Conformity and obedience aren’t necessarily bad things. All social systems require a certain amount of conformity to function. Driving on the left-hand side of the road or the voting systems require a high degree of ‘conformity’ so as to allow these systems to function for all. However, conformity without critique or ‘passive conformity’ is extraordinarily dangerous as it shifts responsibility from individuals and the collective agency of individuals to the singular authority of tyrants and monomaniacs. In this instance, it is the passive conformist who is equally complicit in any wrong doings as the tyrant themselves. All tyrannical regimes had their passive conformists and, unfortunately, history judges them far too lightly. All tyrants defer to necessity; all conformists defer to cynicism.
(Jim Nolan)
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