They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Tattoos, piercings, slang, Tik-Tokers, holes in jeans, opposition to free speech, being easily offended; all these things are, in essence, imitation of others. One does something and people applaud so others do the same thing expecting if not applause then acceptance as being part of the “in crowd.”
This isn’t a new phenomenon, think of the Macaronis of 18th century London, the Bohemians of the 19th century, Beards in the late 19th century, the Flappers of the early 20th and the Beat Generation of the mid 20th. What has changed is the current monkeys have a world-wide influence mechanism called the Internet and everyone carries a connection to that influence network. It is one of those unusual traits of human nature that many of us like to study. Being accepted as one of the group is tres important for we learned early-on in our existence, that safety is found in numbers if the rest of the numbers are like you. Outliers are alway at risk especially from the mob as expressed by the in-crowd. Different is not good, must be the same.
This is all well and good because the Macaronis, Bohemians, Flappers and Beats never actually impacted other than small segments of the social society of Britain and the U.S but the new generation of imitators seeks to overturn the very foundations of the republic. Among and leading these influencers are none other than our decision leaders of the media. Be they opinionated news readers or talking heads they are too much imitated by those who have been taught simply to accept what they are told and not ask questions.
Add to the media the new politician who is more concerned with getting on CNN, Fox, MSNBC or one of the lesser cable networks and the big three broadcast networks struggling against cable and you have a whole host for the monkeys to imitate.
The past can never be recaptured, nor should it be, but it is time for good people to demand a new era of personal responsibility and accountability. It is time for the influencers to be called out for what they are, ideologues who tell others how they should be but are unwilling to walk the walk themselves. It is time for the monkeys to be called down from the trees and taught why they have a brain.