"Man as an individual is a genius. But men in the mass form the headless monster, a great, brutish idiot that goes where prodded"

This quote by Charlie Chaplin speaks with the power of the collective and the potential for it to be manipulated. On a specific level, human beings are capable of fantastic feats of creativity and intelligence. However, when people come together in big groups, they can become a meaningless, unthinking mass, quickly influenced and directed by those in power. This quote suggests that when individuals come together in large numbers, they can be easily controlled and controlled, and their individual genius is lost. It is a warning versus the threats of permitting a few people to control the masses, and a suggestion of the importance of private idea and action. It is a suggestion that we should be vigilant in safeguarding our specific rights and flexibilities, and that we must know the power of the cumulative and the capacity for it to be abused.