A Nation of Lemmings

When exactly did this happen to us?
When did we go from a nation of free-thinkers?
A Land of Healthy Skeptics?
To the Land of Lemmings...willing to follow anyone straight off a cliff at the drop of a hat?
Don't believe me? Take a look at the atmosphere in this country over the last several months. People willing to believe in "death panels" just because some schmuck on TV told them it was true. (Well it was on TV/the Internet/Radio so it MUST be true, right???) That our President isn't a U.S. citizen. And even looking past the "bigger issues" down to the little ones. Someone explain to me why people will forward every bogus "virus alert" when the hoaxers have basically been using the same lame boilerplate template for their "warning" for going on 20 years now? And all it takes is a 2-second search on snopes to debunk it? People posting and reposting cut/paste status messages on FB just because "I saw everyone else posting it." I know it sounds trite and ridiculous but does anyone else out there remember what our Moms used to tell us when we tried to use the excuse "well the other kids did/are doing it too" ? The standard "Mom" answer from "The Book of Mom-isms": "Well if they all went and jumped off a bridge would you do it too?"

When did we become a nation of people willing to jump off bridges (against our Mom's better advice!) just because "everyone else is doing it too." ?

Not only does it boggle my mind that what was once a great nation of thinkers has been reduced to a bunch of blathering cut/paste, e-mail forwarding loons who are willing to swallow what any nutbag who comes along tries to shove down their throat...it embarrasses me as an American. We will not...cannot continue along this path and expect to solve our problems. Until we wake up and understand that everyone who would "speak to us" through whatever medium, be it TV, internet, radio, newspaper or magazine has their own agenda and are willing to obfuscate the truth in order to convince us over to their agenda, we will continue to waste time on every stupid non-issue they can dream up to keep us from addressing the real issues...the urgent and dire and pressing issues of our nation and people. The Nation of Lemmings comes closer and closer to the precipice every day...and only we as individuals can prevent our going over it in a mass suicide. Remember individualism? That great personality trait that this country was founded and built upon?

So here's my challenge to you: resist the urge! Before you take any actions, no matter how trivial they may seem, ask yourself: Am I doing this because it is what I want to do, or am I just being a lemming and "following along" because "everybody's doing it?" Should I take what this person says at face value? Or should I spend 10 minutes doing the research required to form my own opinion before just re-spouting whatever it is they may be saying? Can I take two seconds to research that virus warning on snopes or should I just automatically forward it to my 4 thousand best friends because I'd rather be 'safe than sorry'? Do I love my son/daughter/mother/father/spouse/cousin/dog/cat/turtle enough to actually take the few seconds it takes to put that love into my own words, rather than copy/pasting some other lemming's status?

Every time you allow someone else to do your thinking for you or tell you how you "should" think.....you give up a small piece of yourself...your freedom...your individuality. Don't let that happen. Don't be the lemming over the cliff.