The Accidents waiting to happen?

Accidents waiting to happen due to our crowd behaviour?

It was last Saturday, 10 February 2018, a cold,damp,dreary wintry morning in London,a day I will remember for a long time. 

I  reluctantly ventured out on a crowded Rail Replacement Bus from my home near Romford, to connect with the TfL Underground at Newbury Park to attend a well publicised "Live Weekend" Conference on *How to get rich* at 47 Lillie Road,near Earls Court London SW6 1UD.

I was surprised when I entered the foyer of his well known Hotel, to see over a 1000 people of all nationalities, of all colours, creeds and persuasions  mulling around to register and enter the Great Hall. There seemed to be more women than men, and somewhere around 50 percent were ethnic minorities gathered as if it was a spiritual retreat at an Evangelical Church.

Every one was welcomed to register giving all their private details of their identity including of all things,their next of kin. I was surprised to say the least and  refused to do so,as I was not having a transplant of my organs,and expected to return home without entry. But I was allowed in, if I was willing to sign a disclaimer.

From that moment till 8.30 that night,it was as if I was in Rio at Carnival time.The atmosphere was electric,in every sense of the word, with ear shattering,blaring music, flashing lights similar to a Super Bowl pitch,a cackle of noise of all languages and an anxious wait for the billing speaker for the event. There was not a breathing space inside this so called Hotel Hall on the Ground Floor,as I was told over 1300 selected guests were being accommodated for this event.

It was too claustrophobic for my comfort and I worried about the risk element of such a crowd,particularly as a neighbour lady sitting next to me left the building, handing over her Conference dossier,"Power to Achieve" to me, if I wanted it. 

Crowd control

It was intimidating, but I wanted to stick it out, as I wanted to find out what was enticing so many to attend, in such large numbers. Crowd management was the visible spectacle before my eyes as I noticed many ushers wearing identifiable sweatshirts,unobtrusively controlling the overbearing crowd of enthusiasts. 

It literally gave me the impression that stage management was part and parcel of the show. I was not far wrong when with much fanfare a young lady was introduced to the stage and when she said: "Genius can be achieved in 21 days". She went on to explain on the board flip chart how the lobes of the brain work, the left side for logic and the right side for creative behaviour, equivalent to the quality of women's thinking.I was told that of a man was based on logic.

She then rattled out random numbers she received from audience participation and wrote it on the board. To my surprise she invited a member of the audience to step on stage and read out the numbers. She then asked him to close his eyes and repeat those numbers  backwards - a feat of endurance. By this time, I was wondering what was her message.

She kept on saying "Does that make sense?". Every body had been taught earlier in the day to yell "Yea," an aphorism attributed to Richard Branson. In unison,there was an earth shattering "Year" from the crowd.In a pulsating moment she said: "Do you now see how images associate with numbers?" Once again it was resounding "Year" from the crowd. 

The enlightened One - The Guru

I knew it was time for the "enlightened one,the Guru", the one and only Andy Harrington,the main actor of the weekend, to be welcomed with all hype that could be mustered, on to stage.My neighbour sitting next to me whispered, "have you heard of Tony Robbins,the American crowd puller,Andy, is his disciple".

There was a feeling in the crowd of emancipation. a understandable release of pent up energy as Andy, a charismatic,  magnetic, short, somewhat crew cut young man, proclaimed: "The twin forces that shape behaviour". He splashed his answer on the board,

and shouted:  "Pain and Gain."  He went on to analyse: "how to reach your potential," "the value you can add," and "the biggest challenges" of life. 

The Story      

Your story of life has to have three Acts, three divisions :

1. You have to establish "a Problem", which is your Act 1.

2. You have to go on "a Journey", which is your Act 2.

3. You have to come to "a Transformation", which is your Act 3.

By this time I came to ask myself and say to myself, "it all sounds familiar" from my Diploma Course in Person Centred Counselling, which I had at Poplar College,many moons ago. 

The Problem

How can I choose a problem, among the myriad of problems, I have gone through life?

I was mulling it over, as he said :"choose a problem that you can relate to, a problem that you are experiencing at present?" 

I immediately asked myself: "Is he talking about the here and now?" 

He relieved my anxiety by answering it himself: "We all have had adversaries,who is your adversary now?" "What is your issue now?" He explained the story of the "Lion King" the famous musical.He also brought in the image of Darth Vadar. He concluded: Act 1 must always end in a loss of some kind. 

The Journey

Where am I going on my journey, I cannot recount the journeys I have made around the world. What was I searching for, what did I come back with? These questions rattled my mind. Andy gave me his answer, he said:" Act 2 opens with 4 D's : Denial, Doubt, Delay and Distraction." In Act 2 there is bound to be a happening,perhaps, a uncomfortable but a symbolic event, a  self reflection of myself, of remembering who you really are? At the top of Act 2 is insight, which is marked with more insight. 

I immediately asked myself: "Does he refer to my self worth"?

He answered it, explaining self realisation as the journey going through life.I asked myself:

"There have been not. one but many in my case,which does he refer to? 

The Transformation

Act 3 is your Implementation, your implementation insight. He said: "if someone gives you "the chance to search for a Chance,would you take it? " He answered it himself and then asked the audience: "What would you say." With a roaring applause, the crowd bleated:"Year"  

I immediately questioned myself: "Don't we always follow the crowd, don't we always follow the leader,why don't we be ourselves for a change?" 

He did not give me time to contemplate,as he answered it himself. "Do you see the reality of the problem ? always prompting an affirmative.The problem, the journey snd the transformation as construed as the solution? 

Unmistakably the mesmerised crowd balled: "Year?" 

Business leaders have this as their model of action, to lead and manage people, he said. 

"The more successful you become, the more people need you; the more following you have, the more money you make." He gave this so casually, as if it was the be all and end all for everyone,living? I was constrained to say to him: "He needs to read: What The Buddha taught?"

What is success?

How do you describe the  business you will create, the business you will expand?

What problem does my business solve? 

Who is it for, who benefits from it?

What product or service will it offer?

What will be the income from this business? 

The decisions to all these questions:

-  will INFLUENCE the outcome -which is the rate of result. 

-  will IMPACT you - in a stress free life

-  will provide INCOME - a steady growth

-  will INSPIRE - further development.

What Andy said and how he controlled his audience is the lesson of "Power to Achieve"?

What is the real "power to achieve"?

What Andy Harrington said and how he made himself as a Guru,is not new. This is the mantra of many, many like him, who sell themselves as the answer to all our today's problems. 

The crowd which rallied around Andy in an risk filled, over crowded, smoke filled,tiring and loud environment, willing and wanting to sit down for hours with short breaks; who found that all is fine in a Hotel Hall in the heart of London. What was not visualised was, that it was considered as normal, unnoticed by any authorities, uncared by the services, both public and private. Many I guess got tired like me, overwhelmed by the rhetoric of a ordinary man who was able to mesmerise his audience.

It is the same crowd that would sign any disclaimer of any harm or any hindrance or hazard, all for the sake of wanting to be in love with a voice of a Guru, who they think can make them empowered and overnight turn them to be millionaires.

It is this same crowd of people over 1300, who think they do not know what they want in life (che vuoi?) or  they think they do so, for"they know not what they want." 

Nobody in their right mind really feels, but everyone knows that there is no such thing as "a short cut to be a millionaire," a quick fix to wealth, but they want to hear of "the promise" of a short cut (pour jouissance).

The illusion of life today

The illusion of life today is the promise of "paradise". Credit must go to Andy Harrington for never questioning the self certainty or hysteria of his followers (the crowd) but simultaneously be competent to "use" the same hysteria by establishing himself as "Master" who asks:

"Why am I ,who you say, I am?" "Why do so many of you want me,when I do not want myself." 

This is the illusion of today's life. There is no denying people will die without knowing what their true problems are? What is being offered to these masses, the hard working class, is a forced choice, and a promise to heal their traumatic wounds of their working lives,with ease.

Victor Cherubim