Jim Murray

7 years ago · 4 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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The Boundless Self Destructive Energy Of Sheeple

The Boundless Self Destructive Energy Of Sheeple


Sheeple…Defined as, "People who behave like sheep".

Jim Murray
Communication Strategist,
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mail com | Skype:Sheep are rather high on the mindless scale in the animal world. Thousands of them can be herded by a single dog. They follow each other blindly. And if one could ascribe an human intellectual quality to them, ‘ignorant’ would be one of those words that spring to mind.
There are an ever growing number of human beings who are the same way. Obviously the dogs they are herded by have many different names.
Televangelists. Snake Oil Salesmen. Rainmakers. Multi-Level Marketers.Hackers. Scammers. Politicians. Dictators. Despots. Hucksters. Some CEOs. Celebrities. The list goes on.
Early Sheeple... Bred For Slave Labour

All these types of people, exist, and have existed all through history because of the amazing number of sheeple that have always existed.
In the early days, the sheeple were called peasants or rabble, and you really couldn’t blame them for their ignorance. They were never given access to any information that would have lessened their ignorance.
They took their marching orders from whoever was in power. Could have been a local sheriff. A priest. A wealthy landowner. Somebody with a title and a bit of education.
Later, as the industrial revolution got cranking, the sheeple were conscripted to labour in the mills and factories for barely enough to keep them alive. They were only saved from short lives of malnutrition and ignorance by the labour union movement.
Today, we have sheeple of a different colour. Many of our societies are more affluent. Many people are better educated. Many people have opportunities to make something of their lives.
Yet, paradoxically the levels of ignorance among even the most affluent societies is alarmingly high.
This is the boundless self-destructive energy of sheeple at play.
The ignorance of these people, and make no mistake, in most free and ‘progressive’ societies, they number in the tens of millions, is off the charts.
These people all start off with the potential to become real human beings.
But for one reason or another, they choose another route. Sometimes it’s out of laziness. Sometimes it’s out of peer pressure. Sometimes, and probably most often, it’s a case of ending up being influenced by something dark and negative.
A couple of current examples come to mind right away:

British Sheeple...The One Who Do Not Know On Which Side Their Bread Is Buttered

The first and most current is the controversy surrounding the national referendum in United Kingdom regarding that country’s exit from the European Union.
This is one of the biggest debacles in recent memory. And the narrow victory of the “Out” faction is a classic example of the aforementioned boundless self-destructive energy of sheeple in the United Kingdom.
The day after the referendum, in which the country, by the narrowest of victories, decided to leave the Union, it was reported that there were a record number of Google searches by British citizens, which made it extremely and painfully obvious that a huge number of the people who voted “Out” had no idea what they were voting on, or even, God help us, what the European union actually is.
It doesn’t matter which side you are on in this particular issue. What does matter is that the political leaders of Great Britain managed to keep a majority of people in the dark regarding the actual issues. And this was easy for them to do, because…you guessed it, they are sheeple.
And sheeple do not have the capability of going deep into anything.

Trump Sheeple...Angry, Lost and Willing To Follow The Loudest Asshole In The Room

The second example is in the United States where the presidency of that country is being contested.
If you follow the logic I have laid out so far then you can almost read my mind.
The staggering number of sheeple who fell in line behind the racist, misogynist, bigoted, egomaniacal bullshit-laden rhetoric of Donald Trump is simply astonishing.

Media Sheeple...Who All Understand What They're Doing But Do It Anyway

Equally astonishing are the number of sheeple in the media who actually took Trump seriously and gave him all kind of free news coverage, simply because it captured the eyeballs of the Trump sheeple.
This goes way beyond the concept of being ratings sluts. It is immoral behavior to publicize a candidate whose platform is based on bigotry, hatred and division. But this too is a prime institutional example of the boundless self-destructive energy of sheeple in both the media and the general public.
While I personally despise Trump, I am familiar enough with him to know that he has always been this way. He is an rich, entitled, spoiled rotten exploiter who has always believed he is God’s gift to women and business alike. So I don’t totally blame him. He's just a sheeple magnet and cheerleader.
The sheeple in the media have to take the majority of the blame for his popularity. Because they know exactly what they are doing. And they all appear to be united in the way that fools who seldom differ inevitably are.

Sheeple And The Real World

The sad thing about sheeple is that in a strange way they actually make the wheels of society go round.
Many of them do the mindless work that needs to be done out there. They are good consumers because they are easily influenced by marketing. They are also easily distracted by mindless movies and television and most recently the Internet. And with very few exceptions they don’t really organize against injustices of any kind, so anybody who wants to exploit them is more or less free to do so.
I know this all sounds a bit cynical on my part. But all I am doing, by way of a couple of current examples, is describing what our world has come to, and trying, in my own way, to understand it.
A world dominated by sheeple and those who would manipulate them for their own selfish ends is not the kind of world that any thinking human being really wants to live in.
Fortunately the problem is not completely widespread. But you would be wrong to assume that the number of sheeple is not on the rise. It is and the more of them there are, the more our world can end up feeling like a bad episode of The Walking Dead.
So keep your eyes on your fries, or words to that effect.

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If your business has reached the point where talking to an experienced  communication professional would be the preferred option to banging your head against the wall or whatever, lets talk.
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All content Copyright  2016/17 Jim Murray


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Comments

Martin Wright

7 years ago #30

Jim, normally i agree with what you say. However it disturbse when you describe the brexit vote as being one being carried by sheeple when on fact nothing could be further from the truth

Jerry Fletcher

7 years ago #29

Aye Gerald, but when the words were written and hearts were touched they became a rallying point. The power in the words lives on. How a man meets his maker cannot dismay those who have found strength, solace and courage in his verses.

Jerry Fletcher

7 years ago #28

#42
Thanks Jim, for the comment and for the well deserved rants. We need more people willing to make people connect the dots.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #27

#45
The only positive thing that Trump did in his campaigning was point out how corrupt the system was and raise awareness of that fact. The Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans as political parties. And you know what, if Trump was not the sick puppy he is, all he had to do include the well being of the people in his policies. As it turns out he's just another narrow-minded rich guy who doesn't really give a shit about anything but himself. Given the political system, left or right is totally pooched, it's down to the man and the lackeys he has surrounded himself with. The Generals he claimed to know more than just a few months ago, are the only thing that stands between America and nuclear war. Now that's fucked up.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #26

#41
Well said, very well said, Jerry Fletcher, and about resisting the urge to drink the honey-laced Kool Aid. The world sorely needs its gadflies. For they keep us from being complacent and accepting of all that should be changed for the better. Personally, I believe that Neibuhr's "Serenity Prayer" is one of the most pernicious pieces of literature ever to be penned. And I for one -- well, I guess that's for two -- find Jim's rants to be confirmation that there may be hope in the world. Cheers!

Jim Murray

7 years ago #25

#41
Jerry Fletcher. Just wanted to thank you for this comment form the bottom of my heart. Sometimes you get to the point where feel you might be a bit of a lunatic for raging against the machine. But your comment put it all into the real world perspective and I have to tell you it genuinely energized me. I'm going to incorporate it into an anti-Trump post that I wrote last night, Raging against the dying of the light comes naturally to a lot of us, and although I wasn't going to stop, I am in fact going forward in a higher gear, You're a great writer Jerry, because you moved me in a pretty serious way. And that's what we're supposed to do, isn't it? So thanks my friend.

Jerry Fletcher

7 years ago #24

Sheeple are herd animals not "heard" animals. Nobody listens to them...until it is too late. A friend reported being in a deli/bar in a blue collar neighborhood at lunch time last week. It was just after Trumpcare went down to defeat. In the noisy room filled with truck drivers and construction workers one young man stood up and said, " Thank God Trumpcare crashed and burned." The crowd stated to turn on him. He went on, "So now my granny will be able to stay in care because Medicaid is paying for it. Otherwise she'd be sleeping in my car. I voted for him, but that S O B doesn't care about folks like us. Every one of us could wind up without health care. I'm voting Democrat in 2018 I don't give a rat's who they run." My friend joined the cheer from the crowd. You want to change the world? As Dylan Thomas said, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that night." Have the courage to speak out. Jim makes for a fine example. Yes, he can push your buttons but what do you expect from a professional writer.

Milos Djukic

7 years ago #23

And Fractal Sheeple... one of the most dangerous :)

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #22

#33
Jim Murray, that remark is one of the most profound observations I've read on social media. Seriously. The problem is that, if you attempt to take on those manipulators who are taking advantage of the sheeple, the sheeple are likely to trample you to death.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #21

#32
David Grinberg...that's not true. I have no feelings one way or the other. What I despise is those who would exploit them for their own ends.

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #20

So, I take it you don't like "sheeple" Jim Murray? Just a lucky guess. I'm reminded of a quote (paraphrasing): I'd rather be led by a lion with an army of sheep than by a sheep with any army of lions (or something to that effect).

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #19

So, I take it you don't like "sheeple" Jim Murray? Just a lucky case. I'm reminded of a quote (paraphrasing): I'd rather be led by a lion with an army of sheep than by a sheep with any army of lions (or something to that effect).

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #18

#27
@Gerald Hecht -The rhyme is prime.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #17

#25
There's not getting away from sheelple. They're ubiquitous. But do believe there's a much lower percentage of insipidity here than elsewhere. I would mention LinkedIn by name, but I just care so little about it these days that why bother? The while idea is to make the most of what you've got, and we have a good opportunity to do that here.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #16

Kudos on this bit of stinging allegory. I am thinking, here is LinkedIn, and here is its steeple. Look in its windows and see the sheeple. Throw in a few bees and see them buzz . Then open the doors and they'll all fly away. (To the bee hives.) Now, here is the hive, and here is its steeple. Cut open the hive and see...oh no! The same sheeple. You see, the moral of the story is you can disguise a sheep in bees clothing, but he or she will still be a sheep, with no stinger. While Insipidipity lingers, like the odor in well used running shoes, and the literary Muzak buzzes monotonously in the background. -- from "Face to Face With Truth at 0300 Hours on My Birthday" by PLF

Jim Murray

7 years ago #15

#17
Right on Chas Wyatt. God bless their wooley little heads.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #14

#18
They do Indeed Franci Eugenia Hoffman's comment. It was very enlightening.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #13

#19
Thanks Timothy Balding...That's a lot of crap to leave in the hands of an uninformed population.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #12

#20
Don Kerr...Thanks Don. You know I thought about the comment you were referring to on and off all day. I thought I had the article focused correctly but when somebody writes an articulate comment, you just naturally pay attention to it. The sheeple I referred to are pretty much the sure fire victims and the first to just blindly follow whatever they are told to follow. They're probably more just lost and stupid. But it's their ignorance that makes them that way. I loved your comment and agree wholeheartedly with the points your guy made, because let's face it, the US has been at war with someone for pretty much all of their existence.

don kerr

7 years ago #11

Several years ago I took some courses with an industrial psychologist who had polarizing views much like a couple of guys I know here on beBee. Jim Murray suggesting that Jim's thesis derides the right of people to hold their own opinion. Where Jim and I concur is that thinking folk, not seeking easy answers in a users' manual of life delivered by whatever god you choose to follow - religious, spiritual or secular - are in fact sheeple. This perspective does not dismiss their right to voice an opinion - god knows they even get to vote - but they don't get to limit my right to proclaim them shortsighted and weak-kneed​ for following, yes, the 'loudest asshole in the room!' Well done Jimbo!

Jim Murray

7 years ago #10

#14
I'm sorry Randy I know how you hate pussfyfooters.

Randy Keho

7 years ago #9

Come on, Jim. Quit tip toeing around the issue and tell us what you really think. After all, we're all your sheeple.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #8

#12
Scott Stevenson: There's a complete paradox in your comment. Because if you were a sheeple, you would not have been able to put together anything even remotely resembling the intellectual argument you put forth. I do not purport to be the smartest guy in the room. But I do maintain that there is a great deal of ignorance around today, even in so called advanced societies. The people I'm talking about are people who lack the capacity to even get what I am saying here. and that's not you. I have a feeling that you are letting your political bias colour your comment. I believe that society functions at it's best when Liberal and conservative points of view debate with respect. Trump, for example does not fall into either of those categories. He is a demogogue. He only serves himself and he tells people what they want to hear in order to do that. All I have laid out here is a little essay on manipulation. It's not about the sheeple as much as it is about those who would exploit them. You can be a Republican with conservative ideals or Your can be a democrat with liberal ideals but when you get too far towards the outer fringes of either wing, you become a fanatic. And you also become a minority. Trump does not represent the Republican party. And the party itself has said so. Trump represents Trump. If you follow him blindly you are a sheeple, because you think he's gonna change things for the better. Well there are a bunch of German people who thought the same thing about a guy named Hitler in the 30s.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #7

#6
Brian McKenzie...I agree. But I have been making a concerted effort to make my posts a bit shorter. It's quite intimidating seeing the projected reading time up there in the corner.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #6

#8
Kevin Pashuk I call it the downside of having taken wood shop instead of typing in high school. To this day I have never build anything out of wood that one could call well made.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #5

#7
Thanks Errol.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #4

#5
There's an urban legend that if a blogger wants to increase the number of comments on a post, to simply insert a grammatical error. I unknowingly do that all the time (insert errors) so I know it to be a myth.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #3

#3
Dun...thanks Kevin Pashuk. See you on Monday.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #2

#1
That's because you are a thinking person, Joe. Thinking people are always going to be mystified by ignorance. And probably perpetually angry at the people who use that ignorance to their own selfish ends.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #1

You've pretty much captured it Jim Murray. You might however change 'there' to 'their' in the pull out quote on buttered bread.

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