In rare instances there are cases where people will take action. This is because these people are either not 'in tune' with the group or because they have a very strong level of personal responsibility. I believe in liberal areas there is a very strong level of group-think and a very weak level of personal responsibility, which is why the greatest atrocities in history have been committed by leftists (because noone would speak up).
BUMP and repeated for poignancy!
That might be one of the clearest explanations/rationale for Liberal mass psychosis I have ever seen...BRAVO!
I do have one nit to pick....while I believe your explanation about group-think is spot on, unfortunately it also applies to (unfortunately) Right-Wing Statists who believe in total Gub'Mint authority.
It is innate to all Liberals, and it happens (occasionally) to one-time Conservatives that begin to believe their own hype and press releases, and feel that THEY are the best Moral Authority.
I HATE that any Conservative could become this way, but it is an ultimate reflection of weak character (as you point out) and the inability to resist temptation, matched to the idea that they need to do "something", which eventually becomes complete dominance and control.
It is also the result of the belief that "they know better" than the public that elect them...just look around Free Republic and you can spot them.
Anyway, again, your nicely distilled explanation is fantastic.
You are absolutely right. Unless you train yourself not to react by groupthink, you will. I used to work in the Navy operating nuclear reactors. This is an environment where there is a strong sense of authority (chain of command), the views of your peers are highly respected (nuclear trained personnel), and the responsibility for the safety of a nuclear reactor is shared across the entire department. Not surprisingly, the Navy is aware of these characteristics and trains personnel very strongly on personal responsibility, how to refuse unlawful orders, and how to ask questions (and are trained that the only time that you shouldn't question an order is in a tactical situation). If the Navy didn't do this the probability of a nuclear accident would skyrocket. I have been in several situations where I've had to correct superiors and subordinates on problems. Without proper training it is very difficult to be in a room telling senior officers that they are wrong while your peers remain quiet.
There are several psychological experiments that show that diffusion of authority exists with the most famous one being the Milgram experiment. I find it easier to react in a diffusion of responsibility situation when I realize that other people in a group are reacting exactly the way I would expect them to react. I also look out for people to don't react normally because they are the type of people you could trust with your life.