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In A Cannibal Society, Cannibalism Is “Normal” – What Other People Think About Killing Babies Does Not Matter
Almost all Israeli politicians have labeled the refuseniks "dangerous"
The vast majority of people in any given society are "locally normal."
By this I mean that they conform to the accepted outlooks and behaviours of their local society. They fit comfortably with their neighbours who fit comfortably with them. Their opinions are majority opinions that reflect local societal norms.
Those norms may or may not espouse racism and a wide variety of other prejudices. It does not matter. They will be adhered to just the same because they are culturally imbedded. The "locally normal" will also adhere to their country’s standard history and mythology. Collectively, all these traits are what produce "good" citizens and so act as the glue that maintains social solidarity.
The fact that most people are "normal" in this fashion is not a mistake. There is probably a genetic inclination for such behaviour. After all, if most people did not behave this way you could not maintain stable societies.
Still, there are drawbacks to being "locally normal." For one thing, the more "normal" you are the less independent (at least in socio-political terms) a thinker you are. The strange thing is that the "locally normal" would not agree that thinking outside the community box is a legitimate act of independence.
Such a stance would appear, from inside the box, as not being independent so much as being antisocial and perhaps unpatriotic. And, such behaviour is going to make "normal" folks suspicious and fearful. That is the genetic impulse again. Stay with the group and you stay safe. Safe from what? Safe from people on the outside, of course. If you are really looking for a "locally normal" definition of independence it is going to be an economic one: having a good job, paying your own bills, and not living with their parents.
