Just Some Crazies on the Fringe

A friend returned from his business trip in L.A. and related a conversation he had regarding Israel.

He struck up a conversation with a Cuban-cigar smoking man who stressed that smoking it was legal, he just couldn't sell it. After that legalism, he began talking about Israel. "The most beautiful country you've ever seen", he said. He then talked about what is going on in and just outside Israel, you know, Hezbollah and Hamas launching rocket attacks on civillian centers, continuing to receive financing from Iran, etc...

The man commented on these Islamicists (so-called "few crazies on the fringe" by both mainstream media and the blogosphere), "tomorrow, they're coming after me. After that, they're coming after you."

The one bit of solace we've been offered and embraced is the now-old saw, "it's just a few nuts on the fringe".

How serious can the threat be if it's "just a few" people who've lost their minds and become obsessed with bringing about a one-world caliphate under Islam and sharia law?

Well, in a leadership seminar packed with other productive insights, we were related a story demonstrating the principle that there is a critical 2-3% of a population of social animals, including people, that shapes the whole culture. The story was of monkeys on a Japanese island. They ate a local variety of potato. One day, a young monkey rolled her potato down the beach and into the ocean. She retrieved it and ate it. Over the next few days, a few of her close monkey-friends began imitating the behavior and repeating (apparently salty, raw spuds are up their alley). Over time, it became the way that this species of monkey ate their potatoes throughout the island chain. All due to the influence of a goofy fringe.

The lesson: Group culture, in companies and nations is shaped and guided by very small, influential, committed groups as opposed to large, group meetings and consensus.

I leave you with a quote used frequently to encourage young, concerned environmentalists to engage in political action and social change. As you read it, consider the jihadists level of commitment.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

and consider this http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/trailer-12min.php