JIM “PAPPY” MOORE: Vox Populi: The Voice of the People

The term “Vox Pouli” is often used to mean “the Voice of the People” in common usage. It was used many centuries ago to imply that the Voice of the People is the Voice of God, and should therefore be listened to. As time evolved the reference to God fell away and now days it most commonly means “the Voice of the People.”

With the reach of social media and immediacy of it, we are seeing this notion in real time as some individuals distinguish themselves as particularly objectionable. In mere hours, the public can rise up in castigation of someone, and they face the brunt of condemnation or the glory of approval.

The most recent instance involved a young boy at a Major League Baseball game whose father chased down and got a home run ball for him. As usual, there was a scrum for the ball, and the lucky dad came away with the ball. No sooner had he delivered the baseball to his young son than an irate woman fan showed up and started screaming that was HER ball and to give it to her. She claimed she was going to get it but the Dad got it, as if there is not a rule of such matters that whomever gets the ball gets the ball!

The Dad had to position himself between the woman twice his age and the boy who appeared to be ten to twelve years old. She was belligerent, flailing her arms as she demanded the ball. All the fans in that area were aghast at her behavior. The Dad decided to give her the ball rather than let the matter go further. She walked away triumphant, waving the ball and boasting to all around her. She found no support from the crowd.

The word spread quickly, and the baseball team’s personnel awarded the boy with a range of goodies which included a signed baseball by his hero, the player. He got a wealth of such goodies, and soon the internet spread the video of the woman’s shabby conduct. It was a fire out of control. Everyone who saw the video castigated her. Soon, she was identified and it was nothing short of an angry mob which wanted vengeance upon her. It has been reported that her employer got wind of it, and fired her. She has since proclaimed that she is afraid to leave her house.

A week or so before this incident, there was the CEO who grabbed a glove that a pro tennis player had signed and handed to a boy. The CEO reached in and snatched the glove and quickly handed it to his wife, who hid it. They, too, had their bad conduct spread throughout the world, and when the tennis player found out about the CEO grabbing it, he met with the boy and his family, and gave him all kinds of goodies.

The CEO at first issued a statement that was harsh, saying effectively “yeah, I got it and it will teach the boy a lesson that you have to go out get things for yourself.” That made the situation ten times worse in the public’s eye. The furor rose to a crescendo and the CEO quickly did an about-face and tried to ameliorate his bad conduct and bad words.

A few weeks back the CEO of a big company was caught at a large rock concert hugging his company’s head of HR. Both of them are married to other people. Once again, the public descended on these two cheaters, and what followed was just short of a hanging mob. The CEO was arrogant and blamed the band for his predicament. That made it even worse.

All three of the events have happened in the past few weeks, and the online community has been on top of the matters, issuing its verdict and wanting blood. In olden days a lynching might have happened. In today’s world a lynching would be mild. The three bad actors I mentioned have each been taken down by their public bad acts.

I think the Voice of the People being heard is a good thing. We must have boundaries in our world, and these boundaries are largely created by the collective reactions of citizens. Sometimes nothing helps set the boundaries of acceptable behaviors like a strong rebuke from the Voice of the People!