Sheeple

Take a look at the video. Do you notice anything unusual? Anything unfamiliar? No? Have another look.

I had the old movies channel on in the background the other day, as I often do when working, and happened to look up and saw this clip from a movie. Something seemed wrong with it, something was missing, and as I watched it suddenly dawned on me what it was... the complete lack of road signs, of road markings, directions, parking signs, no parking signs, do this, don't do that. Just look at the video. Going back only a few decades we didn't have all these instructions we have today, requests, orders, threats, telling us what to do and not do all the time. We were trusted to be considerate, to use our own initiative. Look at the video closely, there are no white lines on the road at all, no double yellows, I can't see a single steel post with a sign on it. Everyone just got along ok back then, most were considerate of others and courteous to each other.

I was up on the roof of the new Swedish furniture store near us recently and there were so many signs, red no entry, blue right turn only, red no parking, exit, each in triplicate, repeated on every lane, yellow line markings on the ground, disabled only, mothers only, no parking, it looked like a slalom course of read and blue signs around a yellow track. The little boys down below used to play football on the grass all day until dark, then somebody complained, and everyone is sent letters (yes two) telling us we are not to play ball games on the grass, and the signs go up around the communal areas 'no ball games'. Where I work they have just put up signs everywhere around the car park, left turn only, no entry, exit (when there is no other way out), arrows telling us which way to drive painted on the road, even when there is only one way to go. There hasn't been any accidents, road rage, complaints about people driving the wrong way, they feel they have to tell us all what to do.

Today we are faced with a barrage of instructions, orders, telling what we must do, what we mustn't do, directives, threats, they are everywhere. I realise some are needed to help us all share the roads, to get along in social areas, but we are no longer trusted, or encouraged, to try and work things out for ourselves. One person does something they shouldn't, someone complains, and before you know the signs are going up telling us all not to do it. We are treated like dumb sheep, who have to be herded and corralled everywhere we go, and whatever we do, told what we can and can't do like idiots, often by utter morons on power trips, pedantic people where everything has to be exactly in place and how they want it, and everyone has to conform to their view of the world.

The government have a name for it, they call us 'sheeple'.