Want Better Results? Think Better, and Make Better Choices.

Overcoming Herdthink

One of the most difficult challenges that humans face is that of overcoming what could be called “herdthink”: believing that, if the herd does something, that thing must be the right thing to do.

Yet history clearly indicates that large masses of humans have often held beliefs that we now know to be false and engaged in practices that we now recognize to be foolish or morally repugnant. Providing examples may not be necessary, since readers may readily recall several such instances. But here are a couple of the “classics” that are often cited in support of this point: most humans once believed that the planet Earth was the center of the universe; most societies once practiced human slavery.

Herdthink is antithetical to critical thinking, prizing conformity over accuracy.

Laying the Groundwork for the Humane Party Strategy

The Humane Party platform includes a goal that has never been achieved on a society-wide scale since animals were first domesticated:¹ giving the animals their freedom back. In the United States, achieving that goal ultimately requires passing a Constitutional amendment, namely, the Abolition Amendment, pursuant to the same process whereby the 13^th Amendment ended human slavery in 1865. But passing a Constitutional amendment is a Herculean task, at best, and when such amendment involves putting an end to creepy, violent practices that have been normalized for thousands of years… well, it’s a challenging task, indeed.

We therefore recognized from the outset that reaching this goal would not come from simply thinking what everyone else thinks and doing what everyone else does.

The Oath

If a babysitter were known to kidnap, rape, mutilate, and kill children, and then eat their dead bodies, would you take your child to that babysitter? Sure hope not.

By the same token, it would be truly bizarre to elect non-vegan politicians and to support non-vegan parties in the name of protecting and liberating animals. The Humane Party, therefore, required that all HP candidates, board members, and officers be vegan from the get-go. At first, we simply asked new volunteers whether they were vegan. But over time, HP formalized this requirement through the Humane Party Oath, which now serves to screen out non-vegans from candidate and leadership roles.

A Second Screening Function of the Oath

When the lights finally come on, people realize they must turn their backs on many unconscionable practices that their culture has normalized and in which they themselves have partaken.² This step can be quite challenging; it gives rise to a sort of “rite of passage” or “trial by fire,” during which the person who goes vegan must learn not only new dietary and purchasing habits, for example, but also endure marginalization, mockery, and often the open hostility of the herd.

But from a political party perspective, the fact that someone has the fortitude to undergo such a transformation is a very good sign. Such fortitude empowers a person to do something truly difficult—like freeing millions of animals from slavery. Thus, the vegan requirement actually serves a second but important function: it screens out cowards and herdthinkers. And that effect affords the Humane Party a massive, long-term, strategic advantage: in political and military matters, a strong enemy is bad, but a weak ally is worse.

More detailed discussion of the Oath will have to wait for a later article. But in closing, take a moment to reflect on how powerful a difference the Oath requirement makes all by itself: Oath-caliber people are pre-screened not only for personal values but also for the ability to think critically and the strength to put thought into action—even in the face of opposition from the herd and despite a culture in which violent, cruel, creepy, and ignorant practices have been normalized.

In short, these are people who are willing to think better and make better choices. The HP strategy calls for finding such gems. Are you one yourself? If so, consider joining the team that’s going to give the animals their freedom back.

~ Shelley Harrison

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¹ “Domesticated” is just a polite way of saying “enslaved.”

² This paragraph assumes that one has not had the good fortune of being born into a vegan family and community.