People are bloody ignorant apes

The characters Estragon and Vladimir in Beckett's Waiting for Godot had little time or respect for humanity. They had seen it all and waited interminably for something else. Bloody ignorant apes, were what people were described as, and Beckett wasn't far wrong.
There used to be a computer game called Lemmings, in which you led herds of these strange animals through a series of obstacles, attempting to save as many as you could. They all followed their leader of course and frequently to their own oblivious fate. As computer games go it was quite good fun and rather addictive as well as being a wonderful analogy.
This week I was reminded of lemmings on several occasions. The first was when the grossly overpaid football player Christiano Ronaldo was introduced to his new team mates. 80,000 fans turned up to the stadium to witness a shaking of hands. 80,000 is a lot of people and one must assume that many took a day off work and travelled long distances simply to witness a shaking of hands - bloody hell it wasn't even a wedding!
Then there has been the Michael Jackson hysteria, with tens of thousands desperately trying to get tickets for his farewell bash, queuing for hours and some spending vast amounts of money for tickets, floral tributes etc. There have been public displays of grief and mass wailing and gnashing of teeth, especially in this country when normally anyone even marginally associated with charges of paedophilia are publically pilloried. Mobs will descend on the houses of suspected abusers and literally run them out of town, and yet the same people will worship at the feet of someone like this.
Thirdly there has been the uprising of the Muslim minority group in China, demanding that they be recognised and given autonomy. These peaceful and forgiving people ran riot in the streets killing and wounding many that might have disagreed with them, and in return have been beaten back into submission. Anyone in their right mind would know that you can't do that sort of thing in China of all places, look at their track record in other regions and especially in Tianamen square, after which a lot of protesters strangely disappeared.
Mobs need leaders and some people are so easily led. The less you know the easier that becomes and keeping people ignorant is a very real political strategy.
Overall the Lemmings have had an active week and have as is always the case done what they have been expected to.