"Public opinion is like herding sheep...once you get one going in the direction you want the rest will surely follow. You could be herding them to slaughter and the last one will be pushing to be in the lead right up til the end."
Anonymous
How often have we seen it happen? Two people share a concept that turns out well. Then a third joins, and a fourth, and suddenly the bandwagon starts rolling and it's everyone for themselves in trying to catch up and jump on board. No matter that the original concept might not apply to everyone, but they want to get their piece of it so when the great reckoning comes they can say they were on 'that' bandwagon.
I saw this again recently in an article on CNN.com. It was about global warming, sort of. In it you read about all these other ideas to help stop the rise in gases affecting global warming. As you read you notice that these are all ideas you have heard somewhere before. Indeed they are, it even mentions in the article that these were studies and ideas presented many times in the past. The difference here is global warming is the latest buzz word. It's a hot topic in today's news.
People usually decide that their suggestions or ideas would get more consideration if they link them to whatever is new and exciting. They'll at least get more air play. Even though there is a still debate in the scientific community as to the extent humans play in the current global warming trend, it's what everyone is talking about so finding a way to attach yourself to it is an instant way to get more publicity. Marketing departments have done it for years. If Adidas could figure out a way to link their footwear to halting global warming they would.
Global warming has provided the bandwagon upon which health, and vegetarian agendas have jumped aboard. Eat less meat and walk more. Both good ideas, and we as Americans have known this for years.Are Americans more obese then other countries? It seems so. Yet we are a richer country income wise then most, and throughout history well off people tend to throw away more food then the poor had to eat. Portraits painted in the 17th and 18th centuries always portrayed the model as plump, as this was a sign of wealth and healthiness displaying that they could afford to eat well. Plus rich enough to get their portraits made to boot. Do we know we are fat? Again the answer is yes, as most media has pointed to a growing obesity epidemic in our children. Nothing anyone has tried has slowed down the trend so far. So now we'll make it about saving the planet.
Politicians are experts at catching the bandwagon and at times dismounting without the public even realising it. Since global warming is such a current topic they all have their stance on it prepared. If enough people voice their concern about something you can bet politicians will be ready to pay lip service to it. They are equally skilled at sliding off the bandwagon and denying having ever been aboard. When the numbers in the Iraq war debate started shifting in Bush's favor, there was a mad rush to get on the wagon. Now that it appears that particular one went straight over the cliff many of our elected officials want to deny ever having been a part of it.
A far more common place we see bandwagons is in sports. Every year people jump to whoever is the hot team. Last year Saints fans came out of the woodwork, but with their 0-4 start this season they all but disappeared. Last year Sean Payton was hailed as an innovator and savior of the franchise. Unfortunately for the Saints he appeared to believe that and got a little too caught up in his own parade, as his changes to the offensive playbook this offseason not only confused the opposing defenses but his own offense as well. Apparently the shredding of the changes, and surgery to deflate his head during their bye week may have saved their season.
Another example would be the Denver Broncos. They had a dynasty for several years, but with their declining playoff appearances and early playoff exits it appears their bandwagon has lost a wheel (and their vaunted running attack). Empty seats abound at Invesco Field these days. If they continue to lose this season, it would be a great time to buy those hard to get seats as a season ticket holder for whenever they get it back on track.
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7 comments:
I can't argue with you that global warming is a new bandwagon. Of course it is. The issue here is whether a popular topic (maybe hippie protests like ending the Vietnam war, for example) has any resonance within the broader community to truly make positive societal changes. You can consider it a bandwagon, but you can also see it as a new call to change, one so environmentally and ecologically tied to other systems that all these new connections (or bandwagons) realize their issues are linked.
I'd like to see some more specifics out of your posts. Can you provide an example of the 17th and 18th century portrature/painting? And then move more broadly. What is the link between American obesity, richness, and the lack of signing the Kyoto treaty, for example? What does this all mean? Couldn't there be more to the story?
I agree with you about the bandwagon issue. Especially since the media has the ability to shift their viewers mindset. This is often due to the public not deciding for their selves and following the crowd. Great post keep it coming.
Nowadays we cannot live without the media. We get information and news by the media from all over the world. We can also enjoy entertainment from the media. The influence from the media has filtered into people’s life. The power and influence from media is growing stronger.
However, we cannot neglect the side effect of the media. Media can mislead or report biased news sometimes and then we can be misled by erronous information. The violent scenes that are common in news reports can have a negative impact on children.
Amber told me you started a blog and I had a hard time believing it for two reasons;
1) For a guy who normally is so far under the radar to draw attention to himself is out of character. Didn't think your seven years was up yet.
2) Where's the fire? Normally if you take up a cause or release the inner rant something ends up mangled. This writing is like a PG rated version of you. Why the vanilla version?
Evil Dave has a blog? Say it isn't so! I read it but not sure why you are blogging about that anyhow, and didn't even know you knew how to blog. Amazing things happen everyday I guess.
Remember what Fred always told you;
"When the people of another country go to the great lengths to kill you, the least you could do is to have the courtesy to stay deceased."
I still don't know how he said that with a straight face.
Global warming might be a bandwagon issue but if it brings new attention to the same problem that we seem to not be able to solve I don’t think it is really such a bad thing. There is always going to be a bandwagon issue, people want to be “in”, but it is not necessarily a bad way to spreading ideas about a topic. It makes news travel faster and causes people to become more aware.
We defiantly live in a “jump on the bandwagon” world. I know that I am part of it. Before everyone started talking about going green, I had never heard of it and never even thought to do anything to help the environment. After I moved up here and saw that everyone around was trying to do their part, I started to also. I try and buy organics, I recycle, I buy some cleaners without harsh chemicals. But isn’t the bandwagon how anything gets popular? Think about it, your best friend just heard the new JT song and loves it. So you listen to it and love it too, then telling a different friend about it. Isn’t everyone just jumping on the JT bandwagon then? I guess one of the reasons that people follow things that are hot and important is because it makes them feel good. It makes me feel good that I can be doing something to help save the world just by changing a few things in my life. Interesting post that made me think a bit.
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