The Mob

I recently appeared on a panel to discuss a proposed high rise project in Houston. Home owners in the neighborhoods near the project don’t like it. They have been lobbying City Hall to stop the project, and City Hall has been attempting to do so.

I was the lone defender of the project appearing on the panel. The audience consisted primarily of home owners from the neighborhoods, with a few college students and a few of my friends.

Early in the discussion I pointed out that the tactics of the neighborhood civic associations were much closer to the Politburo than the free market. An audience member soon stood up and demanded that I be removed from the panel. And what was I saying about the Politburo?

Later, the same “gentleman” asked me a question, and before I could answer, launched into a long diatribe about the number of people who opposed this project, and how dare I say that they are wrong. My first inclination was to laugh, but since this was supposed to be a serious forum, I resisted the temptation.

I pointed out that he was saying that the majority is always right, a fact refuted repeatedly throughout history. He was also saying that might makes right, that the majority may do as it pleases because it is the majority. This is another fallacy. Of course, my answers provoked more hostility from the audience.

Many people feel very strong when they are a part of a group. They find comfort in knowing that others share their ideas. And when someone challenges those ideas they are quick to lash out in anger. They act solely on emotion, and any attempt at injecting reason and logic into the discussion is met with angry and ugly attacks.

I stood up to the mob that night. They didn’t like it. But that is their problem, not mine. The mob can be wrong, and on this particular night, they were.

Sometimes the same is true of our paint contracting companies. Sometimes what everyone else thinks is the right way to run a painting company is simply wrong. And when you consider that most contracting businesses will fail, chances are pretty good that they are wrong. Sometimes we need to stand up to the mob.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008