Common Herd

Beyond the “Foolish Masses” Paradigm:
Rethinking Power, Victimhood, and Resistance

From childhood, we’re fed a comfortable narrative: the world’s problems stem from the foolishness of the masses. It’s a seductive explanation that places blame conveniently away from powerful systems and structures, pointing instead to the supposed ignorance of ordinary people. But what if this framing itself is part of the problem?

The Paradox of Elite Foolishness

If we accept that foolishness is the root of our troubles, then the logical response should be to reduce it wherever we find it. Yet here’s the contradiction that exposes the hollowness of this narrative: even the elites who perpetuate this story are drawn from the same “foolish masses” they claim to transcend. The very people who position themselves as shepherds of the common herd are themselves products of that same herd.

This reveals something profound about power structures. The language itself betrays the mentality: “common herd,” “the flock,” “the mob.” When those in authority, whether political, religious, or economic, view their fellow human beings as livestock, is it any wonder that they treat them accordingly?

The Livestock Mentality

Consider how we think about productivity and labuor. Cattle don’t take weekends off from producing milk, so why should other animals, including human animals, expect respite from their productivity? This isn’t hyperbole; it’s the logical endpoint of viewing people as resources to be optimized rather than as individuals with inherent dignity.

The tragedy is that many of us internalise this perspective. We become complicit in our own exploitation, accepting the premise that we exist primarily to produce value for others. The cattle who fail to organize against their exploitation end up reinforcing the very system that diminishes them.

The Bully’s Playground

This dynamic mirrors how we handle bullying in society. We’ve created a bizarre moral universe where victims are treated as criminals while actual perpetrators escape accountability. The person being robbed has their fingerprints taken and their rights restricted, while the structural conditions that enable exploitation continue unchallenged.

We don’t tell bullies they’re criminals. We don’t name their behavior as wrong. Instead, we focus on what victims should do differently, how they should adapt, how they should accept their circumstances. This isn’t justice, it’s the systematisation of victim-blaming.

Beyond Shoulder Shrugging

The default response to injustice has become a collective shrug. “That’s just how things are,” we tell ourselves. But recognizing that we’re all victims of these systems creates an opportunity for solidarity rather than resignation. The least we can do is acknowledge: “This is wrong.”

When royalty and aristocracy see their subjects as a “common herd,” when religious leaders view their congregations as a “flock” to be managed, they’ve already dehumanized those they claim to serve. How can genuine human connection or moral leadership emerge from such a foundation?

The Politics of Distraction

Chris Addison once quipped about voting for a “cute dog act”, a perfect metaphor for how political discourse has evolved. When faced with the choice between addressing systematic impoverishment, austerity, and misery or being entertained by harmless distractions, we are increasingly encouraged to choose the cute dogs.

This isn’t an accident. It’s a feature of systems designed to maintain the status quo. If the masses truly were as foolish as claimed, they wouldn’t need such elaborate mechanisms of distraction and control to keep them compliant.

The Historical Pattern

Throughout history, people have resisted exploitation – from peasant revolts to modern labour movements. These weren’t the actions of a foolish mob but of human beings recognizing their dignity and demanding better. The persistence of resistance across cultures and centuries suggests that the capacity for moral reasoning and collective action isn’t the exception among the masses – it’s the rule.

Reclaiming Agency

The narrative of mass foolishness serves power by discouraging people from trusting their own moral instincts and collective judgment. But what if the opposite is true? What if ordinary people, when given accurate information and genuine choice, consistently choose co-operation over exploitation, dignity over degradation?

The question isn’t whether the masses are foolish, it’s whether we’ll continue accepting systems that treat human beings as livestock to be managed rather than as moral agents capable of self-governance.

So yes, bring on the cute dogs if that’s our only alternative. But let’s not pretend this represents the full range of human possibility. We can do better than choosing between exploitation and distraction. We can choose solidarity, dignity, and the radical act of treating each other as human beings rather than as members of a herd to be managed.

The first step is recognizing that the problem isn’t the foolishness of the masses, it’s the foolishness of systems that reduce human beings to their productivity and treat moral agency as a luxury only the elite can afford.

2/9/2014

From a very young age I’ve been told that the problems of the world stem from the foolishness of the masses. I accept this, therefore the correct response is to reduce foolishness

The foolish masses, the victims of themselves are starting to rise up to oppose their abuse and exploitation and take away the criminals ability to commit crime

How?

Even the elites are made up of the foolish masses

Cattle

Cattle do not take a break at the weekend from producing milk, therefore other animals / livestock should produce at the weekend too.

Human beings are not exempt from this consideration, after all, are they not referred to as the common herd, even religious leaders refer to human beings as their flock.

Human beings are animals to be cultivated like any other.

The cattle who do not organise their exploitation reinforce it. 

Bully

Take away the ability of the bully to bully, without reinforcing bullying

Bullying is wrong, but do we tell the bully this? No!

Is the bully told that he is a criminal? No!

The victim is told that he is a criminal, he has his right to carry money withdrawn and has his fingerprints taken.

Victim

We can do better than shrugging our shoulders and blaming the victims.

We’re all victims and therefore the least one can do is show solidarity and say: This is wrong!

Royalty and the aristocracy see their fellow human beings as the common herd, those in the church see their fellow human beings as their flock, therefore how can they relate to them as human beings?

Cute Dogs

Vote for a cute dog act – Chris Addison

Other quotes

Foolish masses

Common herd

The mob

Therefore some elite must be in control

What is the current elite organising?

What is the morality of the elite?

What is the morality of the masses?

Surveys

Of course if the mob weren’t so foolish they wouldn’t put up with it

List resistance

Peasants revolt etc

The choice seems to be impoverishment austerity and misery or cute dogs

Bring on the cute dogs