Cutting straight to the point, I can see that most of the people are really socially-conditioned zombies. They go through their lives looking at others, and never (yes, NEVER) making decisions on their own. No matter what the issue at hand is, they always look to see what others are doing before making a move.
For example:
A fire alarm goes off. Everyone knows that it's the technician who is testing the alarm system downstairs (most of us walked past him). But every time the fire alarm goes off, most of the people will seem surprised and wonder whether we have to carry out the fire drills. I knew that we didn't have to as it was pretty obvious that it was just the technician testing the system out. But something funny happened. The moment I told them that we have to god own and I picked up my bucket, everyone began doing the same and assembling at the basketball court, even though instructions were given to prepare for the next activity.
In the end, we were told that it was a false alarm and to go up and prepare. Interesting, isn't it?
I bet even if it were a real fire, and people could smell the smoke, they would still look around to see what others are doing before making their move. Most people don't think that they do, though. If you ask them whether they are living their own lives, they would say yes without hesitation. Of course there are a few who really do what they want and not care what others think, but most of the people I know aren't like that.
I'm not saying that you totally ignore society, and just do what the hell you want at the expense of others. Of course you have to think about how your actions affect others, but ultimately it has to come from yourself and not from looking at what other people do, or what is "socially or politically correct".
It's funny how people are quick to give up personal integrity and are willing to hold back what they really think in order to be politically correct, and thus be socially accepted. Social conditioning is a vicious cycle. Society pressures the individual, who is part of the society. As a result, everyone is strong-arming everyone else into a "groupthink" mindset, and people no longer think for themselves, but look to "higher authority" (see: alphas).
The decision-makers are more often than not the "alpha male of the pack"; or leaders of men. They are the people who dare to rise up above all the other zombies and speak for them. They usually hold strong believes and are very centered in their own reality, thus sucking everyone else around them into their reality. As someone once said, "He who has the strongest reality (frame), wins". These people are the ones the rest of the pack look to, to make their decisions for them, and thus relieving them of the pressures and responsibilities and also someone to blame if anything goes wrong.
People like to live life on the surface-level, anything that requires a slightly greater amount of thinking is regarded as "deep" and, consequently, disregarded. Positive characteristics and values are no longer instilled, but enforced. Discipline is enforced; Loyalty is enforced; Professionalism (oddly) is enforced by punishment. Of course this all goes back to the age-old "carrot and stick" methods. But I think it goes beyond punishment or rewards. On a deeper level, is the values truly part of the person's personality or merely a performance.
Authenticity and integrity is the most important thing a person must have. If a man has not integrity, a man has nothing. There is no point living a life in deceit and with a mask all the time. Sooner or later someone is going to rip off that mask and reveal the maggot-infested rotting face beneath all that. Subconsciously (I believe it's a God-given intuition), everyone can detect inauthenticity - facial expression, body language, vocal tones, sentence structure, etc. Of course there are ways around that, but inauthenticity is never long-lasting. We should always speak from our hearts, and from our beliefs instead of what people want to hear. Unfortunately, society has a strong hold on many people and thus stifling our freedom of speech.
One thing I take out of BMT is this: In whatever we do, we have to internalize it (to paraphrase 2WO Cheng). If everything is internalized and instilled, it will be authentic. If we do something merely because someone else tells us to do it, not only are we deceiving others, but we are destroying ourselves, and our integrity.
Do you consciously and intentionally living from your core beliefs or are you looking externally for validation and decision? I say this from a Christian point of view. God doesn't want us to do things for the sake of doing it or to show others. He judges our intentions and our authenticity. We are to LIVE a Godly life, and not perform a Godly life. We are given things to live by, but they are not rules. God ultimately wants us to be loving, instead of showing love; to be joyful, instead of looking happy. We have to consciously internalize and instill these characteristics into our being, instead of doing it "just because it's the right thing to do, and God wants me to do it."
Owen Cook once said this, "Most people go through life in a walking daze." Are you? Think about it.