Who assembles? Well, there are those that assemble because they have to for various reasons: political sessions of representatives, obligatory school attendance, and religious services. There are those who enter the public realm for some purpose but gather partly by chance, such as on pedestrian sidewalks and in car traffic, on a bus, train, or plane, or in holiday store crowds seeking bargains. There are those who gather to be alone in public, such as those who open up their laptops or books in a coffee shop to sit in close proximity to strangers who rarely exchange a word. And there are those who gather around a pianist at a hotel bar, more strangers drawn together by the alcohol and music. Finally, there are the mobs, driven by some reason or emotion to protest, avenge, cause mayhem for its own sake, or loot.
Count as something you’ll never see: Agoraphobics intentionally assembling. We can’t blame them. They expect a danger sometimes real and sometimes unreal. They know the feeling of panic. Yet, there’s something in the symptoms of agoraphobia that unifies agoraphobics as a group. Isn’t that interesting? Separate, but together: Belonging to a group while fearing groups.
Choosing to be part of a mob is probably not a good idea. As everyone knows, mobs breed anonymity, and anonymity breeds license; license breeds unrestricted acts, and unrestricted acts breed insult and injury. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone in a mob were agoraphobic? Imagine: People together but acting separately, individuals overly conscious of their setting, aware of their place in place. No mob rule. No mayhem or looting. No loss of property or innocent victims. A mob afraid of itself.
Count as something you’ll never see: Agoraphobics intentionally assembling. We can’t blame them. They expect a danger sometimes real and sometimes unreal. They know the feeling of panic. Yet, there’s something in the symptoms of agoraphobia that unifies agoraphobics as a group. Isn’t that interesting? Separate, but together: Belonging to a group while fearing groups.
Choosing to be part of a mob is probably not a good idea. As everyone knows, mobs breed anonymity, and anonymity breeds license; license breeds unrestricted acts, and unrestricted acts breed insult and injury. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone in a mob were agoraphobic? Imagine: People together but acting separately, individuals overly conscious of their setting, aware of their place in place. No mob rule. No mayhem or looting. No loss of property or innocent victims. A mob afraid of itself.
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