As is often the case, something I saw today rang a chord with me, a correlation between one thing and another.
Human beings are much like flocking birds, when one turns the others follow.
People may have opinions, and we speak these opinions loudly, and often, mostly in small settings. In large gatherings we strive to fit in. We follow the lead of the majority. We may not agree with the direction, but we follow none-the-less.
I blog often about the transgender spring that we now are experiencing, and am so excited about it. But something I saw today makes me put it into another perspective. We are here simply because the majority has moved it's direction to respect us. The majority of people are following this lead.
This seems to be a mute point, but it is not. We are here not because we as a people have come to a greater understanding, but because we are all simply following a lead. Celebrities have brought it to the attention of the media, the media has seen it as a way to make money, so it's in all the media. If it's in all the media we will all accept it as OK.
Yes there will be those that disagree with it, but they will be a small struggling minority, barely heard. Today, as always, we can only effect change by altering the social perception. Once society believes a certain way, we will all follow.
For me, this particular situation is great! I get to be myself without fear of repercussion.
But what was the thing that stimulated this understanding? Something wonderful or terrible?
I'm sorry to say that it was the latter. Today I visited Dachau.
Dachau.... The model for all Natzi era concentration camps.
How can I compare these two things? I overheard a tour guide explaining that at the time these were not secret camps. Unlike the black ops camps operated by our government in their over zealous attempts to protect us from terrorists, these were public knowledge.
How could something as horrible as Dachau concentration camp be public knowledge? Why would the German public allow this to happen? They were in the pit of economic depression and this was presented as a way out financially. So when the majority went along with it, that was all it took.
How can I compare these two seemingly distinctly different situations? It boils down to human nature. The memorial to Dachau was presented as an educational experience so people would learn. But the reality is that we don't learn. We emulate what the majority of others do and let it go at that.
I'm a happy, positive person, but this experience has been a sobering one.