Here's Why The Herd is Never Right! (audio: noxsoma.substack.com)

(The complete audio to this rant is posted at 4:20 EST on Substack. Here’s a preview. You can get the full length LP on the stack, or on Hive.)

We dream about what we’re going to write in this space in the morning. Or, if we have already written something, we dream about what we should have written. However, usually by the time we get here, we’ve lost the topic. We seldom write down the ideas that don’t quite wake us up in the night. We trust our memory the same way Charlie Brown trusts Lucy. And we get the same results. Every. Time.
Good Moonday Lunatics. Welcome to a brand new week on Planet Abundance. How are we going to duck the dastardly deeds of the deep state, this week?
Our top thought this morning is a revelation prompted by prompting AI to create a psychological profile based on the digital footprint of your humble curmudgeonly content creator, Noxsoma. The thorough and mostly accurate evaluation suggested that the herd is, “occasionally right.” We pondered this for a very long time, finally reaching the conclusion that the herd is never right. We don’t use the word, “never,” lightly. In fact, we go so far as to state emphatically, that the herd is never, ever, ever, right.
“Why is that Nox?”
Because herds don’t think. They only react. The herd doesn’t make decisions. In order to be considered, “right,” decisions must be considered, conclusions drawn, and action taken. These steps don’t exist in the herd. A shot is fired and the next thing you know the herd is running over a cliff, into a canyon, or corral.
Charles Mackay noted that, "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."
There’s something extraordinary about “crowds.” There’s been much written about them and their psychology. They are very dangerous, as has been recorded over millennia. It makes one wonder why crowds are even allowed to exist. The irony is, not only are they allowed to exist, but encouraged to exist. Places called “stadiums” are built with greater and greater capacity for containing larger and larger crowds for greater periods of time. Uniformed “guards,” essentially, as well as sworn officers of the law and employed for “crowd control.” Because everyone involved knows full well that crowds need to be controlled, less pandemonium ensues.
One of the greatest demonstrations of crowd control on display at stadiums comes when the announcer says, “Please stand for the National Anthem.” Literally tens-of-thousands of sheeple stand. And if you want to test the power of crowds, don’t stand up. You don’t have to salute, or put your hand over your heart, you might be able to get away without taking your hat off… maybe. However, if you remain seated to risk ruining the “experience” for someone sitting in your immediate vicinity. You might even be traitor-shamed by the Jumbo-tron operator.
“This guy didn’t stand for the National anthem. He hates America.”
Then, in an instant, the image of you sitting on your ass while the national anthem is being sung, off key, by 90 thousand football fans, is transmitted around the world, with the caption, “This traitor hates America.” Social media influencers will have something to say about it, one way or the other. And the trickle-down podcast cascade will share it. Late night unfunny-men will make jokes about it.
“How about this guy who didn’t stand for the national anthem,” and they will somehow associate everything bad that’s happening in the country with this dude.
“It’s people like, “this guy,” (delivered with a snide kind of sarcasm and disdain), that are driving the cost of diesel fuel to ten dollars a gallon. It’s why you can’t get a dozen eggs for $2.99, it’s why Ukraine is losing the war and Russia will invade the Balkans tomorrow.” And of course, somehow, Orange man Bad will be implicated. Because any Trump put-down gets applause.
This is real talk, for real life. And this is why the herd is never right.
The herd doesn’t make strategies, it doesn’t come up with theories and it doesn’t make decisions. It makes choices. Usually binary choices, that are presented to them from external sources.
“Shuffle on into the corral, or be eaten by the barking dogs.”
If you are a regular viewer of the Full Metal Ox series, you know we have very strict parameters for what constitutes truth. It must be true from every angle, true for everybody, and true every time. This business with crowds. It’s looking like truth, from the Simulatrix. However, since there’s always the probability that we’ve missed something, we will still call it “Truth,” with the caveat, that some unknown, unknown information might emerge and crumble our little theory. With all that being stated, on the record, we will still avoid crowds, thank you very much, as much as possible. Because the herd is never right.

If you have questions or comments, holla.
Meanwhile,
Stay safe, stay strong, stay sane, stay savvy, stay serene, stay sovereign, stay subscribed.
PEACE.