Who are the "masses"?
Asked by
DominicX (
28808
)
April 3rd, 2010
Many people make reference to “the masses”. It is almost always used negatively, to imply that they are separate from the masses and are above the masses.
But who exactly are the “masses” and what makes someone separate from them?
Do you feel you are separate from them? Why? Do you think most people make reference to the masses? Does that mean that many people just fool themselves into thinking they are not part of the masses?
Do the masses even exist?
(Lost of questions, don’t feel like you need to answer them all. I’m curious to hear any and all thoughts on this issue).
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31 Answers
The masses are all the people who are above average. Didn’t you know that?
I think the term is often used either to indicate a group different from the speaker, a group the speaker holds him/herself above.
Personally I think we are all the ‘masses’ and people who try to hold themselves above are full of shite.
People who have less money and/or intelligence than whoever is referring to the “masses.”
Um…the masses would be everyone except you! lol
In other words, everyone except you would include me, which would include everyone else, therefore we are ALL the teeming masses, although no one likes to admit it. haha
Actually…lets put on our humility caps…uh huh….here we all are.
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The people I would have been organizing and fighting for were I born 70 years before I was.
(I think @naggers was misunderstood. I think that was a clever, accurate and relevant post, just a bit pointed, and rather amusing, and I hope you will consider it carefully and perhaps put it back.)
Everyone not incredibly important in vernacular terms.
Grammatically though I believe it means the upper working class.
When I was 14–16 years old , I usually referred “the masses” as trendy people who didn’t liked the same shit I like or who didn’t “get” me. I eventually grew out of this phase.
Don’t let it get to you!! Really, just let it go…life is too short to worry about this kind of shit!! Be your own person and whistle Dxie until the sun sets and then some!!
They are the group that you either share common ground with or you feel no affiliation with.
So at anytime you can be in the masses or excluded from the masses. By race, religion, traditions, money, poverty, intelligence, ignorance, politics, or even just by your neighborhood or state. You pick the topic. And you are either In or Out at any given moment.
They are the robots. the clones. the ones who obey blindly without thinking things out for themselves.
They are the ones who live in fear day after day for decades working at boring mindless jobs doing what they are told and actually being slaves to the scum who are now running the world.
Don’t they teach you these things in college?
@davidbetterman
Uh, no, because there’s no authoritative view on what it really means. Hence this question.
What do you consider authoritative? Dr. Seuss?
I think the pejorative use of “the masses” follows from our starkly different conceptions of the individual and the group. E.g., it’s easy for a given homophobe to hate “the gays” but it’s harder for him to hate his kind gay neighbor or helpful gay librarian. When we remove individuality and conceive of a faceless group, that group becomes depersonalized and loses its humanity. We no longer identify with that group and feel less compassion toward its members.
In my experience, “the masses” is used to refer to some large group all exhibiting some characteristic, and the speaker, by referencing the group as a “them” rather than an “us,” is deliberately excluding himself. I don’t think “the masses” refers to a static population; rather, it shifts according to what characteristic or behavior is being discussed.
If you’re not already familiar with the term, I think you might enjoy reading about the Greek equivalent.
“The masses” is a group of individual who have voluntarily given up their individuality in their fear of living life on their own terms.
masses equals thongs, whoops I mean throngs
The people who run out to Target at 2 am to wait in line to buy Tickle Me Elmo? I’m thinking they are people like that.
A group that one would like to influence or differentiate from. A congregation of Dudes.
“The masses” are people who fit into 3 or more categories below:
-Coke & Pepsi drinkers
-Democrats and Republicans and Nonvoters
-Christians and Jews
-The people driving in the #2 and #3 lanes (most doing so appropriately).
-The 8 to 5’ers
-The Soccer Moms
-Teenagers who listen to pop, or adults who listen to adult contemporary
-People whose viewing habits match the Nielsen top 40
-Those who marry in their twenties, followed by a couple children
-Those whose primary source of news is their local TV news, or the headlines on their home page
among other generalized things
Although often derogatory… it’s not inherently bad to be any such things
Nice family, live in the same neighbourhood as the Minorities,Italian americans I believe,quiet family hardly ever here a peep from them.
Masses = tumors = cancers
Oh, wait, you meant people…
Masses = incense = church
I like the smell of incense! Does that make me like those other people?
Masses = roving wildlife and farm animals in my space. lol
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