amerellis
New member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2011
- Messages
- 461
- MBTI Type
- INFJ
- Enneagram
- 4/9
I was just reading the essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell and it made me angry that he didn't stick to his principals and not shoot the elephant, but caved into the public will.
Peer pressure is something I've expercienced myself I'll admit, but I find that if I feel something is wrong, I tend to speak up.
That the 'right thing' is always the right thing to do in the end.
When I reached that part of the story when he was faced with the crowd of two thousand Burmese waiting for him to shoot the elephant and he decided he was going to or else be found a fool, my first thought was that he should have disperesed and disillusioned the crowed when it first began to form, to tell them that he had no intention of shooting the elephant and had only fetched the elephant gun in the event that he needed it for self defense, but I also feel like, if I had been in his situation, even faced with two thousand Burmese exciting and expecting me to shoot the elephant, if I knew it was un-necessay and didn't want to do it, I don't think I would have. I even though it is the path of greater resistance, I think in the end it shows more authority to do what you think is right and not what is expected of you.
In some senses, I've always been this way. In manyways, I've always disregaurded what was expected of me and just done what I felt like, even if it is sometimes to the disadvantage. I guess you could say I'm a free thinker and doer.
But anyway, it just made me wonder, how much do you all stick to your principals? I'm not sure of Orwells type but I would guess NF and also I've just seen this behavoir in, well pretty much all of the types, living up to an image of what's expected of them and not just doing what they really think is best.
And then it made me think of Obama, who I'm pretty sure is an INFJ and I feel like he has this problem, that's he's too worried about being liked, seeming like the good guy, keeping peace, always trying to comprimise with the otherside but really this is so ineffective. That's he's not sticking to his principals cause he's too concerned about being liked. I remeber during his campaign, when he had the oppurtunity to go to Cuba, indicating that he would open up US Cuban relations as it was clearly ineffective and practically every other country had done so. But he opted not to because he thought it was too controversial. And that's when I knew what his problem was, that while highly intelligent and a brilliant speaker, he was a crowd pleasing pansy who wasn't going to be able to make any of the change he claimed he would because he wasn't willing to "risk it." He needs to realise that the right thing to do is going to be difficult but it's still the right thing to do and will in the end have postive consequences. I would seriously stand out side the white house with a sign that read, "President Obama: Grow A Pair" or maybe one of those "Yes We Can" posters with the we crossed out and have you written instead. Because he needs to get it through his mind that to make a difference he needs to take some initiative. Like its nice to try and please everyone, but that's not how you get done what needs to get done. That's not how you make change, by appeasing the crowd.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter. What are yours?
Peer pressure is something I've expercienced myself I'll admit, but I find that if I feel something is wrong, I tend to speak up.
That the 'right thing' is always the right thing to do in the end.
When I reached that part of the story when he was faced with the crowd of two thousand Burmese waiting for him to shoot the elephant and he decided he was going to or else be found a fool, my first thought was that he should have disperesed and disillusioned the crowed when it first began to form, to tell them that he had no intention of shooting the elephant and had only fetched the elephant gun in the event that he needed it for self defense, but I also feel like, if I had been in his situation, even faced with two thousand Burmese exciting and expecting me to shoot the elephant, if I knew it was un-necessay and didn't want to do it, I don't think I would have. I even though it is the path of greater resistance, I think in the end it shows more authority to do what you think is right and not what is expected of you.
In some senses, I've always been this way. In manyways, I've always disregaurded what was expected of me and just done what I felt like, even if it is sometimes to the disadvantage. I guess you could say I'm a free thinker and doer.
But anyway, it just made me wonder, how much do you all stick to your principals? I'm not sure of Orwells type but I would guess NF and also I've just seen this behavoir in, well pretty much all of the types, living up to an image of what's expected of them and not just doing what they really think is best.
And then it made me think of Obama, who I'm pretty sure is an INFJ and I feel like he has this problem, that's he's too worried about being liked, seeming like the good guy, keeping peace, always trying to comprimise with the otherside but really this is so ineffective. That's he's not sticking to his principals cause he's too concerned about being liked. I remeber during his campaign, when he had the oppurtunity to go to Cuba, indicating that he would open up US Cuban relations as it was clearly ineffective and practically every other country had done so. But he opted not to because he thought it was too controversial. And that's when I knew what his problem was, that while highly intelligent and a brilliant speaker, he was a crowd pleasing pansy who wasn't going to be able to make any of the change he claimed he would because he wasn't willing to "risk it." He needs to realise that the right thing to do is going to be difficult but it's still the right thing to do and will in the end have postive consequences. I would seriously stand out side the white house with a sign that read, "President Obama: Grow A Pair" or maybe one of those "Yes We Can" posters with the we crossed out and have you written instead. Because he needs to get it through his mind that to make a difference he needs to take some initiative. Like its nice to try and please everyone, but that's not how you get done what needs to get done. That's not how you make change, by appeasing the crowd.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter. What are yours?
