Week 10, Post 2: The Spiral of Silence

The spiral of silence in Chapter 29 is "the increasing pressure people feel to conceal their views when they think they are in the minority" (372). I see this happening right now with Election Day drawing near. There are some touchy issues on the ballot, such as Prop 4 and Prop 8. I think my mom is experiencing the "spiral of silence". She has strong feelings against a certain proposition and is in the minority with her opinion. As a result, she does not wish to discuss her position with others. It can be difficult to discuss something when everyone else is against you. The spiral of silence seems to be very present in the business world. How many of us have been at a job where something questionnable is going on, but everyone is going along with it. There is always that one person who wants to speak out because they believe it's wrong but they don't say anything because of the spiral of silence.

Noelle-Neumann says that the thought of isolation is scary and stressful to someone who wants to speak out. The person wonders if they will be ridiculed, hated, or banned from their group. These "punishments" often force people to conform and "join the bandwagon". Noelle-Neumann says that "only the criminal or moral hero doesn't care what society thinks" (374). Criminals obviously don't care because they have gone against the norm by committing a crime and moral heroes don't care because they believe in being righteous. The rest of us are too kind and actually care what other people think. I don't think there's anything wrong with that but we need to learn to stand up for what we really believe in and not be scared of other people's opinions.