Doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing…takes courage and introspection. It’s easier to go along with the crowd and what everyone else is doing. This plays out with sports teams. For example, if you live near Clemson, SC, it’s easy to be a Clemson Tigers fan (Go Tigers!) because everywhere you go in the area, you see orange tiger paws and people wearing clothing with the school’s colors of orange and purple. You won’t see many Alabama fans near Clemson, SC.
I wonder how much of the current political strife that we are struggling with in the U.S. is a function of what “crowd” individuals associate with? Many of the House and Senate votes are along party lines. I imagine it’s easier to be a Democrat when you live in an area made up of mostly Democrats and a Republican when you live surrounded by mostly Republicans. It was big news when ten House Republicans broke with the rest of the Republican Party by voting to impeach Trump. In his article titled “Why Are There So Few Courageous Senators,” Peter Beinart identified that the few Senators who tended to vote against their party were older in age, no longer had Presidential ambitions, and were often serving their last term. In other words, they were more willing to risk not being re-elected.
Doing the opposite of what everyone else does requires courage, as you risk having the crowd turn on you. Of course, doing the opposite to simply do the opposite is not necessarily a good thing either. This is where introspection and living the questions comes in: Why are you doing what you are doing? This is where things like your principles and values come into play. The question then becomes: Are they your principles and values or someone else’s?
I hope more people find the courage to the opposite of what everyone else is doing (if it’s the right thing to do).
Kindly,
David