Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-07-20
ARE YOU MUB-MINDED.
(By Frederic Haskin in State
Journal

general, don't follow crowds.
This is the advice of psychologists
to the modern man in general, and
the American in particular. Iney
say that America is becoming
mob-minded country, and that It's
progress toward a higher degree or
civilization is blocked by this, per
haps more than by any one other
thing. The only thing that can save
us, according to the scientists, is an
increase in the number of lnd1-
yiduals who refuse to follow the
crowd.
Recent outbreaks of mob violence
have attracted widespread atten-
ton and have resulted in much dis
cussion. Bills have been introduced
into congress and into state legisla-
lures to prevent them And they illu-
strate the essential popularity OF
the mob-mind-its inferiority. 1t is
we'll known that in a lynching mob,
acts of violence and cruelty are
committed by individuals who would
not even contemplate them alone.
The mob brings to the surface the
lowest instincts which are shared by
all it's members. 1t is a reversion to
savagery.
But the mob of physical violence
is only the most obvious mob. We
are mob-minded as a people, the
psychologists say, in ways less evil
dent and even more dangerous We
all read the same things, eat the
same things, wear the same things,
hold the same opinions. Most of US
are following crowds even when we
are alone. There is no country in
which people all act, talk, look and
think SO much alike. Individuality
is rare among us, and we are apt to
ponalize it. The man who does not
follow the crowd is often called
queer and is Ostracized. In no other
country, we are told, is there so lit
tie tolerance for the man who is
different And when we ostracize
or shun a man who is different,
simply because he is different, we
are doing in a less obvious way ex-
actly what the mob did which tar
red and feathered a reformer be-
cause it did not like the way he
managed his own affairs.
We suppress individuality in its
more obvious, distasteful manifesto
tions by physical violence once in
while. and we constantly suppress
individuality in harmless and some
times valuable forms by mental and
social violence.
But individuality is the life blood
of civilization. Civilization was built
by men who dared to be different
from the mob. Its constructive work
is always carried on by them.
BY penalizing individuality, say
the psychologists, we are impeding
our progress at it's source. That is
great writer's for every one that we
produce, with twice as great a popu-
lation. 1t is why most important
scientific discovery is made in Eu-
rope, while we merely make inven-
tiOns. 1t is one reason why we rank
about tenth among civilized nations
in education, and why our universe
ties are so far below those of Eu-
rope.
Our salvation lies in the develop
ment of persons who will refrain
from following crowds-and not
only the lynching crowds and
crowds that tar and feather refor-
mers; but the less organized, less
palpable crowd which runs after
the same books, the same ideas, the
same prejudices. If you would
really raise yourself above the mob,
we are told, you must form your
own opinion of everything and it
must be logical opinion, you must
admit it and hold your mind open
to further evidence. You must hold
no unreasoneG opinions, for these
are either prejudices or supersti~
lions. When man does something
that arouses your aversion, instead
of rushing off to have him tarred
and feathered, whether literally or
fguratively, you must first examine
the grounds Of your aversion, to see
whether ii is justified, and second,
you must consider the matter from
the other fellows point-of-view,
and see whether he may not be
right after all. In a word, you
must always be logical, just and
tolerant-three things that the mob
never is. You will often find your
self playing lone game but you
will also find yourself growing
stronger for every struggle.
Everett Dean Martin, in his book
on crowds. says:
Both the individual and society
suffer from wd-behavior. l know
of nothing which today so menaces
not only the values of civilization,
uut dISO-lC is the same thing IN
other words, perhaps-the achieve
ment Of personality and true knowl-
edge of self, as the growing habit
of behaving as crowds.
Our society is becoming a verit-
able babble of gibbering crowds. Not
only are mob outbreaks and riots
increasing in number. but every in
terest, patriotic, religious, ethical,
political, economic, easily degen-
crates into a confusion of pro-
pagandist tongues, into extravagant
partisanship and intemperance.
None of the social scientists who
have studied the masses believe that
the crowd can be eliminated as a
feature of human existence. But
they believe that a dangerous ten
dency could be somewhat offset if
the average citizen would awaken
to the fact that he is an individual
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