The silent majority

[Joy2day]

It has occurred to me that often the majority holding a certain opinion are silent & that we only ever hear from the vocal minority. In so many things: politics, religious beliefs, popular opinion, we often assume that the vocal minority represent the majority, when in fact they don’t. In Our Lord’s death, it was due to a vocal minority; social media would lead you to believe that Muslims are taking over the world & set on destroying everyone, whereas statistically they only represent about 20% of the population (please correct me if I’m wrong); further, political parties have removed their leaders based on the opinion of a vocal minority, only to find their party subsequently falling behind the opposition as a result. Just an interesting observation I have come across.

 

[RPRPsych]

It has occurred to me that often the majority holding a certain opinion are silent & that we only ever hear from the vocal minority. In so many things: politics, religious beliefs, popular opinion, we often assume that the vocal minority represent the majority, when in fact they don’t. In Our Lord’s death, it was due to a vocal minority; social media would lead you to believe that Muslims are taking over the world & set on destroying everyone, whereas statistically they only represent about 20% of the population (please correct me if I’m wrong); further, political parties have removed their leaders based on the opinion of a vocal minority, only to find their party subsequently falling behind the opposition as a result. Just an interesting observation I have come across.

Good observation.

The trouble is that a vocal minority can significantly influence public opinion.

The “gay rights” movement, when it began, was minuscule in terms of numbers, but it slowly began to influence more and more people. As a result, there is not only a vocal minority, but a larger (and more insidiously dangerous) group of “silent assenters”, who may not be personally affected by the issue at hand, but believe it is important or true because the vocal minority keeps talking about it! In other words, the silent majority has to contend not just with noisemakers, but with those who listen to them and think “Hmm, you know, they probably have a point…”

When this topic comes up, I’m always reminded of a passage from Giovanni Guareschi:

Don Camillo: “But Lord, surely we must consider public opinion…”
Christ: “Public opinion, Don Camillo, nailed me to the Cross.”

 

[mikekle]

Good observation.

The trouble is that a vocal minority can significantly influence public opinion.

The “gay rights” movement, when it began, was minuscule in terms of numbers, but it slowly began to influence more and more people. As a result, there is not only a vocal minority, but a larger (and more insidiously dangerous) group of “silent assenters”, who may not be personally affected by the issue at hand, but believe it is important or true because the vocal minority keeps talking about it! In other words, the silent majority has to contend not just with noisemakers, but with those who listen to them and think “Hmm, you know, they probably have a point…”
)

You are exactly right, what started as a minority has grown to what we see today, its really amazing such a 180 has been done in such a short time imo.

It also makes me wonder what ‘minority’ we see today, is eventually going to become the norm in the next 20-50 yrs…there have been many debates on this, and I think it will be a bad thing, something most of us today would consider wrong and even criminal…but over time, with enough convincing, it will become widely accepted, laws will be put in place to protect it, etc etc. People will look back just as they do today and wonder how people could have considered it wrong or criminal.

Personally, from what Ive seen in recent years, it will be either accepted pedophilia or legal relationships with ‘objects’.(non-living), or maybe animals to some degree, but I doubt that could ever become widely accepted…
Then again, Im sure many people thought the same thing about homosexuality or transgenders, so, who knows!

Its really all ready happening, I remember when I was younger, it was literally unheard of to hear of teachers or professional adults having sexual relationships with underage kids, but nowadays, this is almost common to hear on the news, honestly Im not shocked at hearing this anymore…that means I have been desensitized to it, given enough time and ‘conditioning’, it very easily could become an accepted thing, I may still not agree its right, along with many other people,(like we do about transgender now), but in general, society as a whole will prevail, depending on popular sentiment and what direction it is swayed.

 

[Crusaderbear]

Empty barrels make the most noise.

 

[jimcav]

Vocal minorities only become vocal when somebody sees a useful need for them.

Gay rights didn’t just happen. The women’s movement didn’t just happen. The LGBT movement didn’t just happen. Neither did the hippie movement, the anti-war movement, hip hop music, black lives matter or occupy Wall Street. They, and many other movements, are pushed along and given money and support by very shady, yet powerful actors, that use them to sow discord and disharmony.

There are forces out there that are shaping society to fit their evil schemes. None of what we are seeing or living through happened organically…

 

[RPRPsych]

(exits thread before the usual stories about Communists, Freemasons, the Illuminati, Vatican II and the Jews begin…)

 

[Kaninchen]

Hm, I can’t say I’ve ever come across the ‘silent majority’.

Perhaps they’re drowned out by the various loud people on both (or more) sides of most issues?

 

[RPRPsych]

Hm, I can’t say I’ve ever come across the ‘silent majority’.

Perhaps they’re drowned out by the various loud people on both (or more) sides of most issues?

Dang it, don’t make me re-enter!

That’s a terrific point. “If you can’t be good, be loud and drown everyone else out”. Our Parliament tends to work on these lines.

 

[RPRPsych]

Vocal minorities only become vocal when somebody sees a useful need for them.

Gay rights didn’t just happen. The women’s movement didn’t just happen. The LGBT movement didn’t just happen. Neither did the hippie movement, the anti-war movement, hip hop music, black lives matter or occupy Wall Street. They, and many other movements, are pushed along and given money and support by very shady, yet powerful actors, that use them to sow discord and disharmony.

There are forces out there that are shaping society to fit their evil schemes. None of what we are seeing or living through happened organically…

While I generally shy away from conspiracy theories of any sort (my answer to “What’s wrong with the world?” is cribbed shamelessly from Chesterton ) I may have to agree with you on this one. Rap music is the creation of Old Scratch himself. Compared to it, heavy metal is Gregorian chant.

 

[jimcav]

While I generally shy away from conspiracy theories of any sort (my answer to “What’s wrong with the world?” is cribbed shamelessly from Chesterton ) I may have to agree with you on this one. Rap music is the creation of Old Scratch himself. Compared to it, heavy metal is Gregorian chant.

Well, conspiracy theorists have been ignored for some 50 years now, but if you look back at what organizations like The John Birch Society were saying then, they were pretty much spot on and predicted much of what we are complaining about today.

That things are as they are, has come as no surprise to them…

 

[Peccavi]

Lots of mysoginist and judgemental views being expressed. I am reminded Jesus told us not to judge that is God’s right and God’s right alone. Jesus said see to it you love one another as he has loved us. I must love all, the good, the bad and the ugly equally. They are ALL created in God’s image, they are all his children. As your Pope said " Who am I to judge". The silent majority judges less than the strident voices who condemn this or that person or this and that belief.

 

[kozlosap]

Vocal minorities only become vocal when somebody sees a useful need for them.

Gay rights didn’t just happen. The women’s movement didn’t just happen. The LGBT movement didn’t just happen. Neither did the hippie movement, the anti-war movement, hip hop music, black lives matter or occupy Wall Street. They, and many other movements, are pushed along and given money and support by very shady, yet powerful actors, that use them to sow discord and disharmony.

There are forces out there that are shaping society to fit their evil schemes. None of what we are seeing or living through happened organically…

Thank goodness that there are those who see injustice and try to remedy it.

Do you really believe that the Civil Rights movement or suffrage for women and marriage equality for gay couples are just causes that crazy groups lobbied for and that life would certainly be much easier if we lived in 1921 America?. Even though most dyed in the wool conservatives were against all of the above, they eventually accepted that society will no longer tolerate hate towards those different than themselves. For the life of me, I cannot figure out one major social advance or legislation the Conservatives have put forward that has made life easier for those not white and male. Do not try and use the Lincoln analogy - he would be a Progressive in 2016.

 

[Regular_Atheist]

Well, conspiracy theorists have been ignored for some 50 years now, but if you look back at what organizations like The John Birch Society were saying then, they were pretty much spot on and predicted much of what we are complaining about today.

That things are as they are, has come as no surprise to them…

What did they say that was right? I have a very tenuous knowledge of the John Birch Society, but I thought they tended to just accuse lots of things of being communist plots.

 

[jimcav]

Thank goodness that there are those who see injustice and try to remedy it.

Do you really believe that the Civil Rights movement or suffrage for women and marriage equality for gay couples are just causes that crazy groups lobbied for and that life would certainly be much easier if we lived in 1921 America?. Even though most dyed in the wool conservatives were against all of the above, they eventually accepted that society will no longer tolerate hate towards those different than themselves. For the life of me, I cannot figure out one major social advance or legislation the Conservatives have put forward that has made life easier for those not white and male. Do not try and use the Lincoln analogy - he would be a Progressive in 2016.

Did I mention Civil Rights or women’s suffrage?

Are you really comparing the Civil Rights Movement and women’s suffrage with Occupy Wall St or Black Lives Matter or the hippie movement? I think not.

You look at the movements I mentioned as some kind of advances while I see them leading to a Godless, family-less, broken, eternally confused society…

 

[RPRPsych]

Well, conspiracy theorists have been ignored for some 50 years now, but if you look back at what organizations like The John Birch Society were saying then, they were pretty much spot on and predicted much of what we are complaining about today.

That things are as they are, has come as no surprise to them…

Hmm, I tend to take the long view. The conspiracy started thousands of years ago with a serpent… (And the Church was saying those things far more cogently, and much earlier.)

 

[jimcav]

What did they say that was right? I have a very tenuous knowledge of the John Birch Society, but I thought they tended to just accuse lots of things of being communist plots.

From a 1973 speech

Everything he said is spot, spot, spot on!!!

1 Greatly expanded government spending for every conceivable means of getting rid of ever larger sums of American money as wastefully as possible.

2.Higher and then much higher taxes.

3.An increasingly unbalanced budget despite the higher taxes.

4.Wild inflation of our currency.

5.Government controls of prices, wages and materials supposedly to combat inflation.

6.Greatly increased socialistic controls over every operation of our economy and every activity of our daily lives. This is to be accompanied naturally and automatically by a correspondingly huge increase in the size of our bureaucracy and in both the cost and reach of our domestic government.

7.Far more centralization of power in Washington, and the practical elimination of our state lines. There is a many-faceted drive at work to have our state lines eventually mean no more within the nation than our county lines do now within the states.

8.The steady advance of federal aid to and control over our educational system leading to complete federalization of our public education.

9.A constant hammering into the American consciousness of the horror of modern warfare. The beauties and the absolute necessities of peace, peace always on communist terms of course.

10.The constant willingness of the American people to allow the steps of appeasement by our government that amount to a piece meal surrender of the rest of the free world and the United States itself.

You can see the speech here - youtube.com/watch?v=vwWJQ9PRFIs

 

[RPRPsych]

From a 1973 speech

Everything he said is spot, spot, spot on!!!

You can see the speech here - youtube.com/watch?v=vwWJQ9PRFIs

Well, making that “prophecy” in 1973 wasn’t too difficult; classical economists had been saying things like that much earlier.

Now contrast with contemporary Catholic social teaching, which was warning about those things and the liberal agenda on marriage / contraception / abortion since the late 19th - early 20th century…sorry, John Birch Society, you guys come in a distant second.

 

[Little_Sheep]

You are not the majority.

 

[jimcav]

You are not the majority.

Trump is betting they are.

We’ll see…

 

[Regular_Atheist]

Trump is betting they are.

We’ll see…

You support Trump? Trump supports socialized healthcare and is a protectionist. He would be responsible for a lot of the things you imply are insidious with that John Birch Society “prophecy.” I’ve heard lots of right-libertarians accuse Trump of being a socialist. That’s ridiculous, of course, but chances are that he does meet your definition of a socialist.

Do you honestly believe that the USA is at risk of becoming communist?