Conspicuous Non-Conformism

When I was at school there were always those kids who liked to talk big, to advertise their 'non conformism' at every turn, be it by wearing their shirt with the top button undone and their tie loose so as to demonstrate the fact, or by wearing non-regulation shoes.  Sometimes they might even hand their homework in late or fake a sick note.  But when push came to shove and they found themselves confronted by authority, they always folded without a fight.  You always knew that they could never be relied upon to stand up to bullying teachers or challenge unfair and arbitrary school rules.  That was left up to idiots like me - the unfashionable kids who weren't part of a clique, didn't play sports and weren't academically brilliant enough to apply to Oxbridge and therefore couldn't add to the school's prestige.  But were were deluded enough to believe that principles mattered and that you should stand up for them.  Even if all it got you was a detention and the derision of those self-styled 'col kids' who never conformed - except when they thought there might be consequences to their non-conformity, then they knuckled under.  As an adult, I found the same pattern of behaviour in the workplace - lots of these self-styled 'rebels' were always quick to complain about management and working conditions.  But when it came to face-to-face confrontations with the bosses or calling in the union, they were suddenly silent.  Again, it was idiots like me who had to do that, with no support from those bastards.  I learned an important lesson from these experiences: mainly that doing the right thing, sticking to your principles and trying to making sure that people are treated fairly, will never make you popular.  On the contrary, it will get you labelled 'awkward' and a 'troublemaker' which, in turn, will ensure that your progress career-wise is very slow, regardless of how well you do your job.

But why should we have expecedt those 'cool kids' ever to behave differently?  For them, non-conformism and rebellion are all just an act, they do it because it is fashionable, not because they actually believe in any of it.  Scratch the surface of any one of them and you's find that, in reality, they were incredibly conventional in their outlooks and thinking, the products, usually, of comfortably off middle class families - they only rebelled as long as they felt safe doing it, as soon as it threatened consequences, they were out of there.  They were always going to acquiesce to authority because they themselves were from the same milieu as those in authority: their parents usually held positions of minor authority - bank managers, teachers, librarians, businessmen etc.  They always had excuses, of course, usually that it 'wasn't the right time' to stand up and be counted.  Although they never seemed to be able to pinpoint a 'right time' to put their non-conformity into action.  Anyway, for the same reasons, we really shouldn't be disappointed in all those people and organisations who threw their hats in the ring in opposition to Trump in the 2024 presidential election campaign are, now that he's won, lining up to prostrate themselves before him.  They've got too much to potentially lose by continuing their opposition to him, which is why billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg are busy kissing his ass.  But hey, surely we never really expected anything else of the mega-rich, did we?  They failed to buy the election their way, (because that's what the whole business of removing Biden from the Democratic nomination was all about - wealthy people trying to influence the vote by substituting 'their' candidate for someone perceived as a failing candidate), so it is only natural that they change horses again.  Money loves to be associated with a winner, after all.  Which is why, even before the votes were in, they hedging their bets, with Bezos stopping his newspaper from endorsing Harris.  When news outlets start acquiescing, then it is time to be worried and disappointed : ABC recently caved in to Trump's threatened libel case and paid him fifteen million dollars, while the owner of the Los Angeles Times is vetoing his paper from printing editorials critical of Trump.  

Again, it is all about them and their wealthy backers protecting their interests.  To hell with the press having a duty to hold power to account when there's a risk that the vengeful ego in the White House might not just sue you, but start deploying all the considerable force of the State against you and your assets.  Which is why revolutions are usually carried out by people with nothing to lose.  Sure, they are usually inspired and led - from a distance - by middle class intellectuals and other well off people - but the actual blood, sweat and tears are provided by the disenfranchised.  Who, if the win, are more often than usual betrayed by their leaders, (who never actually got their hands dirty or exposed themselves to risk during the revolution itself, instead shouting the masses on from the sidelines).  The trick that the establishment seems to have perfected right now is, by pretending not to be the establishment and instead 'populists' on the side of the 'little man', convincing those masses with nothing to lose to support them instead of the revolution (or, indeed, any progressive movement).  Obviously, they'll betray them just as surely the other lot will betray those who fought the revolution for them.  The difference is that, these days, people's attention spans have become so short that they seem to quickly forget the earlier betrayal and vote for the 'populists' all over again.  Hence Trump's second term in spite of what happened last time around.  So, what's the moral here?  Under no circumstances trust anyone who is conspicuously trendy, non-conformist and loudly radical, fond of telling everyone just how virtuous they are for loudly opposing stuff of supposed moral grounds, regardless of which side they purport to be on.  They're most likely pretentious pricks interested only in preening their own egos and will, when the chips are down, inevitably betray any cause they claim to support.