The Consequences of Group Mentality

            In the grand scheme of things, I am not a fan of globalization. In the past, I have seen it do more harm than good, and I fear for the future of society as it becomes increasingly more globalized every day. Though I acknowledge there may be some benefits to the process, I believe its function is no good for our world as a whole, due to its impact on the increasing ability to share information. This leads to people thinking less for themselves and more as part of a ‘group mentality’, and then they subconsciously follow the status quo, and ultimately making mindless decisions.

            Though I am not suggesting that we must fear another Holocaust, we certainly need to acknowledge that anti-Semitism still exists in different yet very harmful forms today, as Franklin Foer mentions in his book How Soccer Explains The World. Today. With social media and peoples ability to give and receive all types of information instantly, as well as see what other people are doing, I believe individuals have begun to lose their individuality and ability to think for themselves and have learned to rely on what they learn from others to guide their actions, because they can so easily see them. Foer’s description of how spectators treated the Tottenham soccer team is a clear example of this, as people thought it was okay to cheer “crude slurs” at them, even ones referencing the Holocaust. By partaking in this and cheering “Yiddos”, even if joking, the spectators were partaking in a group mentality, and ultimately sacrificing their individuality and possibly their moral beliefs because they got caught up in what everyone else was doing. He explains that this anti-Semitism very well may have been unintentional, “just an inherited custom without thought”, but this is what makes it so deadly—the fact that it is so careless.

People do scary things when they are masked or backed up by groups, and that is arguably how the Holocaust was able to occur. This is why I fear globalization.

            Globalization means people will be able to rally together more, think like groups more, and in my opinion, eventually lose their individuality. Diversity and uniqueness challenge society and are what force it to progress in a steady and appropriate pace. However, if we lose these central tenants of society, with the increase of globalization and flow of information, I fear we will see a day when people no longer think for themselves but turn to one, single person for all the answers.

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization (Franklin Foer, 2004).