My twisted experiment on manipulation of the mob

This took place during the time when those infamous cartoons from Denmark had everybody upset. The government of Pakistan had also taken a stand on the issue and there were supposed to be official protests. I got to my office that day and started work as normal. At about 11am, cops had come around to everyone's offices and shops and asked them to close. They didn't bother to announce this strike a day before, they waited for everyone to get to their offices and start work before telling them that they had to shut down.

It was an interesting scene...I had read countless books on history, the media, the mob, and manipulation of the masses. I knew that the elites of our world had been using this kind of tactic (manipulation) for a long time, but I wanted to experiment and see for myself if I could do it too. I know it sounds totally twisted, but it happened so spontaneously and curiosity lead the way.

So my office is on a main road and I can see all the way up and down the street due to my position and large glass front. I noticed that since everyone had already shown up for work and they had been forced shut, they were all standing on the streets talking to one another about what just happened. It then dawned on me....what I was seeing in front of me were the masses. They had been driven out of their dwellings and herded into the street for anyone to take advantage of. This is where I came into the picture with my twisted experiment on manipulation of the masses.

It was very clear that this was agitation at a high level taking place. After all, with our history...why would any government be so stupid as to herd people together like this for anyone to come along and start giving speeches to incite them to do something crazy? No sir, this to me looked like it was organized.

I noticed that many people started grouping together to talk about what was happening and everyone seemed a little confused. I noticed that since they now had time and were chit chatting anyway, some of them started to get emotional about the cartoon issue.

Amy's the shop in Stadium Commercial was open and there were no issues in that area. I called one of my office boys into my room and told him to run to the local stationary store and get four large placards and a black marker. He quickly came back with my weapons...a piece of cardboard and a marker.

I wrote a message on each of the four placards....something to the affect, "Amy's sells Danish products, boycott Amy's". From the window of my office, I pointed out 6 men standing together on the street talking to one another. They fit the profile...they looked lower-lower middle class and were herded together on the street on this particular day. They could not see me, but I could see them. I told my office boy that he should walk past them with the placards showing the writing and pretend as if he was lost. They would then ask him what he was doing and where he was going and he would explain that he was going to protest the sale of Danish products. They asked if they could see the placards, which he had been instructed to hand over to them as soon as the opportunity presented itself. His instructions were to then wait for them to start talking about it intensely while he was supposed to disappear and come back to the office quietly.

He did exactly as he was told and I could see from my window that my cattle had taken the bait and were now raising those placards over their heads and marching down the street. WIthin 15 minutes, the crowd of 6 turned into a crowd of 50. ...joined by all the others who had been herded into the street by the circumstances. I didn't follow them down the street, obviously, but I saw the crowd keep getting larger as it started to reach Amys. After 30 minutes, we received news that Amys had been shut down.

As sick and twisted as this sounds, I did actually do this....it is not just a story. I wanted to experiment and see what these politicians and media people have been doing all along. This experience proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the masses have historically been used and manipulated by the elites through actions like this throughout history. It also gave me a much greater appreciation for why the media cannot be allowed to just broadcast whatever the hell it wants, politicians must be closely scrutinized and brutalized if they do things like this, access to the public at large should be considered a national security issue in addition to a privilege...which is extended only out of the necessity of maintaining a democracy. But do not kid yourself, it comes with huge risks that we Pakistanis should have, but unfortunately have not yet learnt.