watched the movie 'Die Welle' (The Wave) in which a teacher decides to do a 'social experiment' and turns his class into a fascist regime. It's a crap film, but the real-life study it's based on is fascinating. Here's a link to the 'Third Wave' experiment:
http://libcom.org/history/the-third-wave-1967-account-ron-jones
It seems like some of his students got a lot of positive things out of the experience… and the way he describes his own anxiety in the face of these suddenly disciplined and committed students is what hits me the hardest (I guess because I know what it's like to be in front of people every day). Also, the students who thrived in a more individualistic setting suddenly become like 'special students', while the formerly unexceptional students suddenly find a purpose and a meaning and become more committed. In a lot of ways their individuality is eroded and they develop a sort of militaristic pride and strong sense of communal identity, which in some ways makes them better as students but also threatens to make them worse as people… well, except for the fact that former bullies now see their classmates as fellow 'members' and decide to stop bullying them, because they now belong together.
Do you ever wonder if the Western emphasis on individuality and 'free speech' is actually making people weaker? I know that this probably isn't a popular opinion, but it seems to me that a society where everything is subjective and there are no standards whatsoever empowers stupidity just as often or perhaps even more than it empowers excellence.
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