Submerssion of Identity - Painting

Losing one's identity in that of the group has consequences for the individual and that of the society in which the individual lives. The danger is that of becoming possessed and a mere clone of the group think.

It is easy for us to fall prey to this, because we are a group animal by nature. Without our group nature, we would have never survived as long as we did and then to ultimately dominate the planet (for better or worse).

Those that protest the loudest that they are not one of the herd, belittling the "average" person are they who are most likely to succumb to the greatest evils of group think. Being self-assured in their assumed superiority, they are blind to their hubris, because of their denial of their only all too human nature. "I am more virtuous than thou!"

These are the people to be most wary of. They are the zealots, the jihadi, who perform any and all actions necessary to achieve the aims of group think with no moral or ethical inhibitions, because the ends justify the means.

The phenomenon is a mass psychosis, whereby individuals become literally possessed by the ideas of the group, they become ideologues. You will not be able to reason with them, because you are no longer talking to person, but rather an idea.

These people are found in the revolutionary vanguards of both political movements and religions. For such people there is no middle ground, you are either for or against them.

The person who does not subscribe to their ideology, and oh the horror, even dares question and debate, is an even greater threat than those who vehemently stand opposed to them as a self-acknowledged enemy. For the enemy is definable, a flip-side of the very same thing, group think, just waving a different flag. But the other, is an existential threat. Their very existence challenges their own, because they are not playing by the rules of their group think game.

Self-aware thinkers must be eliminated, even before the enemy, lest they make madness known to others and start a chain reaction deflates the possessing idea. As such, humour is forbidden, because it is the antidote.

When humour is censored, it is the canary in the coal mine.

Leave a comment below, upvote and resteem if you like it.
More of my artwork can be found on my website. LeoPlaw.com
And if it takes your fancy, subscribe to my newsletter.