'Don't be a sheep'

One of the things I heard a lot from my parents while growing up was 'don't be a sheep'. As a child, I had a tendency to want to go along with the crowd... pretty typical for a youngster who has not yet learned to think for herself. I didn't have a lot of confidence in myself, and was very much in need of approval from my peers, so i definitely wanted to fit in. However, I was blessed with parents who definitely wanted to make sure I learned to think for myself. They did a lot to shape my values and help me to learn right from wrong, and they made me learn to make my own decisions, and accept the consequences.
Unfortunately, in today's world I think that too many people still go along with the crowd... no questions asked, no thought given to whether they are buying in to a sales pitch, or due to wishful thinking and denial, they are being duped. Maybe I'm being too skeptical, but I see what appears to be a large chunk of the populace taking the easy way out, and it concerns me greatly.
Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong age... should have been here in the 1800's, living out on the prairie, dealing with survival issues. Our era seems to put way too much value on 'talking points' and the massive bombardment of the media... letting them do the thinking for us. I think it's time we turned off the media and started doing a little personal soul-searching to see what we really believe in, and identify the things we think are truly important in life. Then maybe we can come up with some thoughtful, informed ideas about the direction we should be taking in this country. In the meantime, I think we are headed for some serious problems, and we have nothing but sheep to lead us out of the darkness into the light. Baaaa....Baaaa...