Message from ritow

[Anonymous]

How is it that people like Mao were able to get masses of people to do whatever they ordered, even if those orders were horrific? What was so innovative about Mao that he was able to get a mass of people to join him in changing China, and then to follow and fight to the death – and even after his own death? The answer, I think, is placing blame. These are leaders who were charismatic enough to get people to listen, and they told people in dire situations who was to blame for their troubles. These men told the people who and what to blame their economic and societal hardships on, and said that they themselves were the men who could show the masses the way to easy street. People want to believe in heroes and that even in the most difficult situations they can find the evil and in one fell swoop wipe it out and return to happier times. Mao got everyone working toward a goal. Even though melting down pots was useless, my guess is it worked because people believed, they felt like they were doing something to fix the problem. So by the time the people realized that the crops were not as fruitful, Mao had so much power they were afraid to tell him, and you know the rest. This idea of placing the blame is an interesting one to consider. Can we learn from this? Perhaps it is an issue of stepping outside oneself and seeing the bigger picture in times that seem impossible. Often there is a good solution waiting to be found.[Edit by="ritow on Aug 8, 5:31:37 PM"][/Edit]