The 80% Factor
by Brent Johnson
After managing an organization dedicated to truth and freedom, authoring two books, broadcasting for over a decade, and conducting more than 100 seminars, I have come to the general conclusion that four-fifths of the population are bovine or ovine (that’s cattle or sheep for the etymologically challenged). I call this conclusion The 80% Factor.
It works something like this: 80% of the people will believe absolutely anything, so long as it is presented authoritatively. If CNN broadcast a speech by the President of the United States in which he said, "Our best scientists have discovered that the earth is really flat!", then 80% of the people would believe it. Not only that, they would tell others about their newly gained "knowledge" so as to appear more "sophisticated" and "cosmopolitan" to their fellow cattle and sheep.
It works, too, because members of the 80% are sufficiently shallow in their thinking and character to be profoundly affected by false allegations, rumors, and tall tales without any thought that the stories they have heard might not be true. The 80% Factor are impressed by each other!
But back to my initial premise. I believe that 80% of the people will do whatever they are told to do, so long as they are given instructions by someone displaying authority. That is how Hitler was able to mobilize a small nation into a force that almost took over the entire world!
80% of the people would rather be taken care of than stand up for themselves. They seldom accept personal responsibility for anything, because they consider themselves to be part of a collective in which they do not need to carry individual responsibility.
The 80% Factor find nothing morally repugnant about collecting benefits from the government, benefits for which other people are forced to pay. They disregard the notion that their fellow countrymen and women are being abused by a bureaucratic system run wild; rather, they tend to be the bureaucrats who run that broken-down system!
A Numbers Game
In the business world, a successful sales professional understands that not everyone represents a sale; that every "no" you receive brings you one step closer to a "yes". The successful sales executive knows that sales is all a numbers game. If you saturate your target market, a certain percentage of them will buy what you are selling. Similarly, exerting government control over the general population can be successfully accomplished simply by playing the numbers game.
There can be little argument but that the mainstream media in the United States is strictly controlled. The media print and broadcast stories designed to bring forth certain emotions and emotional reactions, depending on the political climate they wish to create.
Notice I said, "create". The media manufactures the political attitudes expressed by the general population. They do this by airing or publishing those stories they want the general public to see, and relegating other stories to the back pages or not covering them at all. The end result is that the public reacts to what they see and hear, and most people (a good 80%) depend on the mainstream media for their news and information. This gives the media immense power to control the thinking of the American people.
The Hegelian Dialectic
There is a psychological tactic that has been used by governments for centuries to control the minds of their people. It has been nicknamed The Hegelian Dialectic, after Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who promoted the theory of political objectivism. It involves a three-step process: Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis.
First, create a problem. This can be easily done by fabricating a set of circumstances, as was brilliantly portrayed in the movie Wag the Dog, in which a non-existent war with Albania was created by the White House in order to draw attention away from a presidential sex scandal.
Next, promote the problem to the general population. Sell the people on the notion that there really is a problem, and that it represents a crisis requiring immediate and decisive action. For example, we are told that we have a terrible problem with terrorism and that we might be attacked at any moment, and that our only hope is to take immediate and decisive action! Once most of the people are sufficiently frightened of the manufactured crisis, then…
Finally, offer a solution to the problem. If the first two steps have been well executed, then the majority of the people will jump at any solution to the crisis that they think is upon them. For example, when the government says it is essential that you give up some of your rights and freedoms in order for you to be more secure, will you be so quick to comply?
The problem is that 80% of the people will always go along with anything, and the government knows it! That knowledge is an invitation to the unscrupulous to come and "manage" the American people.
The Good News
Fortunately, the very tactics employed by the enemies of individual rights provide the solution to the problems created by government.
If 80% of the people are hopelessly docile and mindlessly obedient, then 20% remain unaccounted for, and it is to these we must turn if we are to survive the current onslaught on our freedoms.
I believe that 3-5% of the people are hard core socialists, and a comparable number are hard core freedom fighters. These figures represent the standard with respect to every rebellion or revolution fought throughout modern history.
That leaves 10-14% of the general population, and it is these who I believe hold in their hands the fate of the American people. It is these, the ones who are not necessarily doomed to abject servitude, ignorance, and mindless compliance, who can preserve our way of life. It is to these people that we must direct our knowledge, efforts, and support. They will rise up and save us all.
These are the ones who, given the opportunity, will take a stand for freedom, even if it means disrupting their comfort, routine, or lifestyle. If we can reach them with the truth, then we have a real chance of restoring justice to our land. They will rise up and save us all.
Close your eyes for a moment.
Imagine a land at peace, a place where truth, justice, freedom and respect for individual rights thrive. Think about the greatness and wonder of this land in which everyone feels safe and secure. Consider the desirability of this place, what it would be like to live and raise a family here. Then let me ask you:
Will you rise up and save us all?
After managing an organization dedicated to truth and freedom, authoring two books, broadcasting for over a decade, and conducting more than 100 seminars, I have come to the general conclusion that four-fifths of the population are bovine or ovine (that’s cattle or sheep for the etymologically challenged). I call this conclusion The 80% Factor.
It works something like this: 80% of the people will believe absolutely anything, so long as it is presented authoritatively. If CNN broadcast a speech by the President of the United States in which he said, "Our best scientists have discovered that the earth is really flat!", then 80% of the people would believe it. Not only that, they would tell others about their newly gained "knowledge" so as to appear more "sophisticated" and "cosmopolitan" to their fellow cattle and sheep.
It works, too, because members of the 80% are sufficiently shallow in their thinking and character to be profoundly affected by false allegations, rumors, and tall tales without any thought that the stories they have heard might not be true. The 80% Factor are impressed by each other!
But back to my initial premise. I believe that 80% of the people will do whatever they are told to do, so long as they are given instructions by someone displaying authority. That is how Hitler was able to mobilize a small nation into a force that almost took over the entire world!
80% of the people would rather be taken care of than stand up for themselves. They seldom accept personal responsibility for anything, because they consider themselves to be part of a collective in which they do not need to carry individual responsibility.
The 80% Factor find nothing morally repugnant about collecting benefits from the government, benefits for which other people are forced to pay. They disregard the notion that their fellow countrymen and women are being abused by a bureaucratic system run wild; rather, they tend to be the bureaucrats who run that broken-down system!
A Numbers Game
In the business world, a successful sales professional understands that not everyone represents a sale; that every "no" you receive brings you one step closer to a "yes". The successful sales executive knows that sales is all a numbers game. If you saturate your target market, a certain percentage of them will buy what you are selling. Similarly, exerting government control over the general population can be successfully accomplished simply by playing the numbers game.
There can be little argument but that the mainstream media in the United States is strictly controlled. The media print and broadcast stories designed to bring forth certain emotions and emotional reactions, depending on the political climate they wish to create.
Notice I said, "create". The media manufactures the political attitudes expressed by the general population. They do this by airing or publishing those stories they want the general public to see, and relegating other stories to the back pages or not covering them at all. The end result is that the public reacts to what they see and hear, and most people (a good 80%) depend on the mainstream media for their news and information. This gives the media immense power to control the thinking of the American people.
The Hegelian Dialectic
There is a psychological tactic that has been used by governments for centuries to control the minds of their people. It has been nicknamed The Hegelian Dialectic, after Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who promoted the theory of political objectivism. It involves a three-step process: Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis.
First, create a problem. This can be easily done by fabricating a set of circumstances, as was brilliantly portrayed in the movie Wag the Dog, in which a non-existent war with Albania was created by the White House in order to draw attention away from a presidential sex scandal.
Next, promote the problem to the general population. Sell the people on the notion that there really is a problem, and that it represents a crisis requiring immediate and decisive action. For example, we are told that we have a terrible problem with terrorism and that we might be attacked at any moment, and that our only hope is to take immediate and decisive action! Once most of the people are sufficiently frightened of the manufactured crisis, then…
Finally, offer a solution to the problem. If the first two steps have been well executed, then the majority of the people will jump at any solution to the crisis that they think is upon them. For example, when the government says it is essential that you give up some of your rights and freedoms in order for you to be more secure, will you be so quick to comply?
The problem is that 80% of the people will always go along with anything, and the government knows it! That knowledge is an invitation to the unscrupulous to come and "manage" the American people.
The Good News
Fortunately, the very tactics employed by the enemies of individual rights provide the solution to the problems created by government.
If 80% of the people are hopelessly docile and mindlessly obedient, then 20% remain unaccounted for, and it is to these we must turn if we are to survive the current onslaught on our freedoms.
I believe that 3-5% of the people are hard core socialists, and a comparable number are hard core freedom fighters. These figures represent the standard with respect to every rebellion or revolution fought throughout modern history.
That leaves 10-14% of the general population, and it is these who I believe hold in their hands the fate of the American people. It is these, the ones who are not necessarily doomed to abject servitude, ignorance, and mindless compliance, who can preserve our way of life. It is to these people that we must direct our knowledge, efforts, and support. They will rise up and save us all.
These are the ones who, given the opportunity, will take a stand for freedom, even if it means disrupting their comfort, routine, or lifestyle. If we can reach them with the truth, then we have a real chance of restoring justice to our land. They will rise up and save us all.
Close your eyes for a moment.
Imagine a land at peace, a place where truth, justice, freedom and respect for individual rights thrive. Think about the greatness and wonder of this land in which everyone feels safe and secure. Consider the desirability of this place, what it would be like to live and raise a family here. Then let me ask you:
Will you rise up and save us all?
