One of the most bizarre trends at the present time is the Occupy Wall Street movement. There has been almost nothing like it in recent memory.
Before any social movement can be understood it is essential to have some understanding of mass psychology. An expert in this field was Hadley Cantril, who wrote extensively on the subject.
Professor Cantril noted that many political-social campaigns are “wrong” in the opinion of most, while of the others, in the view of mass psychology, are “right.” Bewildered people in the mob present many bad ideas as demonstrators have been attracted by false slogans. According to Cantril, they are based on distorted assumptions, which any objective observer would know are unfounded. Clearly, mass psychology never has been known for level-headed thinking.
Watching the Occupy Wall Street campaign on television, it is apparent that many are following almost whimsical schemes based on the presumptions of demagogues. Most in the crowd are young, with little knowledge or history or human nature.
Complains emanate from the Occupy crowd, but no solutions are offered. Their chants spring from ignorance and preconceptions. We overlook the basic causes of discontent. If they were understood, remedies might be forthcoming.
With youth unemployment at historically high levels, youngsters blame “the system,” attacking the big business and governments that appear to ignore them. Of course, tuition fees are onerous, and big business give itself huge rewards that in many cases are undeserved. Needless to say, those issues should be addressed, but given all the factors, what should be done?
Our educational institutions have not been adequate to the task. Everyone must learn that government subsidies are not good answers to our economic troubles. That should be illustrated by countless examples in the past. Then there would be a clamor for more of those unworkable “solutions.”
Education and history can show the Roman Empire provided bread and circus in vain to quell mass discontent. The currency debasement during the French Revolution led to a financial collapse. Similarly, in Germany in the 1920s, money printing entailed disaster.
Too many are angry at politicians for their failure to fulfill their promises. We should ask ourselves why we do not demand at election time ethical standards that should be of primary importance. Low voter turnout means that protesters have to blame only themselves, not “the system..
Hence, a major answer is for us to deliver a really good education and a collective will for all to be ethical themselves. That, perhaps, is where religion has an important role. Then the empty catchphrases of that crusade would be replaced by more constructive measures.