Discussion Forum (Archived)
Guest
I think that if there's one word that I would like to hear less frequently, I think that it would be "sheeple." Aside from the simple fact of it being overused, it seems to be a way of portraying those who do not share your political opinions as almost non-human. Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this, but it seems to me that anything that feeds the destructive "us versus them" mentality that's so dominant in American political discourse is the exact opposite of what we need right now.
I also think that "sheeple" is a somewhat obnoxious term because it seems to be a word that people use to make themselves feel smart. Ironically, some might argue that many of the people who use the word "sheeple" are themselves somewhat like mindless sheep following the crowd. Does anyone share my feelings on this topic?
I mainly see the word “sheeple†used in postings on political forums or in the comments sections on news websites. The term is frequently used to describe followers of a politician whom the poster dislikes or people who are perceived as not intelligent enough to support the candidate the poster favors. More often than not, it's accompanied by the admonishment “Wake up people!â€, which is often spelled out in all-caps (Reading forums with this level of discourse usually makes me feel like I'm losing brain cells).
I think I see the problem with "sheeple."
Folks who use it seem be saying, "Well, *I'm* a free-thinker. I don't follow anybody. I'm not swayed or influenced by talk, advertising, or anything else. But other people are. They'd have to be, right, to go along with someone else's ideas or message?"
It's a partner to complaints about bias in the media. People who complain about that seem to be saying that *they're* not influenced by a biased media, but some other kind of person--everyone else?--is. They themselves are too wise or too observant to be taken in by bias.
Of course, the lie in both situations is the idea that some people cannot be influenced. To be human is to be influenced or influenceable, to one degree or another. Even repulsion or objection is a form of being influenced.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
1 Guest(s)