Sheep in the BIG City

This article I wrote, is not about a funny cartoon though…

An old observation made by French philosopher, Bertrand de Jouvenel was that a society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. What de Jouvenel was getting at by making this statement can be seen in any society of any country around the world. That being said, let’s clarify that it needs to be a society of sheep -- a society that follows and obeys, a society that never questions and just follows the crowd. This article is not about anarchy or rebellion; it is simply meant to enlighten you of how being informed makes you less sheepish. It is to inform you of the importance of being clued-up, eating information for breakfast, and not just any information but educated, well searched out nutritious information. 

Consuming information every day is as important as starting off your day with a good breakfast. Information fuels our perspective of reality; it provides insight and most importantly allows us to make informed decisions. Without it we are like sheep awaiting a pack of wolves to come along and devour us. It has to be said, though, that as beneficial as it is to possess good, unbiased information, so too can it be equally detrimental to possess misleading biased information. As much as it sounds like a conspiracy theory, the truth is that there will always be parties out there planting information that is meant to cover up the truth -- wolves that provide genetically modified grass to fatten us up so that they may feast on fat little sheep who do not question why the grass tastes different to the unmodified grass. Wolves may be defined as the government, big corporations, powerful individuals, biased media and just about anyone who wants to distribute seemingly true information to the masses for the purpose of personal gain. 

Let’s face it, information is power. However, the question remains: does the power automatically go to those who consume the information or does it actually remain with the source of the information? Quite simply put, the power lies with those who empower themselves with the right information and if misleading information reaches uninformed ears then the result is that the source gains more power. If misleading information falls into informed hands, the outcome is quite different though. Informed people can make informed choices and may choose to accept or reject information given to them. They may even choose to set the record straight by searching for the right information and openly discrediting misleading sources. 

That raises this next point: why is it important that people are aware of issues and things outside of their own lives or even fields of study? Why should a micro-biology student be bothered by politics? The answer is quite simple: you live here too don’t you? Are you or aren’t you a citizen of the Republic of South Africa? Do you live on planet earth or don’t you? Does the war in Iraq not influence what you pay for transportation, for food and your total cost of living? Being informed does give you power but it’s what you do with that power that counts. As Spiderman’s uncle said: “With great power comes great responsibility” and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. For democracy to work, a country needs not only an informed citizenry but an engaged one as well. 

The creators of the Massachusetts Constitution wrote: “Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of people, are necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties.” Most of those who go to university go to learn and further themselves to become part of an educated society. However, what’s the use of knowing how to write a press release, how to extract a chromosome, or how to draw up a legal contract if at the end of the day that is all you know. It’s all very good and well to further one’s education but to be truly educated and informed, a person would have to actively pursue knowledge and be open to it. Being at a tertiary institution does not exempt you from having to look for information; on the contrary, it means that you need to utilise the infrastructure that’s available to you. 

Simply feeding off of the mainstream media will also not supply you with the bigger picture as the media has long begun to show a worrisome tendency to downplay its role as even-handed, in-depth public educator and rather focuses on entertainment or once-over reporting. Readers and listeners need to view information critically and decide for themselves on the credibility of all the news they are exposed to. With social media and literally millions of online sources there’s no excuse in today’s world for a person to be uninformed.  As a community at university we need to come together and discuss information to verify its credibility and to form solid opinions and gain well-rounded perspectives. Democracy depends on it. Let us not forget that we are in fact human beings and not just sheep in the big city.□