I have noticed this not only throughout my school years but also in various offices where I have worked, where the bully can do no wrong; sometimes the management almost worship them - sometimes they are the management! When this occurs, the working environment becomes very inefficient, but the false image, put out by the domineering minority, is that of peak efficiency. People have to show they are working correctly, not only to gain favour, but to protect their own interests. A culture of memo writing, accusations and rumours develop. In a short while the working day gets bogged down with people passing responsibility to others, so they can’t get blamed if anything goes wrong. Eventually the stress of working in this environment makes people petty, infantile and short tempered. The situation becomes an microcosm of what it must be like to live under a dictatorship. There are various reasons why and how this happens, but one strong possibility is the way we are conditioned during our school years and in society generally. We may be technologically advanced, but the savage mentality is still very evident.
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We live in a society of double standards. Violence can be seen on almost any television channel, sometimes on several in one evening. The television and film media appear to be obsessed with people prancing around with guns, destruction, and/or uniformed nondescripts aggressively barking at each other, either displaying prowess of rank or some other mindless drivel. Children's toy guns and combat uniforms are readily available from most toy shops along with aggressive computer games. To play at war appears to be acceptable, providing the macabre aspects are sanitised. I believe exposing any child to mindless aggression as a game, is a very dangerous and stupid form of peer pressure. It's little wonder society has problems with antisocial behaviour.
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I believe we are subtly brainwashed from an early age. Whether it is done deliberately or not is debatable. We go to school for education, but I question whether the system encourages us to think? I can only reflect upon my own school days in the 1960's, which seemed more like a training camp for future dictators than an education establishment! The system constantly encouraged group activity in which aggressively excelling in sport appeared to be the ultimate aspiration. It was assumed all boys and girls were sports enthusiasts. Anyone who did not fit this criteria was subjected to excessive bullying, usually with the full approval and participation of the sports masters. The entire system appeared to pivot around this notion which seemed to reverberate from the playing field into the classroom. Education was not considered an enjoyable experience, more of a bind in which information was pumped into your brain for the sole purpose of being regurgitated at the all important exam. Everyone had to fit the stereotype image of what the hierarchy accepted as standard pupils, rather like a production line of achievers with natural leadership skills and a remainder who were supposed to regimentally aspire to them. Both categories reacted to a simplistic pecking order that didn’t necessarily require much thought and in an extreme sense nullified personal responsibility. CONTINUED
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