Choice Between

Check out Rick's Rant...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=225Mx6ya7SQ

Now this might get a little confusing, but stick with me. I promise you will get it in the end.


Choice Between is not choice. Not really. Not in any meaningful way.

Power is about Choice. Or more precisely, Choice is the target of all power dynamics.

Remember our power fundamentals? Based on how it works, Power should be defined as:

The control, influence or seduction of a Choice by an Actor through the application of an ability to help or hinder a need (requirement, desire or attachment) in the Subject, creating a motivating emotional experience in the mind.

That’s where Choice takes place – in the mind. So that must be where Power takes place. Looking at the external conditions and the objects used for power is a distraction from the real process. If we want to change our response to power we have to stay focused.

Power is about Choice.

To have power is to have the ability to impact the Choices of others. To overcome power is to make that Choice without regard to the power dynamic being experienced.

When power is simple, the Actor stands before the Subject and somehow communicates to the Subject that they must choose X. They cannot choose Y.

The Subject wants to choose Y. The Actor wants the Subject to choose X. So using their ability to impact the Subject’s needs, they create an experience of control, influence or seduction in the Subject and in this way the Subject experiences power.

Choice did not go away. It may appear to have gone away because the Subject’s needs are very compelling. But the Choice is still there.

More importantly - the Subject is very aware that the Actor just used Power. When you know it is happening it seems a little fairer.

Some people call this Power Over. Steven Lukes calls it the first dimension of power. It is the ability to determine the answer to a question: Do you choose X or Y?

But there is more going on here. If we look harder we can see two levels of power are going on. Two levels of Choice.

The Choice between X and Y is not real Choice. It is Choice Between.

A talented Actor will know that there are more choices than X and Y. In fact, Choices range from A to Z. But if we exercise power over the potential options for selection within the question there is another level of power. The difference is that you may not be aware that a second level of power was in play.

No fair.

You didn’t realize that you could have considered A to Z. But the Actor got you to think the only options were X and Y. You know what else you didn't know? That in the end, both options are acceptable to the Actor. They just had a preference.

Hmmmmm…very effective power.

If there is another level of Choice being hidden or assumed, there is another level of Power going on.

Lukes might call it the second dimension of power.

Good power players always make sure that you only have Choice Between - never Real Choice. This is where it gets both insidious as well as ridiculous.

If you don’t realize there is another level of Choice that the Actor has hidden from you, then you certainly won’t recognize the power dynamic when it is before you. You may not understand why you are feeling increasingly angry or afraid. But somewhere in your psyche you know power is at work. When an Actor can limit what you perceive as your list of possible Choices, they are showing a real aptitude for Power.

Power is bad enough when you see it going on. It’s just plain twisted (insidious) when you can’t even spot it.

Of course the levels can go deeper.

If neither the Actor nor the Subject realize that options A to Z are not the only options. In fact, there may be multiple sets of options like 1 to 10, and red to violet, as well as A to Z. Now both the Actor and the Subject are the victims of some deeper level of power put in play by other Actors.

Now we are into the third dimension of power.

But the dimensions can go on and on.

If you can see that unlimited options are being narrowed question by question, layer by layer, level by level, choice by choice, you will see how power in our society works.

Choice Between.

So your parents wanted you to go to business school not art school. So they told you that you were going to choose between Business College X and Business College Y. They preferred Business College X so they told you that they would pay for it if you went to College X but won’t pay for it if you go to College Y.

Simple one dimensional power? Nope - layers and layers.

You see the power but accept it because you think you have Choice - you get to pick the college.

That’s illusion. It’s Choice Between.

Notice how there was never a question about whether or not you would choose between Biz College or Art College. Nor is there a choice between College and University.

That’s the second dimension. Choice between Choice Between.

But wait. There’s more.

You never even realized that all of this assumed that you were going to spend the next few years in post secondary. Ever wonder if you should get more education at all?

Yup – Choice between, choice between, Choice Between.

Geeze, what if you wanted to become a hermit and live in the wilderness of the Yukon?

Not even a question to be discussed.

Every time the question that supports the previous question is hidden behind another question so it can't be perceived, let alone considered, you have another level of power. Every time the list of options is reduced, there is another level of power in play. Everytime Choice is converted to Choice Between.

Good News? With each level of question you perceive, you get closer to Real Choice – not Choice Between. So ask Why? Why this? Why now? Why here? Why?

Confusing? Not really. Well maybe a bit.:)

It's just like when you think you could only choose between the political parties that are attending a debate. Choice Between.

But the truth is, there is more to that Choice. The levels go deeper when you recognize that even if we include the parties that are not in the debate, those are not your only choices. Choice Between Choice Between.

Nobody told you, (and you never considered) you had real Choice. Anything is possible. Hec, if you wanted you could change the election completely. You could change elections forever.

You could form a political party for people under the age of 30.

Call it the Bloc Youth.

You could run candidates in every riding. Cause young people are everywhere ya know.

You could raise millions of dollars by asking for only $5 each from the nearly 5 million Canadian voters under the age of 30. You don’t realize that you know how to reach them quickly and effectively. You could communicate with every one of them because they are on facebook like you. And with 25 million bucks you post a lot of video on youtube and facebook.

And you don’t realize they would listen to you. They are just as disengaged as you because they are frigging sick and tired of the bullshit Choice Between that they get offered every election by people who have been manipulating them with Choice Between for over two decades.

And all those politicians look the same to them anyway.

Layers and layers of Choice Between has effectively tricked you into thinking that a choice between Harper and Iggy is some kind of real Choice.

But you think, Who cares? There are no meaningful choices for me. So why bother?

And so you don’t even make a Choice Between let alone create a Real Choice by asking Why? or even better, Why Not?

They win.

Bastards.




What are you going to do about it?

Roll over and take it again?