Why do We Have Areas of Heavy Group Think?

One of the main issues the left has right now with accepting Trump as president is that he did not win the popular vote, only the electoral college. The electoral college was put in place to ensure that one state did not rule over the entire nation. Even in current days, this is a huge threat, with the ruling states being California (55) and Texas (38). 

A lot of comments have been made about the "group think" in specific areas, mainly coastal areas and especially large cities. States with more large cities tend to have more liberal leaning people and laws, and usually vote for liberal candidates. More rural and less densely populated areas tend to go to the right. Why is that?

Well, I have a theory. When you go to a city like, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco, you tend to find yourself in an absolute liberal haven. There are tons and tons of people in those cities. My theory is that the mix of ideologies isn't there because your ideas and thoughts are always being validated and not challenged. 

Let's face it, a lot of people suffer from a herd mentality, and will go along with the group. So when a stronger personality comes through and says something, a lot of heads will nod, because they must be right since they are so assertive about it. When someone steps up and says something different, they are chastised, mocked, and suffer much more dire consequences. But when you say something that sounds like it would appeal to the stronger personality, everyone rewards you and rallies around you, making you feel like a stronger personality as well. This forces people to come up with ideas that may, in the long run, effect no good change or make much sense in how they would actually work, but their ideas are being validated and rewarded instead of chastised. 

We are seeing this right now in mostly large cities, where anyone with a conservative view is verbally and physically attacked by groups like Antifa, because their views don't conform. The threat of verbal or physical confrontation is enough for some people to conform and keep their real feelings to themselves, to not speak out at all, just to keep themselves safe and avoid any type of confrontation that is unfavorable. 

Now, if you live in "fly over country," you don't have as many people around patting you on the back. You probably don't have time to discuss politics or anything like that. And you are living with the consequences of what the large cities are dropping down on you. You may live in a state with a decent balance of ideas, and if you do, you have the unique opportunity to have your ideas challenged and to challenge others. If there aren't many folks around or no one talks about it, you get your challenge online and in other ways. But your ideas aren't being formed to conform with the herd. So whether your ideas are liberal or conservative, odds are you came to those conclusions through some actual work - research, listening, debate, etc. And you most likely aren't being confronted violently by groups like Antifa that demand your conformity and scare you into silence. 

I'm not sure if larger cities are a group think lost cause at this point. Remember, a very strong personality could be enough to at least force a balance. But right now, you have groups like Antifa that have taken the place of a strong personality and replaced it with a physical threat. That physical threat alone is enough to force herd mentality because very few people want to be caught up in a violent confrontation for speaking out. 

But people also like to congregate in areas where people think like themselves. If you are a conservative, you may feel very out of place and very lonely in a liberal city. However, if you moved to a smaller city in a place like Texas, you wouldn't feel as out of place. 

If we could break up the herd mentality, people would most likely spread out better through the nation. There would be a challenge to your ideas all the time, the chance for learning, the chance to expand and debate your ideas and the ideas of others. Our elections would be more complete and fair. But with the growth of hate groups in our nation like the white nationalists, Antifa, KKK, and BLM, people are going to move more and more towards places where people are like minded. This will move people away from centrist ideas and more towards extremes, simply because their ideas are no longer being challenged so they can feel safe. The strong personalities and the violent groups will rule the think in those areas and people will change themselves to conform or simply not participate at all. This will spill over to the other avenues of ideas and research, like the internet, where you will be constantly attacked for speaking out on various platforms. 

Whether you are liberal or conservative, you need to not be afraid to speak out. Take the chance today to get out of your comfort zone. Say something you believe publicly. Stand up for it - without violence. Be the first step. 

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