Heroes Not Zombies

Stumbled across this quotation from Mencken yesterday –

“When they speak of the dangers of Americanization… [it] may be described in general, as the decay of spiritual values that has gone on among us during the past two generations. It may be described, in particular, as our growing impatience with the free play of ideas; our increasing tendency to reduce all virtues to the single one of conformity, our relentless and all-pervading standardization. This is what all Europe fears when it contemplates the growing importance and influence of The United States… By Americanization it means Fordization – and not only in industry but also in politics, art and even religion.”

When I read this, a passage from Seth Godin’s “We are all Weird” sprang to mind….

Mass is withering. The only things pushing against this trend are the factory mindset and the cultural bias toward compliance.

The control culture is crumbling. Remember that classic Apple ad?

Think Different

Celebrate your uniqueness. You really are a one off, and nobody, but nobody is a better expert in your personal experience than you are. We should resist being standardised. Be a hero, not a zombie.