Sheeple

The term, "Sheeple" is now a part of the lexicon.  It is freely used and generally understood.  Sheeple are those who don't think for themselves, are spoon-fed what they take as the truth, and are generally apathetic.  It is, of course, used entirely with scorn.

Who are the sheeple?  Well, for a start, they aren't me, I, us.  They are they, them etc..  I have never seen anyone refer to themselves as sheeple.  I have, however, seen both left wing people and right wing people use it towards the other side.  The left say sheeple get their marching orders from Fox News and the Daily Mail, and the right say sheeple get their marxist thought control from MSNBC and The Guardian.  Each side then returns fire with the idea that the view of themselves being sheeple is just an idea implanted into the brains of the automatons from the left/right by their overlords.  Conspiracy theorists are addicted to the concept.

Of course, it would be hard to ignore the largest political unit in the US (with a minimum of 37% of eligible voters in every presidential election for the past 67 years), and one of the larger political segments in the UK (with a low of 16% and a high of 40% over the same period) those who don't vote.  As a group of politically uninterested, unthinking, apathetic people, this group is hard to beat.

My question is whether this term is accurate, useful, or should even be thought of as a term of scorn?  Perhaps the sheeple have made the best choice of all?

Is it accurate?  Well, if the use of the term defines its accuracy then sheeple describes almost anyone.  To not be classed as sheeple a person would have to be viewed as a widely informed, independent thinker by everybody.  I'm not even sure such a being exists.  So, is there an objective standard for sheeple?  I would say that getting information from a very small number of sources, and those sources being of a similar philosophical bent would qualify.  That's almost certainly a large proportion of those who don't vote (more on this later) but I would imagine it is also true of those who vote one way or the other.  How many people who vote for the right get their news and opinion from a couple of newspapers and a couple of tv shows with which they agree?  Most of them I would imagine.  How about on the left?  I think most of my tiny audience are lefties, and I bet they get most of their information from NPR, The New York Times, The Daily Show, MSNBC, The Nation, and The Huffington Post.  When you go to Google News do you pick equally from the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal?  I think probably most people, wherever they are on the spectrum, are sheeple.

Is it useful?  Well, has anyone ever been convinced by being called sheeple?  Has it ever advanced the cause of humanity?  No.  Has it ever motivated someone to increase their efforts for the greater good of the planet?  No.  Calling people sheeple is simply a term of contempt, dismissing the views of others, the life of others, basically reducing people to objects.  We are never sheeple in our own minds, but we sure can identify them in the general public.  Ironically, calling people sheeple is likely to make you more sheeple yourself, as you are blindly dismissing the ideas, information, and conclusions of a whole swathe of people.  Of course, those people might be ignorant buffoons, but you'll never really know that unless you consistently listen to their points of view and consider them.  The final point is that you might be sheeple.  I might be sheeple.

Then, how about a term of scorn?  Let's take the platonic ideal of sheeple.  This person barely has a concept of the news, couldn't name anyone in their government, watches mainstream TV more seriously than they do anything else, and is fine with just not caring.  They never vote, don't care how the government works and can't understand why someone would.  To them the whole exercise is pointless.  OK, are they wrong?  If they are generally happy with their lives and don't cause harm, why should they watch the news?  What's in it for them?  If they don't like watching the news surely it makes sense not to do so.  If they like mainstream reality TV then they should watch it, it makes them happy.  How much difference does their voting make?  Absolutely none if the election isn't separated by a single vote.  If their vote doesn't count why should they pay attention to the government, it's just going to do what it does regardless.  It is actually quite sensible to believe that an individual person's involvement is completely pointless. If your involvement is pointless and you like doing other things, it is only rational not to care.

So, perhaps being one of the sheeple is the best choice of all.  Then why do I feel the need not to be sheeple so badly?