Are you so obedient to authority that if we instruct you to read this article, you will proceed to do so without question? Actually, it's more of a suggestion, really...

   posted 11.05.05

ACQUIESCENCE AND CONFORMITY

by Scott L. Fields

In 1967, a middle school history teacher found himself being asked the following kinds of questions in regard to the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime during World War II:

How could the German populace claim ignorance of the slaughter of the Jewish people?

How could the townspeople, railroad conductors, teachers, doctors, etc., claim they knew nothing about concentration camps and human carnage?

How could people who were neighbors and maybe even friends of the Jewish citizens say they weren't there when it happened?

His answer was to try a social experiment with his students, unbeknownst to either the students or their parents. I remember it well, since it was the basis for an after-school TV movie that aired in the 70s. The teacher was Ron Jones. His experiment became known as "The Wave."

The questions were simple enough, but he decided to pursue a different approach to understanding the answers. He decided to use the same tactics in class that the Nazis had applied to their recruitment of German youths. He fed their desire for social acceptance and equality with exercises in discipline, community, purpose, and pride.

Sit up straight
The first phase was to provide a common unifying dictum, which was "discipline." By identifying "discipline" as a path to a goal, like those of an athlete winning an event, a musician writing a song, or an architect designing a building, he instilled a willingness to participate in class exercises demonstrating that goal. Most of these exercises involved actions like "sitting up straight," "eyes forward," and "hands flat on the table." Though these activities required a discipline of sorts, their real purpose was "conformity." As a teenager, I can recall the attraction of such group exercises; and I can certainly understand the effect. Though it disturbed Ron how quickly his students adopted his "code of behavior," his students wondered why such principles had not been taught before.

With trepidation, Ron continued to the next phase of his experiment, "community." On his classroom blackboard, he wrote the words STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE. This reiterated what had already been taught. Turning to his students, he was faced with the realization they had all taken this to heart. The majority were sitting up straight, eyes forward, hands flat on their desks, anticipating what they were to be taught next. Under the first line, he wrote STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY. He began to comment on the concept of community in common terms, offering such examples as that of a group building a barn, or your team winning a football game. Community was the bond of individuals committed to a common goal or purpose. The idea was to consider how they could accomplish more as a community than as individuals.

Just as he had provided examples of discipline in previous classes, he led the class through exercises in "community." He had two students read the motto presented to them aloud. He then successively added students to repeat the exercise until all the students were chanting the motto, demonstrating the strength of unity. Each student realized he had a voice that was part of the whole. They belonged. More important, they were equal.

At this point, Ron began to wonder why his students were accepting his instructions without question. He was also aware that he too was becoming part of the experiment. His students were enjoying his instructions, but he found himself enjoying his new-found power over them as well.

At the end of this cycle of his experiment, he gave his students a symbol to represent their new "community." He invented a salute with the right hand brought up toward the right shoulder in a curled position, which he called "The Third Wave." This symbol, which represented the largest cresting wave in a series of waves, separated them and raised them above other students. After some time, Ron was surprised to find other students outside his class who wished to join his group. The community he had created was growing.

Ratting out non-conformists
He decided to take his experiment to the next phase, "action." He presented group membership cards to those of his class who wished to continue this community. Not a single student declined. A subset of those cards was marked "special." Students with these cards were to report other members who were not obeying community rules.

Ron stressed that discipline and community were meaningless without action. If his students dedicated themselves fully to their family and community, then the well-being of the community would be reflected in their own well-being. By contrast, he said, competition between individuals must lead to pain, isolation, and disappointment. The feeling of community action was better than the feeling of individual isolation.

The results were undeniable. His students were accepting all his lectures with comfort, completing homework assignments beyond his expectations, and improving their academic accomplishments.

"What else are they prepared do?" he asked himself.

As a group assignment, he instructed his students to find other members. This was an assignment the class performed with great fervor. The results of his experiment were growing. Though he had initially appointed only a handful of "special" members to report rule breaking, he now found that dozens of students were reporting other group members for such actions as "failing to salute another group member."

The most noteworthy result of this stage of his experiment was the reactions of his gifted students. These were the ones used to receiving accolades for individual accomplishments. They were now subjugated by the group purpose. Instead of the questioning and leadership they had previously showed, they became quiet and withdrawn. They followed the curriculum, but were not active participants. In the common view, they had begun to exhibit signs of learning disabilities. I find this a valuable insight with respect to today's regimented education model.

The parents were not oblivious to the existence of this group, but only a very few questioned Ron over what this was all about. Ironically, a rabbi questioned Ron over his curriculum, but Ron simply stated that they were studying the "German personality." This rabbi took Ron at his word and said that he would calm the concerns of other parents. Had the rabbi refused Ron's explanation and demanded to know his real purpose in forming the group, Ron would at least have had an example of the "righteous indignation" the scarcity of which in Nazi Germany his students had wondered about. Indirectly, this rabbi had now become part of the experiment.

Out of control
By now the roles of teacher and leader were becoming difficult for Ron to distinguish. Many students had taken membership in "The Third Wave" to dangerous levels, with one student assuming the role of Ron's personal bodyguard. His students increasingly viewed Ron as more the leader of an organization than a teacher, and he increasingly found himself playing the role of a "dictator." This was not just a role his students were now expecting of him, but one he found himself becoming. Though uncomfortable with where his experiment was leading, Ron realized that neither letting the experiment run its own course nor halting it outright were any longer viable solutions.

He proceeded to his next phase, "pride." His class had more than doubled. He now told his students that "The Third Wave" was not just a simple organization created at their school, but a nationwide group whose purpose was to initiate political change in the country. The group had shown what could be accomplished by discipline, community, and action. Ron had now given them a purpose. Though it was a gamble, it paid off more handsomely than he expected. Not only did his students believe that this larger organization existed, many even searched for and found examples of their own group's mottoes or titles in other publications, and viewed them as hidden messages from this larger organization. There was pride in being a member of "The Third Wave."

The crescendo of the wave was at its peak, and Ron knew it was time to bring the experiment to a close. He informed his students that the organization was to have a meeting in the school auditorium, and the national leader of "The Third Wave" would speak. On the day of the event, the auditorium was filled. The students anxiously awaited their leader. Ron led the group through the group's motto, which the group repeated in a loud chorus. "STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE!" As time passed, no "leader" appeared. The students slowly began to mutter amongst themselves. Where was their leader?

Ron Jones approached the podium. Slowly, and with intense conviction, he began to speak.

"Listen closely, I have something important to tell you.

"Sit down.

"There is no leader! There is no such thing as a national youth movement called the Third Wave. You have been used. Manipulated. Shoved by your own desires into the place you now find yourself. You are no better or worse than the German Nazis we have been studying.

"You thought that you were the elect. That you were better than those outside this room. You bartered your freedom for the comfort of discipline and superiority. You chose to accept that group's will and the big lie over your own conviction. Oh, you think to yourself that you were just going along for the fun. That you could extricate yourself at any moment. But where were you heading? How far would you have gone? Let me show you your future."

We're all in this together
At this point, Ron Jones turned on a projector, and Hitler's Nuremberg Rally burst onto the auditorium screen. Ron spoke to the stunned students.

"Everyone must accept the blame. No one can claim that he didn't in some way take part."

However, what may be a more important lesson was his answer to the original questions of his students.

"This is the final lesson to be experienced. This last lesson is perhaps the one of greatest importance. This lesson was the question that started our plunge into the study of Nazi life. Do you remember the question? It concerned a bewilderment at how the German populace could claim ignorance and non-involvement in the Nazi movement. If I remember the question, it went something like this: How could the German soldier, teacher, railroad conductor, nurse, tax collector—the average citizens—claim at the end of the Third Reich that they knew nothing of what was going on? How could a people be a part of something and then claim at the demise that they were not really involved? What causes people to blank out their own history? In the next few minutes and perhaps years, you will have an opportunity to answer this question.

"If our enactment of the fascist mentality is complete, not one of you will ever admit to being at this final Third Wave rally. Like the Germans, you will have trouble admitting to yourself that you came this far. You will not allow your friends and parents to know that you were willing to give up individual freedom and power for the dictates of order and unseen leaders. You won't admit to being manipulated. Being a follower. To accepting the Third Wave as a way of life. You won't admit to participating in this madness. You will keep this day and this rally a secret. It's a secret I shall share with you."

As an adult, I can freely admit that I didn't fully understand the message delivered to my teenage self. I was above average in intelligence, socially awkward, not an athlete, and very much wanted to be with "the in crowd." I like to think I would not have fallen for such an experiment, had it been done at my school. The uncomfortable truth is that I very well might have fallen for it. I did find several questions, the answers to which I was unsure of:

Was I willing to question the authority of a group's ethics over my own?

Was I willing to confront and refute such group-ethics?

Was my sense of self defined by society?

How a person derives the meaning and purpose of these questions is not written in stone. The seed of finding my own personal philosophy was planted. I now ask these questions to my self on a regular basis, and my personal philosophy adapts with the answers. This experiment gave me the realization that these were questions worth asking.

Reprinted by permission of the author and LewRockwell.com, where it was originally published. Scott L. Fields is a systems engineer for a large company in Fort Worth, Texas.

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