Authority

 

Power is about choice. It is the attempt to control, influence or seduce a choice someone is about to make.

This is done through a mechanical process of needs and abilities. An actor sees a need in a subject. The Actor wants to control the choice the subject will make. So, they apply their ability to the need of the Subject and the Subject, motivated by some emotion (usually fear,) makes a choice that may be different than what they would make without the dynamic of power targeted on them.

The power does not come from the Actor but from their ability to impact the Subject’s need. In fact, if the Subject has no need, the ability of the Actor is meaningless, and no power will be felt. The source of all power comes from the needs within a Subject.

Everyone always has a need to feel safe.

We want to feel safe from the virus. We want to feel safe from the imposed solutions to the virus. We want to feel safe from violence.

If protestors are allowed to use violence, then we are afraid of them. The protestors are afraid that the government will use violence on them to stop their protest. They are also afraid of being forced to take a vaccine which they do not believe is safe. They are also afraid of a government that would control their choices. This causes them to resist the demands of government.

The fear is real for everyone. The protestors, the other citizens, the people in government – police, politicians, and bureaucrats.

The protestors have the ability to make the politicians afraid and unsure. They have the ability to make life unpleasant for the other citizens. They have the ability to refuse to comply with government mandates.

The politicians have Authority. Authority is a very different kind of ability.

Authority is the gift to the governors from the people whom they are to govern. It is given to the politicians and government officials because of our need for safe, organized and prosperous society.

That authority is particularly meaningful because it comes with the legal ability to use violence.

The protestors have tried very hard to be peaceful and avoid violence. They know that the use of violence will trigger the authorities to use violence against them. If they protest within the limits of the law – the constitution – they will not provoke the government’s legal ability to use violence on them. As long as they are not violent, they will not trigger the citizens’ willingness to permit the government to use their authority.

The thing about authority is that it comes with massive resources and those include a police force and a military which are armed and trained to be decisively violent.

The ability to use that authority, and that trained force, is only theirs because we, as people - who elected our government - have given them that ability. They know that if they use it, everyone is watching and judging.

Most opinion polls show that about 50% of the citizens of our country are sympathetic to the protestors.

The protestors, save a very few individuals, have been very peaceful. They have been respectful and kind to the police and others. The police do not feel threatened, so they have no need to resort to their authority. That is why we have not seen violence so far.

Authority is power by consent. We consent that a group of people shall have, at our discretion, the ability to activate a significant force of police and soldiers to legally use violence for our general benefit. Security, safety, stability, are all meaningful goals for a society and are purposes we would consent to our government using force to protect.

We consent to who gets to make those decisions by who we vote for. We assign those abilities through our constitution. It is the highest form of law and represents our highest values as a citizenry. Everyone of us has the ability to consent.

Right now, only half of our country – or less – consents to this use of violence. Before you consent to the use of this violence - which our Prime Minister has proposed - we should make sure we know, as best we can, what is actually happening in Ottawa.

This past weekend we have had dozens of journalists go and visit Ottawa to see for themselves. I have read five such reports in different news sources. They all report back that the protestors are peaceful, yet obnoxiously and disruptively noisy.

To be in a democracy requires a great deal of mental and emotional effort and strength on everyone’s part. We need to allow people to disagree with us. We need to allow crazy people to speak what ever they like. We need to keep ourselves informed and aware of the facts. We need to remember our collective humanity and always be on guard for those who would abuse their authority.

These are all hard to do. But freedom requires that we do it.

Freedom is not something given to us by government. Freedom is our right by birth. There are those who might take our freedom away and we should resist those people. But the good news is that in our practical day to day lives, Freedom is the gift we give each other. It is all around us. We have witnessed it over and over in our lives. It is beautiful and it is precious.

Respect and peace are our mutual gifts. We give them because we want them. We give them because we know that is how we protect them. We give them because we can see in each other the integrity and humanity we see in ourselves – regardless of our significant differences of opinion.

Authority is something we consent to. Those in authority have no power, nor permission, to use violence without our consent. Authority should be seen as a responsibility to serve all those who gave you that authority. Not as a power to be wielded by virtue of your office.

Until the Prime Minister sits down with these people as human beings, respectful of all Canadians regardless of their opinions, and uses all peaceful means to bring this protest to an end, I do not give my consent to his extraordinary use of his authority which I gave him.

Authority must be held in check, always. Otherwise, it is no longer a democracy.

 

Rules of Engagement

 

I want to offer some ideas into the cyberscape.

I seek not to change minds. I really don’t care if you agree or disagree. Agreement is not really a worthwhile goal in my opinion. It only takes a little examination of history, or even your present surroundings, to show that there has been a lot of agreement that has led us astray. Agreement has been used to justify all manner of hurtful things. For centuries we agreed that women were not equal to men. And those who spoke otherwise were crazy, seditious, and spreading misinformation. They needed to be censored or better yet, jailed. 

For the whole of the history of humanity we seem to agree that the right response to anything new is fear.

Agreement is not a goal for discourse. Agreement provides no progress. Agreement does not move us forward. In fact, agreement results in the immediate cessation of progress. Agreement closes our minds to new ideas. It brings a false sense of security. It brings us to the conclusion of a process that should never end. Agreement should never be the goal. I believe all discourse, regardless of its perceived expertise, can and will shed light through constant questioning.

Answers do not create growth. Questions do.

Disagreement engenders consideration, inquiry, discussion and exploration. All of those endeavors create awareness and knowledge – which is the only true answer to fear. That is a good goal of open free speech – the never-ending release from fear.

My point is a simple one - Neither agreement nor disagreement should ever be a reason to hate.

I am shaken that good people are advocating harm to other good people because they have come to different conclusions about a situation. I care that people are formulating opinions based on select facts and then judging others as less than human because they disagree.

Maybe it is my age or my advanced ability to say and do dumb things, but I have reached the point where I question my own ideas. I am sure that I should not be so sure. I am aware of the limits of what I know, and I am witness to the outcome of weaponizing my own ignorance.

Today I try to measure my ideas not only on evidence and logic, but on how they align with my humanity.

Do my ideas advocate for attack on others? Then no matter the facts, I am wrong. Do my ideas promote interaction, communication, compassion and life? Then even when not totally accurate or completely irrefutable, they are pointed in the right direction.

The only purpose in learning and questioning is to improve my life and the good of all. And I believe that the motivations of even the most outrageous advocate are based in decency and seek to promote the highest ideals of life as they see them.

Opinions are every where. Like belly buttons, everybody has one and most of them are funny looking.

I see opinions as logical conclusions from a limited set of facts at any given time. The puzzle of truth is always missing pieces. So, if my knowledge is never any thing but incomplete, then my opinions can be nothing but temporary. I need to be open for the next round of meaningful considerations brought to my attention.

I am not weakening or demeaning myself by being open minded and changing my opinion from time to time.

Temporary conclusions voiced as opinions are always based on an incomplete understanding. Learning never ends. If I am to ever be right, I must allow myself to adjust as the evidence accumulates. It is always accumulating. I am always learning. I don’t always like what I find out. I am upset by a discovery that makes me incorrect. But that does not matter in the quest to do the right thing.

Under these terms, it is clear to me that there is no opinion that can justify hatred.

I am comfortable listening to people I do not agree with. Even those whose ideas I consider illogical, uninformed, or irrational. I believe if I want to have the freedom to express myself, I must defend another's right to do so. Not because their words are harmless, but because to try to silence them is evil. A right is an absolute thing – or it is not a right but a privilege. We restrict privileges to those who comply with the imposed rules. There is nothing free about that.

To try to censor someone is to reduce a brother or sister to nothing more than an idea that is to be suppressed or silenced. They are so much more than that. They may be misinformed from my perspective, but I am smarter and stronger than that. I do not need to silence them.

I return to writing because I see the power dynamics and they cause me concern. I seek to create a pause in our thinking. To consider that people are more than their opinions and we must honor their humanity if we wish to have our humanity so honored.

You are not alone if the present state of discourse causes you to wonder what is right. You are not alone if this exchange of attacks causes you to fear for our future. You are not alone. The increasing volume of the discussion is evidence of the deep fear everyone is experiencing. For two years and more I have retreated into the safety of silence. My opinions on the politics of it all are constantly changing. What is not changing is my fear for our society. I am as unsure of the correct path as anyone should be. The facts as they emerge are contradictory and “experts” seek to overwhelm my reason and substitute their opinions for my own.

When I read media, both traditional and social, I am shocked by the perversion of journalism from factual information to hyperbolic postulation with no interest in informing public opinion only in enflaming public outcry.

There are many opinions about social media. The only thing everyone agrees is that it is highly profitable.

Let’s willingly identify our opinions without thinking those opinions define who we are. When possible, let’s share, in a rational and helpful way, the best evidence we can find. Let’s acknowledge the limits of our knowledge at any given time. Finally, lets embrace the idea that opinions are meant to be temporary things. We collect information as best we can. We apply that information to our version of logic, and we form a conclusion. That conclusion needs to be temporary because the information base is always growing.

Please be aware that the artificial intelligence of your news feed is giving you more of the same and less of the competing information. You may need to actively find the information that could contradict your temporary opinion. This could cause you to be less angry and recognize the fear and concern behind the shrill cries of those you disagree with. We are all afraid. When a child is fearful you do not criticize their fear and condemn them to isolation. You do not attack them, label them and dismiss them.

Be aware that all the noise you are listening to is about the control, influence, and seduction of your choice. Your choices are being shaped by forces outside yourself making you angry and fearful. Be aware of the emotions attached to your opinions.

You can get a human to do just about anything if you can make them afraid enough.

If we still need to find some agreement, let's agree that we are all afraid. We are all suffering. We are all seeking and learning. We are all equal and entitled to freedom and love.

Let's agree that hatred will not solve any problem.

 

 

Twitter

Gotta love twitter.

Nothing riles me up like twitter does.

Gotta love twitter.

It is a never-ending dark hole of hate. It is magnetic. Within minutes I have grabbed onto threads and tumbled down the rabbit hole.  My heart begins to pound. My breath deepens. My pupils dilate. Adrenaline flows. I feel the hate rising in me. All due to the trigger I felt reading 15 words written by an idiot.

Gotta love twitter.

I can lose 20 minutes of my life on a thread. But not just by reading. Sometimes I fully engage. I pound out a heated reply. I start to write my own competing thread. I start searching for that article I read two days ago that contradicts everything that has been said. And it will prove them all to be idiots.

Gotta love twitter.

Somewhere deep within the black hole of my response I can see my plan of attack. My main point rises to the top. Then I pause and adjust my syntax to formulate the most cutting, sarcastic barb. I begin to sweat, and my typing becomes louder. My rage intensifies. I count characters to choose words that maximize my effect.

Gotta love twitter.

In those moments of ferocity, I gather focus. I ask myself, what is my most effective point?

And in that moment of pause, my higher self whispers “What are you doing?”

Gotta LOVE twitter.

Because of twitter I see myself as lost in a trap. The trap of social media using my need for information and connection to create valuable engagement and morphing it into profitable discord. The trap twitter sets so well, fanning the spark of disagreement and building a raging fire of lucrative hatred.

Because of twitter I can see the trap of my ego. My hubris. My fear. My isolation. My confusion. Turning them all into the voluntary surrender of my humanity.

I love twitter.

It shows me my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities, and my false sense of inferiority.

And when I see those flaws in my thinking and touch that lonely pain in my heart, I can see the fear that drives the whole of the twitter-verse. I get the chance to recognize all this as my need. My need for things to be better. For me to be better. My need for someone to click that heart button and confirm to me that my view is the righteous one and we are superior ones. Confirm to me that I am situated on the moral high ground. And if only everyone would listen to me we could climb out of this chaos.

Yes, I love twitter.

Yes, I love twitter.

It reveals to me all this and more. I can connect to my own yearning for peace and calm and connection to others. I want more than to be on the righteous side of wordy idealistic disputes. I want to experience us as connected. And finally, I see all my harsh words and raging thought is dividing us.

Yes, I love twitter.

For in those moments just before the trap sets, I can pause and see those same needs and desires hidden in the words of those others. I see that same yearning in the heart of that idiot, that person, that being of light. I see there those same motives in their tweet. The same pain and fear.

Only then do I remember it is the peace in my heart that will lead to peace in the world. Not my silly angry words.

Thank you twitter.