{"id":1408,"date":"2014-06-20T12:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T11:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2014-06-20T12:27:11","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T11:27:11","slug":"crowds-and-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1408","title":{"rendered":"Crowds and Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?--> The recent events in Iraq and the rise of ISIS as a regional power makes one wonder what all of the Western intervention in the region has achieved. \u00a0It reminded me of reading a book written back in the 1960s &#8211; Masse ind Macht (or Crowds and Power) by Elias Canetti.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Canetti was not an academic. \u00a0He was an intelligent observer. \u00a0I read the book after visiting Koln for a Beerfest. \u00a0It made me understand a lot more about why and, perhaps how, Hitler came to Power. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure if it is a particularly German thing. \u00a0But if you get a load of folk from that part of the world, give them beer and get them roused by a speech from someone you can barely see the other end of the room who is booming on a loudspeaker, then the binding, tribal atmosphere becomes extraordinary.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MMOnNE0Yats?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The entry in Wikipedia about the book is short:<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>(The book) is notable for its unusual tone; although wide ranging in its erudition, it is not scholarly or academic in a conventional way. \u00a0Rather, it reads like a manual written by someone outside the human race explaining to another outsider in concise and highly metaphoric language how people form mobs and manipulate power. \u00a0Unlike most non-fiction writing, it is highly poetic and seething with anger.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><i>On asking questions: &#8220;On the questioner the effect is a feeling of enhanced power. He enjoys this and consequentially asks more and more questions; every answer he receives is an act of submission. Personal freedom consists largely in having a defense against questions. The most blatant tyranny is the one which asks the most blatant questions.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\">.<\/div>\n<p>The thought I particularly like is the idea that, for every question asked, the questioner has an enhanced sense of power and those who give answers are each time submitting to those in power. \u00a0For me, this is a subtle definition of personal freedom. \u00a0We have choices to submit or not to submit. \u00a0To answer questions or to have a defense against those questions.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In the context of the current world order, then, who asks the questions of those who are bullys? \u00a0Perhaps that is another dimension to the problem. \u00a0But certainly, in the businesses that I work within, the person asking the difficult and cleverer questions is the person who sees him or herself in authority.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>It was brilliantly articulated by a friend of mine this week who related the story of an ex-boss of his (now very senior in a UK PLC).<\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">New Boss:<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">OK, please show me your plans. \u00a0How exactly are you are going to achieve your objectives by the end of this financial year?<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">Subordniate<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">Stutters, shows plan (covering up the areas that he does not want unpicked). \u00a0Relief at presenting plan.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">New Boss:<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">OK. \u00a0thanks for that. \u00a0Now tell me what question I should have asked you that would have exposed the real weakness in your plan?<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #00f900;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Questioners and Bullys. \u00a0The world is full of them each seeking their own power. \u00a0The question for the majority of us, surely, is how to expand the footprint of personal freedom whilst ensuring that the spirit drummed-up such as that described in Canetti\u2019s Crowds and Power does not promote dictators, terrorism and crime. \u00a0The pictures in the video above have an uncanny resemblance to the atrocities that have been happening in Iraq in the past few weeks. \u00a0Yet the strategies and tactics to prevent such acts seem to have developed little in the past hundred years. \u00a0Time to think of a better way.<span style=\"color: #00f900;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent events in Iraq and the rise of ISIS as a regional power makes one wonder what all of the Western intervention in the region has achieved. \u00a0It reminded me of reading a book written back in the 1960s &#8211; Masse ind Macht (or Crowds and Power) by Elias Canetti. Canetti was not an &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1408\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Crowds and Power&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[78,42,71,80,67,50,51,57],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DQGK-mI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1932,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1932","url_meta":{"origin":1408,"position":0},"title":"TT2001 &#8211; Into a New Decade","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"02\/01\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"New Year's Eve 1989\/90 - Licenced - Alamy Stock Photo D: 2A84TB4\u00a0\u00a0(RM) - Fall of the Berlin Wall It was the turning of the 89\/90 decade.I was in Berlin for New Year\u2019s Eve.Fireworks were only allowed thenTo celebrate the turning of the year.I was at a party well away from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Ideas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Ideas","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=42"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Screenshot-2020-01-02-at-21.49.08.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Screenshot-2020-01-02-at-21.49.08.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Screenshot-2020-01-02-at-21.49.08.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":911,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=911","url_meta":{"origin":1408,"position":1},"title":"Lorne at the Lords","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"29\/03\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I gave evidence at the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications on Tuesday - all about the future of UK Internet Access. There is\u00a0 a video of it here:","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1169,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1169","url_meta":{"origin":1408,"position":2},"title":"2012: What Will You Remember?","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"27\/12\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As we leave 2012, there are many things we may remember which, for those that live in the UK, can \u00a0be summed up as a year of broken records: The driest spring for 100 years followed by the wettest 9 months since records began The summer Olympic and Paralympic games\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Ideas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Ideas","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=42"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spectators Queue At Greenwich Park For The Equestrian Events","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/2012_Games_Maker-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":959,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=959","url_meta":{"origin":1408,"position":3},"title":"Mechanical Swarms","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"03\/05\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In my research on swarms, I came across this extraordinary video of a swarm of \u00a0tiny flying machines called \"nano quadrotors\". \u00a0You have to watch it to believe it. \u00a0The mind boggles when you think of some of the applications! \u00a0Once you have watched the short video, please leave any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Animated&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Animated","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":558,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=558","url_meta":{"origin":1408,"position":4},"title":"Emergence and Swarm Consciousness","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"09\/07\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As the honeybee swarming season is ending, I have been reflecting on the four swarms we have caught this season and the phenomenon that some call \"swarm consciousness\". 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