Herd Mentality in current times.

                                                                    
                                                                          In London

Memories of farm life are many; some are intensely pleasurable and others are simply unpleasant.  Making apple butter in a caldron outside on a brisk fall day: that qualifies as pleasurable.  Anything to do with hog management qualifies as unpleasant.

One such unpleasant event was “driving hogs”, or herding the hogs into a confined area where they would be sorted by weight.  The hogs weighing 200+ lbs. were sent to market; the others were reprieved for a while. 

To herd the hogs meant that all seven of our family would start at the far end of the feed lot where the hogs grazed.  We were spaced evenly across in a line and waved our arms (usually holding long sticks) while calling “sooooooWEEE”.**

Hogs were fairly docile at the beginning, but as they reached the other end of the feed lot where they had to move to the only opening left to them, some of the hogs got suspicious.

How to understand pigs

It was usually a big burly hog with a nasty disposition.  He was the leader, and the other hogs followed him.  Blindly so.

This was the dicey part of herding.  Push too much, and the hogs bolt.  Stand back too far, and they bolt.  But, regardless, whatever that lead hog did, the others did as well.

Please forgive the way my brain works, but this segues into my thoughts for this day: The Herd Mentality.

In the February 2012 Smithsonian magazine, writer Ron Rosenbaum penned a thought-provoking article adapted from his introduction for the new edition of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer.  Published initially in 1960, Shirer’s book “…recalls an important point in historical consciousness…”

From Wikipedia

Shirer examined how Hitler and the ‘perfect storm’ of many factors managed to seduce an intelligent nation of Germans and lead them to do and behave in abhorrent crimes.

1961 photo of William L. Shirer from Wikipedia

There is no way to summarize Rosenbaum’s article.  Here is a closing quote from his article:

“…There is danger in giving up our sense of self-hood for the illusory unity of a frenzied mass movement, of devolving from human to herd for some homicidal abstraction.  It is a problem we can never be reminded of enough, and this this we will always owe William Shirer a debt of gratitude…”

 Have you ever sensed being part of a herd?  Do we retain our “self-hood” in this age of digital awareness? With the bombardment of advertisements, do you find yourself being prepped to purchase something, or behave a certain way?  Man.  These are really profound thoughts for us to read.

Note:  This post in no way advertises this book or advocates these writers.  The impressions and conclusions gained from reading this Smithsonian article struck me as timely and important.


**There will be a future post or two about the herding hogs experiences, as some of them were traumatizing and others amusing.  SooooWeee is a recognized hog call in the Midwest.  

If the connections seem insensitive or rude, please forgive me.  Sometimes, especially when standing in a long long line that winds across and back with posts and wire. I feel that I am being "herded".  This perspective comes from farm life and going to DisneyLand. 

This is a rewritten repost from 2018.