One dictionary defines mob rule as a government by violent gangs, or by the masses. Another provides a wonderful synonym, Ochlocracy, a middle French word derived from the ancient Greek; which various other sources define as power from the multitude or crowd. Either way it seems a strangely deviant name for a website devoted to the exceedingly orderly and ordinary practice of County Counting.
The Mob Rule Website has nothing to do with anarchy as it turns out, and everything to do with a play on the author’s name. It would be as if I called my site T-HO instead of the Twelve Mile Circle. Some of us are lucky enough to have initials that work for that purpose, some of us like T-HO, not so much.
You know all about the practice of County Counting if you’ve been following this blog even semi-regularly. You’ve even heard me mention the Mob Rule website. The hobby involves nothing more than keeping a running tally of every county you’ve visited. You define what a “visit” means. You also define the geographic unit. If U.S. counties don’t do it for you there’s always Canada, Ireland, the UK, France, wherever. If you want to broaden the scope to an international level, well that works just fine too. It can lead to all sorts of bizarre behaviors like hours-long detours along rural country roads for the sole purpose of collecting a few new counties.
I talk about County Counting often because I enjoy it. I practiced it long before I even knew it was a common phenomenon in the geo-geek world. In other words it’s not a common phenomenon at all, but it does serve as a gateway leading to the conversion of many a geo-curious bystander into a card-carrying aficionado.
The Intertubes are nothing if not a means for small communities to identify themselves and coalesce. County Counters are no different and Mob Rule provides electronic tools to help those people follow their pursuit. It may not look like much on the front page but it is great fun once you understand the site and start using it.
Readers have sometimes asked why I don’t have a Mob Rule account. I’m not much of a joiner, as I explained in my earlier post. Also I’m lazy. Really lazy. It never seemed to make it on my list of priorities. Well, that’s changed and that’s the entire reason behind this post: I finally requested an account and I’ve begun to load my counties. I’ll probably finish it over the weekend. I blame it on loyal reader Mike Lowe who always includes his Mob Rule *.gif in his comment tag (just kidding).
My account is “12mile” and this is my work-in-progress map. I’ll probably keep the map on my personal website up-to-date because I use it for other purposes but it’s always nice to have a backup site and a means to compare progress with like-minded individuals.
Hey, I always reserve the right to be a hypocrite to change my mind.
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