Above the Influence

He’s baaaaaaaaack!!!  That’s right after a two-week long stint filled with alcohol, nitrous, and vicodin the real Monster of the Midway returns to doing what he does best: telling it like it is.  I know many of you were expecting a post game post from me, but there isn’t that much to say about the game except what the fuck?  21-29? In the regular season we only scored more than 20 points in three games and allowed more than 20 in just as many games.  But life goes on.  This week I wish not to complain about things that are out of my control but to argue about them.  During a previous post I made a mention about peer pressure that got me thinking about a topic that was proposed to me for a high school English paper.  I decided to address a different topic and ended up screwing up the whole assignment by blowing it off till the last second then doing a half assed job, as is par for the course for me.  But my blog reference has brought out a renewed sense of interest in this engaging topic.  The assignment was a persuasive essay and the topic in question was whether peer pressure was a good thing or a bad thing.  Some of my other classmates decide to debate this topic and came out with arguments for or against peer pressure.  The ones that supported peer pressure highlighted points such as how it can be used to influence others in a “good” way.  By “good” many meant helping others to avoid the use of drugs and alcohol.  The ones who were against peer pressure mentioned how it could be used adversely and focused on mostly the same points of illegal substance use.  Looking back I realized one thing, by influencing someone else with peer pressure you are trying to make decisions for them and by doing so taking away their ability to do just that.  While the decisions you make for them might be the right ones, you have no way of knowing for sure if they are and furthermore neither do they.  There is no set pattern that should be followed for how to live your life.  Part of what makes this world so great is the diversity of experiences from person to person.  While all experiences lead to the same conclusion, the path there is far from identical.  In the same way, while the conclusion might be the same, the path there should be very different from any other.  Everyone has different reasons for doing everything and by getting someone to do something through peer pressure you take away the experience of learning what those reasons are.  Though your intentions might only be to spare them the pain of the experience, you rob them of the reward at the end and by repeating this pattern take away their reasoning skills.  By trapping them in a cycle of conformity you create a dependence on other people’s opinions within them.  After repeating this cycle over and over they become unable to make a decision without the approval of a peer.  This robs them of everything that makes them an independent individual.  They no longer question their motives; they only look to others for approval.  With so many people in our society today searching for approval you might wonder, “Where does the peer pressure come from?”  There is one simple answer: the majority.  We in America live in a society where majority rules.  The people who have the greatest amount of supporters are given authority to govern us.  Fear has been instilled in us from birth by our parents and a society governed by peer pressure has started to emerge.  Because many Americans only make decisions through peer pressure it has become widely accepted that because the government embodies the opinions of the majority, they should be able to dictate our lives.  This is the pinnacle of peer pressure and the last step before giving up not only our individuality, but our ability to reason, to think, to be our own person.  My favorite new series of commercials is an anti-drug campaign.  It implies that by doing drugs you’re giving up your ability to make your own choices.  But if you avoid drugs for the simple fact that a commercial told you to, aren’t you doing the same thing?  Now I’m not saying that everyone should drink or do drugs, I’m simply saying they should make their own choices based on their experiences.  Now I want you to ask yourself, can you make your own choices? Can you be your own person?  Are you above the influence of peer pressure?