Spiral of Silence means the price of speaking out rises over time

The “Spiral of Silence” refers to “the idea that when people fail to speak, the price of speaking rises. As the price to speak rises, still fewer speak out, which further causes the price to rise, so that fewer people yet will speak out, until a whole culture or nation is silenced.”^[1]

Metaxas writes:

The “Spiral of Silence” [is described in] the work of German sociologist and political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. She coined it in the 1970s when writing about what had happened in Germany in the 1930s. Born in Berlin in 1916, she had lived through the Nazi regime and was herself generally pro-Hitler, and had even met him while a university student. But when the war was over and everyone saw the inexpressible horrors of the Holocaust, she began to think differently. She wondered most specifically why so few of those who had privately opposed Hitler said nothing until the war was over and the danger of speaking out had passed.
…
So the idea attributed to Bonhoeffer, that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil,” is borne out in Noelle-Neumann’s formulation. If you do not speak, you are not being neutral, but are contributing to the success of the thing you refuse to name and condemn.

#leadership #character