I would love to hear what you think about it...
Post a comment and then link it to your facebook.
Maybe we can hear from a lot of peope in the next few days...
Be happy.
:)
Monday, August 19, 2013
Talk to me...
Found this today.
I would love to hear what you think about it...
Post a comment and then link it to your facebook.
Maybe we can hear from a lot of peope in the next few days...
Be happy.
:)
I would love to hear what you think about it...
Post a comment and then link it to your facebook.
Maybe we can hear from a lot of peope in the next few days...
Be happy.
:)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
How you see the world...
I saw this and started to think about information and its relationship to power.
But also about how we deal with information.
I think the mind is a mash-up thing.
It takes in lots of information every day. But it takes in that information in an interpretive way.
We do not just log information. We filter it through our view of the world.
We reject some information regardless of truth because we don't like how it clashes with what we already "know."
We accept some some whether it is true or not because we want to believe that which brings us peace.
That's how lies work - we want to believe them.
But remember that to believe in something does not make it true.
To believe is to say, "I cannot show this to be true, but I will act as if it is anyway."
We take in new information and mash it with what we already believe and then form a new world view.
Every one of us has a world view. And if you took each world view and compared it you would find that they are very different. Vastly different.
Consider the idea of perspective - where you stand when you look determines what you see.
The life you live detemines what you see.
Your gender, race, religion, income and family make-up are the beginning location of your point of view.
Your home town and education have an impact.
Your values - self-created or inherited - are a big part of the filter.
Your tastes will limit what you are willing to see and what you ignore.
Your age determines what you saw and what you were only told about.
We all know about Hiroshima but very few of us actually experienced it.
All this past experience will determine how you interpret new experience.
Experience is deceiving.
Experience is only that. It is not, in itself, truth.
Even your dreams at night are experiences. But you wouldn't call them true.
Don't confuse what is real with what you experience.
I think the only way to find truth is to accept that you don't have it yet.
Every idea is a mashup of past ideas and new experiences and each of them is a function of where you were standing at the time.
The Tao Te Ching says, "The master is free of their own ideas."
Don't cling to your ideas.
Get as much information as you can.
Seek out information that disagrees with your world view.
Be open to it.
But use your mind not to collect information.
Use it to filter it.
Not everything you see and hear is true.
And ask the question - "Why is this person telling me this?"
That question usually helps you see control and influence.
Because people use information more than anything else to have power over others.
Even friends and loved ones use power.
A Lie is only believable because you want to believe it.
And then go ahead and mash it up. I love hearing about people's different world views.
Check it out
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/
But also about how we deal with information.
I think the mind is a mash-up thing.
It takes in lots of information every day. But it takes in that information in an interpretive way.
We do not just log information. We filter it through our view of the world.
We reject some information regardless of truth because we don't like how it clashes with what we already "know."
We accept some some whether it is true or not because we want to believe that which brings us peace.
That's how lies work - we want to believe them.
But remember that to believe in something does not make it true.
To believe is to say, "I cannot show this to be true, but I will act as if it is anyway."
We take in new information and mash it with what we already believe and then form a new world view.
Every one of us has a world view. And if you took each world view and compared it you would find that they are very different. Vastly different.
Consider the idea of perspective - where you stand when you look determines what you see.
The life you live detemines what you see.
Your gender, race, religion, income and family make-up are the beginning location of your point of view.
Your home town and education have an impact.
Your values - self-created or inherited - are a big part of the filter.
Your tastes will limit what you are willing to see and what you ignore.
Your age determines what you saw and what you were only told about.
We all know about Hiroshima but very few of us actually experienced it.
All this past experience will determine how you interpret new experience.
Experience is deceiving.
Experience is only that. It is not, in itself, truth.
Even your dreams at night are experiences. But you wouldn't call them true.
Don't confuse what is real with what you experience.
I think the only way to find truth is to accept that you don't have it yet.
Every idea is a mashup of past ideas and new experiences and each of them is a function of where you were standing at the time.
The Tao Te Ching says, "The master is free of their own ideas."
Don't cling to your ideas.
Get as much information as you can.
Seek out information that disagrees with your world view.
Be open to it.
But use your mind not to collect information.
Use it to filter it.
Not everything you see and hear is true.
And ask the question - "Why is this person telling me this?"
That question usually helps you see control and influence.
Because people use information more than anything else to have power over others.
Even friends and loved ones use power.
A Lie is only believable because you want to believe it.
And then go ahead and mash it up. I love hearing about people's different world views.
Check it out
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/
Monday, August 12, 2013
Persuasion...
I read a pretty good article today.
I think it has merit. The author makes meaningful accurate points. And, of course, I love it when someone tries to explain power dynamics. :)
However, I like to encourage you to use your power analysis - the fundamentals we have talked about. You need to know more than what works - you need to know why it works.
I think that if you did your power analysis you could figure most of these points yourself.
1.They are purposeful.
Yes persuasive people use power sparingly because they know - it destroys trust. Power is using people's needs against them. When a Subject of power benefits from what the Actor is providing then they can live with that violation of trust. But when we see someone benefit from exploiting our needs we will forever be cautious with them. That's why persuasive people use compassion or collaboration rather than influence.
2. They Listen and listen
Yes. If you do not know what the other person needs and how that need fits into their life you will have no hope of addressing that need appropriately with your mechanism.
3. They Create a Connection
This is true but it is also why I hate power. How effective is it that someone pretends to be a caring friend when they are simply a calculating predator? It is easy for us to persuade a friend for they believe that we are acting selflessly and in their best interests. It is also why friendships end the instant it is obvious that the interaction was simply a self-interested power play.
That's why I encourage compassion and collaboration. If the connection you create is perceived as artificial the power will be transparent.
4. They Acknowledge Credibility
Sounds like a manipulation to me. But he is right - it works.
Why?
Because everyone needs self esteem and when someone offers a little puffery to improve your self-view, you like them better and are more likely to listen. After all, if she said I was good looking, she must be trustworthy. If he said I was smart he must truly like me and won't hurt me.
It is a power play within a power play using levels of needs that co-exist and can be used in compound to get you to the point where you want to trust.
5. The Offer Satisfaction
I think he means - they give a little to get a little. That's power - a quid pro quo - this for that - great powerful people were masters of giving a little until it is time for the big ask. That's how politics and organised crime survive - they keep giving until it is time for the big ask. Needs and abilities.
This is the art of playing power. And it certainly works.
Regardless of the art - in the end when the big ask comes - you know you have been played and the trust is gone forever.
6. They know when to shut up
The art of using power has many secrets. Not the least of which is to keep it secret.
Remember power works usually because people are not thinking it is power. It is because they have been fooled into thinking it is helpfulness.
All power destroys trust. Don't ever forget it.
Once it starts to smell like power - because people press too hard or talk too much - people become cautious and start to re-evaluate the process.
Shutting up is knowing when you have crossed from looking helpful to exposing your use of power.
7. They know when to back away
Again this is about the playing of a power dynamic.
If it is to work, it can't feel like power. When you push, you create those feelings of fear, anger or excitement. If you are using power and you create those feelings in a way that they are dominant, you risk exposing your power play.
Playing power has art to it. Mostly it is about keeping suspicions down and being focused on the needs.
Again, why not just put all the mutual benefits on the table and then agree to collaborate. If you both agree that it is in your mutual best interests to work together and give each other what each needs, then you don't ever need to persuade.
Trying to help is a great way to make real friends.
Yup. It's a very accurate article. I like it.
And the power analysis will tell you why.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
There Oughta Be A Wall
There oughta be a wall - a great big wall a mile long and 10
feet high.
All along the top of the wall there would be signs with titles.
The titles would represent every major issue in our lives today. Here in this
society - in this global-everyone-included-everyone-matters world that we live
in.
The titles would be things like “War in Iraq” or “911 Truth”
or “Genetically Modified Foods” or “NSA Privacy Invasion” or “Right to Work
Legislation” or “Executive Compensation” or “Bank Bailouts” or “The Occupy
Movement.” Or any other issue as and
when it arises.
It would include any meaningful issue we are divided on and
people call each other names over. The issues have to have significance. They have
to matter to the future of the world.
The wall has to be maintained and taken care of so our great
great grandchildren can see it and know.
Under every issue title there are two sides to the wall. One
side painted red and one side painted green.
Under every issue each of us has to write our name in our
own handwriting in permanent ink. Write it proud and clear so everyone can read
it. Read it forever. Either we are for it, or we are against it. But you have
to put your name up there.
You can change your mind. You can get that permanent marker
and cross your name off one side and write it on the other. Everyone will be
able to see that you changed your mind. You are allowed to change your mind.
But you have to write your name. You have to make a choice.
You have to have an opinion (cause everyone does anyway) and you have to state
it so everyone can see where you stand. So your grandchildren can see where you
stood.
No free passes. If you don’t write your name you are part of
the problem. No “I am not sure” or “It depends.” You have to state your view.
To not write your name is to be a part of the problem.
To change your mind is a sign of strength and courage.
Because you went and looked and reconsidered and decided you were wrong and
decided to take a different stand.
Now everyone can see where you stand – where you stood. They
can see which side of the wall you were on.
Now your great grandchildren can say, “My great grandpa was one
of the people who chose to plant GMO’s and that is why we don’t have bees any
more.”
“My great grandmother said that this constant state of war
was necessary to protect our country and now we live in a radiated world of
nuclear fall-out.”
“Grampa said that terrorists should be held in detention
centres and denied their rights. That is why when I exercised my free speech I
was locked away forever.”
“My Great Aunt Sally said bailing out banks was good and now
the USA is bankrupt and I live in a society without health care or highways.”
Now those are just my points of view. It could turn out the
other way.
“My Grandpa said GMO’s were bad and now 10 billion people on
this planet are starving.”
“My Grandpa said that 911 was a lie and because we let down
our guard we were invaded.”
“My Grandpa said that bailing out banks is a type of
communism and should be stopped. Now we have a monetary crisis.”
But there oughta be a wall.
There oughta be a wall because everyone who does not voice
an opinion is part of the problem. The only thing necessary for the success of evil is that
good people do nothing.
There oughta be a wall because everything we do, say or
think has an impact and we are responsible for that impact. And we should be
held accountable by the people effected by our decisions.
There oughta be a wall because everyone needs to think it
through and get the information they need to make an informed decision. If
there was a wall there would have to be freedom of information and everyone
could find answers to their questions. They would make a choice and live with
the consequences.
I don’t know if things would change.I don’t know what everybody thinks. I just know that we all need more information and those who
are making the decisions need to be held accountable by future generations.
If they were, if they had their name permanently beside an
issue, they would be more likely to think of the future.
Today I read about 40 million bees dying in Ontario. There oughta
be a wall so we can know who is responsible. No corporation bashing. Just the
people hiding behind the corporation making the decisions. Put your name on the
wall.
Mr. Snowden thinks everyone should be aware they are being
tracked and listened to. Of course they should know. Government that hides their
practices is corrupt and irresponsible. Some say Snowden is making us unsafe. I
think he is protecting us. The Tao says, “To have an enemy is to be an enemy.”
I am nobody’s enemy. To mistreat your people is to invite revolution. If you
don’t know that, you don’t belong in government. But either way – put your name
on the wall.
9-11 was a lie. Call me a conspiracy theorist or any other
name you can come up with. I don’t care – just put your name on the wall.
Our government is bashing workers to support the corporate
profit motive because they give more donations to win elections than
individuals do. You gotta be one lousy economist to not realize that if workers
don’t have money to spend there will be no economy. Maybe I am wrong – but put
your name on the wall.
The future will show who was right. I can live with that. But
don’t be afraid. Life will continue. It is all going to happen anyway.
But there oughta be a wall.
Friday, June 07, 2013
Money
Listen to this while you read...
Most of us agree, Money is Power.
So how powerful are you?
Ever wondered exactly how rich you are?
Just for the fun of it, consider today that you are rich. Very rich.
Are you then very powerful?
Just wondering...
:)
Talk soon
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Power, Manipulation, Creation and Love
Here's a little something to listen to while reading...
The first glorious summer long weekend of the year is here.
And of course in my sick, twisted way it has me thinking about power. It has me thinking about how things work. It has me thinking about making and creating. It has me thinking about love.
I love these days. The sun is out. The air is warm again. The birds sing. I think it is the song of the bird that moves me most.
I play a little catch listening to the skate boards do the clickity-click over the sidewalk while the little girls next door squeal in the cold water of the sprinkler.
I barbequed some burgers for Chuck and his boys. All night video game party ended with their collapse in front of a movie. Morning now, and I command them to clean up the mess in the basement. In spite of my authority, or maybe because of it, they smile and thank me for letting them stretch the rules. We all pretend it’s summer. It is a long weekend after all.
I cut the grass for the first time this year. It looks like a yard after two years of digging up dandelions. Pesticides are easier but they give me the creeps so I try to honor the new laws.
Bill was a little more spring-ish than I. He had me digging in his garden three weeks ago and gave me dozens of perennials for my place. I finished planting them today. I planted a few of them a couple of weeks ago and they have come on strong so I am sure I will have a garden in no time.
Veggie seeds will get planted later.
My mother always planted tomatoes and peppers. She taught me that no matter where you live, you can grow some food
I will plant some zucchini. It grows easy and I like the taste.
About 20 years ago I planted my first big garden. Forty feet by forty feet. Everything from potatoes to carrots to beans and peas. I don’t even like peas but I grew them anyway.
It is fun to borrow the power of life and pretend that I am responsible for the flowers that will soon bloom and the food they will yield.
It is pretending. I didn’t create it.
Last night I made burgers but I didn’t create them. I took what life produced and manipulated it to a tasty treat. I may make a good burger but I didn’t create it.
My back says that I was the one in the yard with dirt in my fingernails and sweat on my face. I dug and raked. I pulled up earth and gently pressed roots. And watered
But I did no more than move the force of life from one place to another. I made a garden but I didn’t create it.
With power I got the boys to clean the basement. A little seduction with burgers and chips. A little influence by looking the other way and relaxing the rules. Just an inflection in my voice and I accomplish a little control reminding my son who is in charge.
The force of authority gets my son to clean or me to dig dandelions rather than spray them.
With power I can get other people to do things. Say things. Think things. But they seldom do them or say them or think them the way I want them done. Power is never as effective as we think it will be.
I am sure I will be down stairs finishing the clean-up in a few minutes.
Power gets things done but it has its costs. Power destroys trust. Power creates a dynamic that never ends and we must be forever vigilant against finding ourselves victim to it.
Power succeeds at the cost of love.
I can be self reliant and depower the world. If I can be in control of my needs – like planting a garden – I retain choice. I can be confident that what life brings me, I can handle.
I plant my garden and I take power out of my life – as well as GMO’s and pesticides.
Making things for my self is good.
But I didn’t create it.
Creation is something that flows from the power of love. Love is the creative force. Love is the thing that makes all other things possible.
I am not talking about that love-because stuff I have talked about before. And I will probably talk about again.
I am talking about the essence of all things. The force that makes all things possible. The source of life.
Love is the source of life.
Need is the source of power. I can manipulate people with their needs.
I can manipulate the world around me with my abilities.
But can I create with the power of love?
Hmmm… it all starts in the mind. I will start there.
Start with a little love and apply my abilities and next thing I know I have my famous tomato - zucchini - onion soup.
The first glorious summer long weekend of the year is here.
And of course in my sick, twisted way it has me thinking about power. It has me thinking about how things work. It has me thinking about making and creating. It has me thinking about love.
I love these days. The sun is out. The air is warm again. The birds sing. I think it is the song of the bird that moves me most.
I play a little catch listening to the skate boards do the clickity-click over the sidewalk while the little girls next door squeal in the cold water of the sprinkler.
I barbequed some burgers for Chuck and his boys. All night video game party ended with their collapse in front of a movie. Morning now, and I command them to clean up the mess in the basement. In spite of my authority, or maybe because of it, they smile and thank me for letting them stretch the rules. We all pretend it’s summer. It is a long weekend after all.
I cut the grass for the first time this year. It looks like a yard after two years of digging up dandelions. Pesticides are easier but they give me the creeps so I try to honor the new laws.
Bill was a little more spring-ish than I. He had me digging in his garden three weeks ago and gave me dozens of perennials for my place. I finished planting them today. I planted a few of them a couple of weeks ago and they have come on strong so I am sure I will have a garden in no time.
Veggie seeds will get planted later.
My mother always planted tomatoes and peppers. She taught me that no matter where you live, you can grow some food
I will plant some zucchini. It grows easy and I like the taste.
About 20 years ago I planted my first big garden. Forty feet by forty feet. Everything from potatoes to carrots to beans and peas. I don’t even like peas but I grew them anyway.
It is fun to borrow the power of life and pretend that I am responsible for the flowers that will soon bloom and the food they will yield.
It is pretending. I didn’t create it.
Last night I made burgers but I didn’t create them. I took what life produced and manipulated it to a tasty treat. I may make a good burger but I didn’t create it.
My back says that I was the one in the yard with dirt in my fingernails and sweat on my face. I dug and raked. I pulled up earth and gently pressed roots. And watered
But I did no more than move the force of life from one place to another. I made a garden but I didn’t create it.
With power I got the boys to clean the basement. A little seduction with burgers and chips. A little influence by looking the other way and relaxing the rules. Just an inflection in my voice and I accomplish a little control reminding my son who is in charge.
The force of authority gets my son to clean or me to dig dandelions rather than spray them.
With power I can get other people to do things. Say things. Think things. But they seldom do them or say them or think them the way I want them done. Power is never as effective as we think it will be.
I am sure I will be down stairs finishing the clean-up in a few minutes.
Power gets things done but it has its costs. Power destroys trust. Power creates a dynamic that never ends and we must be forever vigilant against finding ourselves victim to it.
Power succeeds at the cost of love.
I can be self reliant and depower the world. If I can be in control of my needs – like planting a garden – I retain choice. I can be confident that what life brings me, I can handle.
I plant my garden and I take power out of my life – as well as GMO’s and pesticides.
Making things for my self is good.
But I didn’t create it.
Creation is something that flows from the power of love. Love is the creative force. Love is the thing that makes all other things possible.
I am not talking about that love-because stuff I have talked about before. And I will probably talk about again.
I am talking about the essence of all things. The force that makes all things possible. The source of life.
Love is the source of life.
Need is the source of power. I can manipulate people with their needs.
I can manipulate the world around me with my abilities.
But can I create with the power of love?
Hmmm… it all starts in the mind. I will start there.
Start with a little love and apply my abilities and next thing I know I have my famous tomato - zucchini - onion soup.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Information
Choice.
It's how we live.
Moment to moment making choices on what to think, say or do.
It's how we want to live.
All we can hope for is the chance to make conscious choices through the day to live the life we desire.
Choice requires information.
Sometimes a lot. Sometimes a little.
As much as it takes to be aware - educated - and make a balanced self-interested decision on what to do, say, or think.
To control information is to have a great deal of power over what people choose and how people make choices.
There are those who love you. They respect you and want you to make the best choice for you. No matter the consequence to them. They want you to know everything and make a good educated decision.
There are those who do not love you. They want you to make the choice that works best for them. They want to use information for power over you.
They want to control, influence or seduce your choices.
They want what they want at your expense.
Unfortunately, our government does not love us.
They do not want you to have access to all the information necessary to make decisions.
They even want to influence you to think that our national government should be coloured blue - the colour of conservatives - not the red of our flag - the colour of Canada. :)
All information should be available to everyone, always. Anything less than that is an attempt at power.
After all, if you were honestly doing what is best for everyone and believed in the democratic process, you would have nothing to hide...would you?
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/vincent-gogolek/harper-government-websites-access-to-information_b_2838916.html
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The opposite of power...
Power is the combination of ability and need.
So is compassion.
When one has an ability and they offer to use it to better another person on the condition that the other person reciprocate with something - that is power.
When one has an ability and they use it to better another without demand or expectation - that is compassion.
On one hand you have power - the control, influence or seduction of a choice a subject will make to do, say or think something by offering an ability to help or hinder that subject's need.
On the other hand you have compassion - the offering of an ability to help another without any intention of personal gain.
When one sees power, they are driven to fear, anger or excitement.
When one sees compassion we are driven to tears of love.
I know I was when I watched this.
It's the choice we make every day. It is not always an easy choice.
Power or love.
Which do you choose today?
Monday, February 25, 2013
Choose Me
Power is about choice.
Everyone wants to be chosen by someone. For something. At some time.
At those times we unabashedly use power.
We show the other the best of what we think they want. Then we let them know we could be theirs if they choose us.
Classic seduction.
But sometimes we say - You don't want to miss out on me and have someone choose me before you do...
Fear works sometimes.
But more than having what they want, when we ARE what they want, we get to enjoy control and the negotiation usually goes well.
Why am I speaking about this?
Cause it's interview time. You may be looking for a summer job or your career is beginning. Either way, you are wanting to be the choice they make.
You want to use power.
So I thought I would send out a reminder to keep your power chops up.
Control, influence or seduction - whatever it takes - choose me.
Good luck :)
Everyone wants to be chosen by someone. For something. At some time.
At those times we unabashedly use power.
We show the other the best of what we think they want. Then we let them know we could be theirs if they choose us.
Classic seduction.
But sometimes we say - You don't want to miss out on me and have someone choose me before you do...
Fear works sometimes.
But more than having what they want, when we ARE what they want, we get to enjoy control and the negotiation usually goes well.
Why am I speaking about this?
Cause it's interview time. You may be looking for a summer job or your career is beginning. Either way, you are wanting to be the choice they make.
You want to use power.
So I thought I would send out a reminder to keep your power chops up.
Control, influence or seduction - whatever it takes - choose me.
Good luck :)
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Your mind creates your reality
Power and information are deeply connected.
Power is about choice.
Choice is about deliberately weighing information and choosing.
Mis-information messes with the choices you might make.
Powerful people know this and so they mess with information. Check it out.
There are always at least two sides trying to mess with your perceptions of reality.
Using one to combat the other does not always lead to good choices.
But if you always try to avoid anger and seek more information, eventually your choices will allign with the reality you hope to create.
Remember - S/he who angers you, conquers you.
Bring lots of information into your life.
Remove the anger. Remove the power.
Make choices.
:)
Power is about choice.
Choice is about deliberately weighing information and choosing.
Mis-information messes with the choices you might make.
Powerful people know this and so they mess with information. Check it out.
There are always at least two sides trying to mess with your perceptions of reality.
Using one to combat the other does not always lead to good choices.
But if you always try to avoid anger and seek more information, eventually your choices will allign with the reality you hope to create.
Remember - S/he who angers you, conquers you.
Bring lots of information into your life.
Remove the anger. Remove the power.
Make choices.
:)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
I Love Rick
When power is abused, it is abused by people who ignore principles to get what they want.
Authority is a gift from people - Power by consent.
Using that power for your own purposes is the definition of corruption.
At least Rick makes us laugh about it.
Enjoy!
Authority is a gift from people - Power by consent.
Using that power for your own purposes is the definition of corruption.
At least Rick makes us laugh about it.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
I guess it's been a while since I wrote.
But today I am motivated.
At first, I was motivated by anger.
An emotion of power right?
So I do the analysis. If I am angry then I am experiencing power. Anger is one of the emotions of power. If you feel it you are probably in a power dynamic and are having a choice controlled, influenced or seduced.
If you see through it then you have begun the process of taking back the choice.
Anger is also the emotion of injustice. When we are angry it is because we feel like our lives have been inappropriately encroached upon.
But I have been working on my anger. Forgiveness is a powerful thing.
To forgive is to see the truth. We are all one.
Today I saw this and then read this and then read this and this and then of course, I looked at a bunch of related stuff.
Of course I thought of power.
I got angry and wanted to be angry at someone. Mr Harper is an easy target.
But then I felt like a hater. I don't wanna be a hater.
So how does one not be a hater? Forgive.
How should one respond? By giving information...by teaching :)
Dear Mr. Harper and Team:
Power is about the control, influence or seduction of a choice someone is about to make. The mother of all power plays is to somehow share, manipulate or withhold the information one would use to make that choice.
I think you know this. It is an obvious part of your strategy.
When you are making important choices, you want as much information as you can possibly get, right?
Why would someone like you want to stop the generation and flow of information about things like science and the environment? Are you planning on doing things that the people of Canada would object to? Is it that you do not want them to have the information they need to make other choices?
That sure is how it looks.
Authority is power by consent. People have given you their consent to use the mechanisms of power available in a society. You get to use our money - taxes - and you get to use force - police and armies - and you get to create rules - laws. You were given this authority to do what would be best for EVERYONE. You don't rule part of Canada. You rule all of it. Each and every Canadian. So you are responsible to Each and Every Canadian.
In a perfect world, we would hope that you love Canada and love Canadians. All of it and Each and Every One of us.
When you use your authoritative power (given to you in a democratic fashion) to stop people from having the information they need to make other choices, that is called propaganda. You may see it as part of the political game. But the rest of us are not playing games sir. We are living our lives with the hope that we do not have to protect ourselves from our government.
When you use the authoritative power (given to you in a democratic fashion) to advance the interests of yourself or your friends without regard to the interests or desires of Everyone, that is called corruption.
You may see it as a political process but most of us just see it as evil.
People see it in government every day. It's why most people in Canada don't vote.
Do you care about how history remembers you? Or are you planning on controlling that information too?
Do you really think that you can control what people say about you after you are dead?
Sir, what you are doing will result in you going down in history as a manipulative and corrupt, one-term Prime Minister. You will be remembered as the Prime Minister who manipulated information to control the people and accomplish things the people did not want.
Wouldn't you rather be remembered as the Prime Minister who truly loved Canada and Canadians?
People understand power intuitively.
I plan on helping them understand the details.
Your actions are easily interpreted. Their effect is obvious enough for everyone to see. Your motives appear corrupt.
Having a majority of members in the House may allow you to do these things. But it does not make them right.
Please reconsider.
Peace to you.
Your Brother,
Les
But today I am motivated.
At first, I was motivated by anger.
An emotion of power right?
So I do the analysis. If I am angry then I am experiencing power. Anger is one of the emotions of power. If you feel it you are probably in a power dynamic and are having a choice controlled, influenced or seduced.
If you see through it then you have begun the process of taking back the choice.
Anger is also the emotion of injustice. When we are angry it is because we feel like our lives have been inappropriately encroached upon.
But I have been working on my anger. Forgiveness is a powerful thing.
To forgive is to see the truth. We are all one.
Today I saw this and then read this and then read this and this and then of course, I looked at a bunch of related stuff.
Of course I thought of power.
I got angry and wanted to be angry at someone. Mr Harper is an easy target.
But then I felt like a hater. I don't wanna be a hater.
So how does one not be a hater? Forgive.
How should one respond? By giving information...by teaching :)
Dear Mr. Harper and Team:
Power is about the control, influence or seduction of a choice someone is about to make. The mother of all power plays is to somehow share, manipulate or withhold the information one would use to make that choice.
I think you know this. It is an obvious part of your strategy.
When you are making important choices, you want as much information as you can possibly get, right?
Why would someone like you want to stop the generation and flow of information about things like science and the environment? Are you planning on doing things that the people of Canada would object to? Is it that you do not want them to have the information they need to make other choices?
That sure is how it looks.
Authority is power by consent. People have given you their consent to use the mechanisms of power available in a society. You get to use our money - taxes - and you get to use force - police and armies - and you get to create rules - laws. You were given this authority to do what would be best for EVERYONE. You don't rule part of Canada. You rule all of it. Each and every Canadian. So you are responsible to Each and Every Canadian.
In a perfect world, we would hope that you love Canada and love Canadians. All of it and Each and Every One of us.
When you use your authoritative power (given to you in a democratic fashion) to stop people from having the information they need to make other choices, that is called propaganda. You may see it as part of the political game. But the rest of us are not playing games sir. We are living our lives with the hope that we do not have to protect ourselves from our government.
When you use the authoritative power (given to you in a democratic fashion) to advance the interests of yourself or your friends without regard to the interests or desires of Everyone, that is called corruption.
You may see it as a political process but most of us just see it as evil.
People see it in government every day. It's why most people in Canada don't vote.
Do you care about how history remembers you? Or are you planning on controlling that information too?
Do you really think that you can control what people say about you after you are dead?
Sir, what you are doing will result in you going down in history as a manipulative and corrupt, one-term Prime Minister. You will be remembered as the Prime Minister who manipulated information to control the people and accomplish things the people did not want.
Wouldn't you rather be remembered as the Prime Minister who truly loved Canada and Canadians?
People understand power intuitively.
I plan on helping them understand the details.
Your actions are easily interpreted. Their effect is obvious enough for everyone to see. Your motives appear corrupt.
Having a majority of members in the House may allow you to do these things. But it does not make them right.
Please reconsider.
Peace to you.
Your Brother,
Les
Saturday, November 19, 2011
My rant on the real problem - read this link first
Here I was thinking that I would like to do some writing and then along comes this article and "Sha-bam" - I have a lot to say. :)
Do you realize the incredible connection between the coming retirement fund crisis in North America and the Occupy movement?
Do you realize that there is a strategy to "change the story" as the public relations professionals would call it?
Many of you have no concern with the quietly on-going, but raging battle between Bay Street, Government and Workers regarding retirement savings and pensions.
You wouldn't be aware that just a couple of years ago a court decision allowed pension plan managers to shift from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution pensions. You probably don't even know what that means...
Heck most of you who read my blog are so young you think retirement thinking is nutty.
But let me speak to your needs?
snicker... snicker... Am I creating power?
In about 20 years, there will be over 6 million new retirees in Canada (20% of our population) who will be living off the public purse in the form of Old Age Security - maybe $600 per month, Canada Pensions Plan - maybe $1000 per month and then whatever savings they have.
There is not enough money in the government's savings account to cover all this cost and the government doesn't want to increase taxes to get the money in the account because to increase taxes would get them ousted from power. Heck, it could cause a revolution.
Anyway, it shouldn't come from taxes. It should come from those who benefited from the work of those retired Canadians. But I am getting ahead of my self...
What it means is that you young people will have increased taxes as well as a legal obligation to support your parents when they don't have enough money to live on each month.
You and I both know that living on $2,000 a month is a bitch. Rent payment, car and insurance payment and then what's left? Enough for the minimum payment on your constantly growing VISA card balance and some Kraft dinner. This of course is the fast track to bankruptcy. You see this coming, but rather than worry that you don't know what to do, you buy a new pair of shoes - go out for a drink - watch a little NFL/NHL/MLB/MMA and do your best to ignore it.
Then along comes the Occupy folks who say that the economic system, as it is being managed by a greedy few and an enabling government, is not working and it is pointed at collapse. The folks in the tents are unclear about how to fix it because the system is so complex.
Our system has so many layers and twists that the average person cannot easily understand exactly how the subprime mortgage crisis raped a trillion dollars from tax payers because Wall Street managers were greedy and stupid ( I emphasize stupid cause that's what they are ) But they were smart enough to have government in their pockets and as such got the money that they lost back by taking it from taxpayers with the false threat that if they didn't get that money everyone would be broke, not just them.
Disassembling our system will be hard and people will scream nasty names like communist and socialist. The name callers are like the idiots who would shout "fire" in a theatre. They want to distract you from the truth.
There is nothing socialist in demanding that those who take risks seeking high rewards bear the burden of the losses from the risks. They sure want you to let them exclusively enjoy the benefits. To share the benefits is communist. Same goes for losses. There has been nothing more communist in our society than making the taxpayers pay for the last round of Wall Street losses.
So in the true capitalist spirit, let those capitalists bear the risks and losses as well.
But my point is that they want you to change the story.
People are not sure where they stand on the Occupy folks.
Long haired, dope smoking, anti establishment, whiney, I don't fit in, cry babies.
On the other hand, gutsy, fair minded, compassionate, human-oriented, future seers who are doing their best to say that we don't have solutions, but you gotta be asleep at the wheel to not know we are pointed at a wall. All of this with a true desire to see everyone happy - not just a few.
But mayors are getting pressure from businesses and banks to get the tents down and the people moving along. Why?
Because the press have now asked them - "What do you want?" And many of us are interested in their answer.
By listening we have found out that some of them are intelligent and articulate and have something very important and meaningful to say.
So quick change the story.
And if at all possible turn these people on each other.
So now we are discussing pension plans and the lack of retirement savings and the crisis that comes upon us starting this year when the first Baby Boomers (8 million Canadians) turn 65.
Now, the question is, How can we blame that on those people themselves?
Well, we could say that people have failed to save enough for their retirement.
Oops - that won't work. They did save enough.
But the bankers were too busy trying to maximize their own accounts and they drove us into the worst recession in history and an enormous 30% loss of all retirement savings accounts being managed by them on behalf of all those people who did save enough money.
In fact, they screwed it up so bad that we just gave the corporations a bank bail out, a car industry bailout, constant subsidies to the oil businesses to create the oil sands project, just to name a few. Then, to top it off, we spent our wad going abroad to seize the oil reserves of other countries on behalf of oil companies. All of this is paid for by - tax payers. Who gets the profits from such mind boggling expenditures?
Business Corporations – because, after all, this sham of a communist state calls it self capitalism.
Wait we are not done - Now that we have spent trillions of tax dollars to help senior managers of corporations get rich, what about the little they might pay back in taxes? Nope. We gave corporations a tax reduction!
Then we do the unthinkable - we let the 38% of Canadians who are covered by a defined benefit pension plan get screwed.
So let's explain that one...
A defined benefit pension is an investment program created through the bargaining between employers and employees. They agree that part of their pay will be by putting a few hundred dollars each paycheck in an account that will be invested for their future. The employer and the employee each put in the same amount of money.
But it is all part of the compensation the employees bargained for. They knew they didn't have the resources or wherewithal to create a plan to ensure they have money for all of their life - including the time they can no longer work. So they planned ahead and got the employer onside.
That was back in the day when employers acknowledged that the workers best interests coincided with their own.
For example I work at the college with a DB Pension plan. Every paycheck they take over $400 out of my pay. They also take $400 of college money and contribute the total to the pension plan. In exchange I have a contract that says when I hit 65 I am entitled to be paid a fixed sum of money every month for the rest of my life. That sum is determined by how many years I worked and contributed to the plan and how much I was getting paid during the last five years I worked.
The plan is managed and when it is done right - as in the case of school teachers and college professors- there is lots of money to cover it and there will be lots of money as long as there is a public school or college system.
This is genius in my opinion. And we did live in the greatest country in the world because almost 40% of our population had access to such a plan.
But then greed kicked in.
Economic times go up and down. So some years the businesses make lots of money and making their pension contributions is easy. Some years they don't and so making those contributions is an expense they want to dodge.
So they go to court and argue that there is lots of money in the plan. Maybe this year we shouldn't have to honor our contractual obligations to our employees. May be we can short change their paychecks for a while. After all it’s for their own good - keep the company alive and all that. So they get "contribution holidays." And since courts and government represent only the corporate class in society they agree to this.
How can I be so bold in my words and so hard on courts and government?
Because fairness means you could reverse the roles in the facts and still come to the same result. Would the courts have allowed the workers to say - Look, the company is making lots of money and right now our children need more of our time so we can raise them right. So let us take 3 hours a week off, get paid the same amount of money, and let the employers take care of them selves for a little while.
Not in this universe.
But it gets better. Since the courts bought the whole contribution holiday thing, corporations went back and said. Guess what? The pension plans have so much money in them and the stock market is doing so well, that when we calculate the projected demands on the pension fund, we have discovered there is a surplus. There is more money there than we will need when the time comes to pay pensions. So rather than be sensible and expect that the markets go down as easy as they go up, or remember that it isn't the corporation's money it is the workers' money and they should decide what to do with it (pay bigger pensions maybe?) The Courts said “Ya sure, you corporations can take some of the money back out again.”
Then it's 1990 the market tanks never to come back, the pension funds are underfunded and everyone who has eyes focused on the future is freaked out. But we still have 20 years to fix this before the all the pensions have to be paid.
We can fix this. So how do we fix it? Do we put the money back in? Do we create more DB plans so everyone can have a safe retirement and keep the economy rolling?
No.
We decide that defined benefit pensions are ill conceived. We should have Defined Contribution pensions. That is, we agree how much money goes in but we make no promise as to how much should come out. And back to the courts we go because we know they are on our side
And the court agrees to let them change half of those defined benefit plans into defined contribution plans. Now workers, some who have worked under a contract for decades that provided them a DB plan have had the DB plan taken and then replaced with an inadequate program because their business partner, a corporation that employed them, didn’t pay their share, mismanaged their share, mismanaged the business, took big bonuses for managers who quite obviously didn’t earn them, took some of the money back to try to fix those mistakes and now can’t keep its original promise ( although that employee honored his or her promise every day for 30 years.)
But we will let them off the hook. After all we are capitalists. I mean communists. No wait which is which again?
But who goes on the hook then? Taxpayers – because the workers aren’t going to die. But they can’t work and they have to be taken care of.
Feeling scared and lost we turn to government. They are there for the people right?
Not so much.
This brings us to this most idiotic article in which a writer suggests that the problem is that government has allowed some people to have a great retirement (DB Pension Plan people) and not helped the others who can’t have a good retirement (people who simply saved for retirement) and so let’s blame the government’s errors and make the poor retirees blame the just-barely-surviving retirees rather than focus the blame where it belongs - on a dysfunctional corporate-run, non-capitalist non-democracy.
I love capitalism and I love democracy. I hate liars and greedy cheats. And I hate stupid people in the press who manipulate the truth so that some big fat hateful mayor (make no mistake this man hates half of the people he claims to serve) can clear a park that mostly street people use.
The obvious answer to the problem this writer says he is concerned with, is to have more DB plans. Not fewer. Or limits on them.
Cause anyone who knows anything about economics knows that the best future we can all have is to have as much disposable income as possible in the hands of consumers so they can spend it and create demand and jobs and surpluses.
Come on, are you daft? Having a retirement fund limit is crazy. Why would you want to create a market where people can’t have a lot of money to spend?
Whether you call it a pension plan, pension savings or a managed estate, it is all wealth and I thought we believed in capitalism because it was supposed to give every one the chance to be wealthy.
But no – let’s suggest that the problem is that some people have it too good. But not the people with all the money – the famous 1% - no, lets focus on the part of the 99% who have more than the others. After all our obligation is be poor like everyone else.
The problem cannot be in the history and corruption in government and corporations since the inception of this brilliant idea of a DB Pension Plan. The problem must be that everyone didn’t roll over and let their retirement savings get stripped away from them by a stupid, greedy, shortsighted and narrow minded elitist corpretocracy.
We all thought the government would take care of us.
Well good morning in the real world.
The Occupy people might not know why they matter. They might not know what they want. But at least they know the system is screwed and something has to be done. Stop kicking at them and start kicking at the system that created this mess over the past 40 years.
Keep the tents. Maybe they will remind us that the system is for the people and by the people and not for an elite who want to use the people.
And maybe the poor retired people can live in them when they are broke.
whooo- that was a long one - what do you think?
Do you realize the incredible connection between the coming retirement fund crisis in North America and the Occupy movement?
Do you realize that there is a strategy to "change the story" as the public relations professionals would call it?
Many of you have no concern with the quietly on-going, but raging battle between Bay Street, Government and Workers regarding retirement savings and pensions.
You wouldn't be aware that just a couple of years ago a court decision allowed pension plan managers to shift from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution pensions. You probably don't even know what that means...
Heck most of you who read my blog are so young you think retirement thinking is nutty.
But let me speak to your needs?
snicker... snicker... Am I creating power?
In about 20 years, there will be over 6 million new retirees in Canada (20% of our population) who will be living off the public purse in the form of Old Age Security - maybe $600 per month, Canada Pensions Plan - maybe $1000 per month and then whatever savings they have.
There is not enough money in the government's savings account to cover all this cost and the government doesn't want to increase taxes to get the money in the account because to increase taxes would get them ousted from power. Heck, it could cause a revolution.
Anyway, it shouldn't come from taxes. It should come from those who benefited from the work of those retired Canadians. But I am getting ahead of my self...
What it means is that you young people will have increased taxes as well as a legal obligation to support your parents when they don't have enough money to live on each month.
You and I both know that living on $2,000 a month is a bitch. Rent payment, car and insurance payment and then what's left? Enough for the minimum payment on your constantly growing VISA card balance and some Kraft dinner. This of course is the fast track to bankruptcy. You see this coming, but rather than worry that you don't know what to do, you buy a new pair of shoes - go out for a drink - watch a little NFL/NHL/MLB/MMA and do your best to ignore it.
Then along comes the Occupy folks who say that the economic system, as it is being managed by a greedy few and an enabling government, is not working and it is pointed at collapse. The folks in the tents are unclear about how to fix it because the system is so complex.
Our system has so many layers and twists that the average person cannot easily understand exactly how the subprime mortgage crisis raped a trillion dollars from tax payers because Wall Street managers were greedy and stupid ( I emphasize stupid cause that's what they are ) But they were smart enough to have government in their pockets and as such got the money that they lost back by taking it from taxpayers with the false threat that if they didn't get that money everyone would be broke, not just them.
Disassembling our system will be hard and people will scream nasty names like communist and socialist. The name callers are like the idiots who would shout "fire" in a theatre. They want to distract you from the truth.
There is nothing socialist in demanding that those who take risks seeking high rewards bear the burden of the losses from the risks. They sure want you to let them exclusively enjoy the benefits. To share the benefits is communist. Same goes for losses. There has been nothing more communist in our society than making the taxpayers pay for the last round of Wall Street losses.
So in the true capitalist spirit, let those capitalists bear the risks and losses as well.
But my point is that they want you to change the story.
People are not sure where they stand on the Occupy folks.
Long haired, dope smoking, anti establishment, whiney, I don't fit in, cry babies.
On the other hand, gutsy, fair minded, compassionate, human-oriented, future seers who are doing their best to say that we don't have solutions, but you gotta be asleep at the wheel to not know we are pointed at a wall. All of this with a true desire to see everyone happy - not just a few.
But mayors are getting pressure from businesses and banks to get the tents down and the people moving along. Why?
Because the press have now asked them - "What do you want?" And many of us are interested in their answer.
By listening we have found out that some of them are intelligent and articulate and have something very important and meaningful to say.
So quick change the story.
And if at all possible turn these people on each other.
So now we are discussing pension plans and the lack of retirement savings and the crisis that comes upon us starting this year when the first Baby Boomers (8 million Canadians) turn 65.
Now, the question is, How can we blame that on those people themselves?
Well, we could say that people have failed to save enough for their retirement.
Oops - that won't work. They did save enough.
But the bankers were too busy trying to maximize their own accounts and they drove us into the worst recession in history and an enormous 30% loss of all retirement savings accounts being managed by them on behalf of all those people who did save enough money.
In fact, they screwed it up so bad that we just gave the corporations a bank bail out, a car industry bailout, constant subsidies to the oil businesses to create the oil sands project, just to name a few. Then, to top it off, we spent our wad going abroad to seize the oil reserves of other countries on behalf of oil companies. All of this is paid for by - tax payers. Who gets the profits from such mind boggling expenditures?
Business Corporations – because, after all, this sham of a communist state calls it self capitalism.
Wait we are not done - Now that we have spent trillions of tax dollars to help senior managers of corporations get rich, what about the little they might pay back in taxes? Nope. We gave corporations a tax reduction!
Then we do the unthinkable - we let the 38% of Canadians who are covered by a defined benefit pension plan get screwed.
So let's explain that one...
A defined benefit pension is an investment program created through the bargaining between employers and employees. They agree that part of their pay will be by putting a few hundred dollars each paycheck in an account that will be invested for their future. The employer and the employee each put in the same amount of money.
But it is all part of the compensation the employees bargained for. They knew they didn't have the resources or wherewithal to create a plan to ensure they have money for all of their life - including the time they can no longer work. So they planned ahead and got the employer onside.
That was back in the day when employers acknowledged that the workers best interests coincided with their own.
For example I work at the college with a DB Pension plan. Every paycheck they take over $400 out of my pay. They also take $400 of college money and contribute the total to the pension plan. In exchange I have a contract that says when I hit 65 I am entitled to be paid a fixed sum of money every month for the rest of my life. That sum is determined by how many years I worked and contributed to the plan and how much I was getting paid during the last five years I worked.
The plan is managed and when it is done right - as in the case of school teachers and college professors- there is lots of money to cover it and there will be lots of money as long as there is a public school or college system.
This is genius in my opinion. And we did live in the greatest country in the world because almost 40% of our population had access to such a plan.
But then greed kicked in.
Economic times go up and down. So some years the businesses make lots of money and making their pension contributions is easy. Some years they don't and so making those contributions is an expense they want to dodge.
So they go to court and argue that there is lots of money in the plan. Maybe this year we shouldn't have to honor our contractual obligations to our employees. May be we can short change their paychecks for a while. After all it’s for their own good - keep the company alive and all that. So they get "contribution holidays." And since courts and government represent only the corporate class in society they agree to this.
How can I be so bold in my words and so hard on courts and government?
Because fairness means you could reverse the roles in the facts and still come to the same result. Would the courts have allowed the workers to say - Look, the company is making lots of money and right now our children need more of our time so we can raise them right. So let us take 3 hours a week off, get paid the same amount of money, and let the employers take care of them selves for a little while.
Not in this universe.
But it gets better. Since the courts bought the whole contribution holiday thing, corporations went back and said. Guess what? The pension plans have so much money in them and the stock market is doing so well, that when we calculate the projected demands on the pension fund, we have discovered there is a surplus. There is more money there than we will need when the time comes to pay pensions. So rather than be sensible and expect that the markets go down as easy as they go up, or remember that it isn't the corporation's money it is the workers' money and they should decide what to do with it (pay bigger pensions maybe?) The Courts said “Ya sure, you corporations can take some of the money back out again.”
Then it's 1990 the market tanks never to come back, the pension funds are underfunded and everyone who has eyes focused on the future is freaked out. But we still have 20 years to fix this before the all the pensions have to be paid.
We can fix this. So how do we fix it? Do we put the money back in? Do we create more DB plans so everyone can have a safe retirement and keep the economy rolling?
No.
We decide that defined benefit pensions are ill conceived. We should have Defined Contribution pensions. That is, we agree how much money goes in but we make no promise as to how much should come out. And back to the courts we go because we know they are on our side
And the court agrees to let them change half of those defined benefit plans into defined contribution plans. Now workers, some who have worked under a contract for decades that provided them a DB plan have had the DB plan taken and then replaced with an inadequate program because their business partner, a corporation that employed them, didn’t pay their share, mismanaged their share, mismanaged the business, took big bonuses for managers who quite obviously didn’t earn them, took some of the money back to try to fix those mistakes and now can’t keep its original promise ( although that employee honored his or her promise every day for 30 years.)
But we will let them off the hook. After all we are capitalists. I mean communists. No wait which is which again?
But who goes on the hook then? Taxpayers – because the workers aren’t going to die. But they can’t work and they have to be taken care of.
Feeling scared and lost we turn to government. They are there for the people right?
Not so much.
This brings us to this most idiotic article in which a writer suggests that the problem is that government has allowed some people to have a great retirement (DB Pension Plan people) and not helped the others who can’t have a good retirement (people who simply saved for retirement) and so let’s blame the government’s errors and make the poor retirees blame the just-barely-surviving retirees rather than focus the blame where it belongs - on a dysfunctional corporate-run, non-capitalist non-democracy.
I love capitalism and I love democracy. I hate liars and greedy cheats. And I hate stupid people in the press who manipulate the truth so that some big fat hateful mayor (make no mistake this man hates half of the people he claims to serve) can clear a park that mostly street people use.
The obvious answer to the problem this writer says he is concerned with, is to have more DB plans. Not fewer. Or limits on them.
Cause anyone who knows anything about economics knows that the best future we can all have is to have as much disposable income as possible in the hands of consumers so they can spend it and create demand and jobs and surpluses.
Come on, are you daft? Having a retirement fund limit is crazy. Why would you want to create a market where people can’t have a lot of money to spend?
Whether you call it a pension plan, pension savings or a managed estate, it is all wealth and I thought we believed in capitalism because it was supposed to give every one the chance to be wealthy.
But no – let’s suggest that the problem is that some people have it too good. But not the people with all the money – the famous 1% - no, lets focus on the part of the 99% who have more than the others. After all our obligation is be poor like everyone else.
The problem cannot be in the history and corruption in government and corporations since the inception of this brilliant idea of a DB Pension Plan. The problem must be that everyone didn’t roll over and let their retirement savings get stripped away from them by a stupid, greedy, shortsighted and narrow minded elitist corpretocracy.
We all thought the government would take care of us.
Well good morning in the real world.
The Occupy people might not know why they matter. They might not know what they want. But at least they know the system is screwed and something has to be done. Stop kicking at them and start kicking at the system that created this mess over the past 40 years.
Keep the tents. Maybe they will remind us that the system is for the people and by the people and not for an elite who want to use the people.
And maybe the poor retired people can live in them when they are broke.
whooo- that was a long one - what do you think?
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Do you want an experience of power?
Woke up this morning, turned on my facebook.
Radz gave me a link - and I took a look.
The information there caused me to pause.
My thinking stopped and my soul was raised up.
I realized true power lies in changing thought.
It's in seeing a choice that we are free.
Then all we need to do is make that choice.
If you want to have real power today,
Ask someone a question that leads them to
Choice.
And then watch out :)
Thanks Radz
Check it out
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Power dynamics in our Air Canada Occupied World
Check it out.
We have chosen to create a free market economy as the base for our social system.
There are lots of other choices we could have made. This is not a bad one. I like the promotion of freedom that is an inherent part of our system. It is the ability for people to choose their own priorities that I love. People can decide if they are more interested in money or in meaning. Family or work. Art or functionality. Materially rich or spiritually rich.
You are free to pursue either one.
If people are supported by this system so that we are properly educated, physically healthy, well fed, protected from the elements and given opportunities to pursue happiness, then the system works and is as good as any other.
I see how the incentive of wealth can be a useful motivator for the development of a social life. I see how the freedom to offer products and services to a market that is free to choose the ones that improve their life, can work to create a package of activites and belongings that helps us to be happy.
But there is the rub. The system only works when there is choice.
The system does not work when some people are more free than others.
The flight attendants are free to say, "We withdraw our work from your business Air Canada because you are making changes to our compensation and future opportunities that we do not like. We want a specific salary. We want all our people to make good wages. We want discount airlines to pay their people what we consider to be a fair rate. We are free to withhold our work as our only mechanism of power. We have nothing else that you want, so this is our only ability to force you to bargain. We are free to do this."
The Airlines can say, "This is a lousy business to be in. This is an industry without "good" profits. We need to cut costs everywhere if we are to have profits. The largest costs are fuel and people. We need to save money on people. We are going to make changes you will not like but it is so we can make better profits."
Then the two oposing forces can see who needs the other more. They can allow the power dynamic to play itself out. We will see a solution in time because the both the Airline and the Flight Attendants need each other.
But the system gets all wonky when the one aspect of our system - the government - takes sides.
It gets even wonky-er when that government has decided that when labour and management disagree they will always take the side of the management.
It gets down right stupid when we realize that government owns part of the Airline. If this power dynamic does not end the way we want the government could be expected to pay for the losses when the business is not profitable.
The system becomes corrupt when those people in government, to whom we have given the authority to make decisions for our mutual benefit, decide to tell lies (calling a flight attendant an essential service and therefore they should have no free right to bargain by withdrawing their work) so that the government (that has already made its allegiances clear) supports only the interests of management and government.
When a third party steps into a power dynamic and takes away one of the player's power mechanisms the power dynamic changes.
I can live with our system when it is played fair.
So I chose to be a third party involved in this dynamic as well. I hereby refuse to fly with Air Canada (which has always been my carrier of choice) until they bargain fairly and freely.
This is what the occupy movement is really about - fighting against the way the system is operating. Today, all around the world, government alligns with business and their pursuit of record profits rather than the people.
They have forgotten that this system was a choice we made because we thought it was a path to freedom and the road to prosperity for all.
It has been hijacked by greedy people.
Society is about people not business. Free market business is a system we chose because - when played fairly and freely - it is a good social system.
I choose to occupy my world because I want the people to thrive.
And - to be honest - because I hate greedy bullies.
What do you think?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Occupy your world and express your needs
Check it out.
People.
People being people.
We have needs. Our needs are not being met. So we are acting to make changes.
Power is the result of needs and abilities.
We all have the need to be in a world where each of us have the chance to thrive and fulfill our dreams.
We need education, medicine, food, water, shelter and protection to thrive.
In an attempt to get rich and have power, our leaders in the government, banks and corporations have made all these things you need available only if you pay for them by working for them at rates that allow them to have record profits. If you won't, then they will take that work to places and people who will.
Your other choice is to borrow. Borrow a lot. Borrow as much as your income will allow you to pay each month. Debt lasts seemingly forever and interest makes a small number of those leaders richer and more powerful.
People have had enough of this.
People have had enough of the people - incompetent and arrogant mismanagers - who would take such a large share of the profit that the banks and corporations need to be bailed out by your tax dollars.
People have had enough of people in government that have neither the courage, nor the integrity, to see this is wrong - to see the ridiculously obvious flaw in this system and to whom the money is going.
People are aware that government is not doing the job it was intended for. Government is there to lead our society. To guide people toward that thriving life. To protect the people from corruption and exploitation.
Government is not there for the purpose of squeezing more tax dollars from them to feed a selfish, narrow-minded, greedy and misguided elite.
But banks, corporations and governments are made up of people who believe in power. They believe it is possible for one person to be more important - more worthy - than another. They are flawed people. They do not understand the inherent error in their thinking.
The truth?
People are one.
People are to be loved in the truest sense.
People are not here to be used by other people to try to have more.
This system could work. If we accepted the truth about our oneness.
It is not the system that has flaws. It is the people in the system that are flawed.
In the end the banks, corporations and governments are people.
And people have needs.
And needs are the source of power.
The people of the banks, corporations and governments need people to shut up, do what they are told and remain powerless.
Today people said we are not powerless.
Today people said we will give you what you need when you give us back what we need.
Today we have a power dynamic.
A beautifully balanced power dynamic that could take us back to living in a land of equality, freedom, peace and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately, people would rather have power.
God bless us all.
People.
People being people.
We have needs. Our needs are not being met. So we are acting to make changes.
Power is the result of needs and abilities.
We all have the need to be in a world where each of us have the chance to thrive and fulfill our dreams.
We need education, medicine, food, water, shelter and protection to thrive.
In an attempt to get rich and have power, our leaders in the government, banks and corporations have made all these things you need available only if you pay for them by working for them at rates that allow them to have record profits. If you won't, then they will take that work to places and people who will.
Your other choice is to borrow. Borrow a lot. Borrow as much as your income will allow you to pay each month. Debt lasts seemingly forever and interest makes a small number of those leaders richer and more powerful.
People have had enough of this.
People have had enough of the people - incompetent and arrogant mismanagers - who would take such a large share of the profit that the banks and corporations need to be bailed out by your tax dollars.
People have had enough of people in government that have neither the courage, nor the integrity, to see this is wrong - to see the ridiculously obvious flaw in this system and to whom the money is going.
People are aware that government is not doing the job it was intended for. Government is there to lead our society. To guide people toward that thriving life. To protect the people from corruption and exploitation.
Government is not there for the purpose of squeezing more tax dollars from them to feed a selfish, narrow-minded, greedy and misguided elite.
But banks, corporations and governments are made up of people who believe in power. They believe it is possible for one person to be more important - more worthy - than another. They are flawed people. They do not understand the inherent error in their thinking.
The truth?
People are one.
People are to be loved in the truest sense.
People are not here to be used by other people to try to have more.
This system could work. If we accepted the truth about our oneness.
It is not the system that has flaws. It is the people in the system that are flawed.
In the end the banks, corporations and governments are people.
And people have needs.
And needs are the source of power.
The people of the banks, corporations and governments need people to shut up, do what they are told and remain powerless.
Today people said we are not powerless.
Today people said we will give you what you need when you give us back what we need.
Today we have a power dynamic.
A beautifully balanced power dynamic that could take us back to living in a land of equality, freedom, peace and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately, people would rather have power.
God bless us all.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Lies as power mechanisms
Power is about choice.
We control, influence or seduce a choice by creating an emotion in the subject. They are emotions of anger, excitement or – most effective of all – fear.
Choices are made with information.
If the information creates fear, the choices are obvious.
However, information can be manipulated or even fabricated. It can be selectively shared or withheld.
We usually call any manipulation of the truth a lie, partial truth or deception.
People who get other people to help them tell a lie fit the classic definition of conspiracy.
It is funny however, that we attack those who attack systematic deceptions as conspiracy theorists.
Whatever I say, I encourage you to examine the ideas for yourself. Don't accept my words. Do your homework and formulate your opinion.
Some people call me a nut.
However those people are so busy trying to protect their fears that they don't take the time to conduct their own research to find the truth. They are incapable of critical thinking and so I don't really have any respect for the opinions of those people. Their insults don't hurt.
Mostly I feel sorry for them. We are all people walking the path. Trying to find our way through this human experience. Trying to find happiness. Trying to make our way back to oneness.
We suffer and we do whatever we can to avoid the suffering.
So from time to time, when the suffering is too great, we will believe a lie.
It`s easier. It`s safer. It`s simpler.
Lies are a mechanism of power. They work because they fulfill a need - just like any mechanism of power.
The source of all power is the need of the subject.
When it comes to the lies about 9-11 we believe them because we want to. Because we need to think our government, and the people in it, are honest and care about us. We need to think that we will be ok and that no one would really manipulate everyone so badly just to get what they want - just to make money.
Unfortunately, the only thing necessary for a lie to work is that people want to believe it.
I have read through the 9-11 Report. I have seen the news reporting. I have watched the videos produced by many people who want truth and who are trying to create the truth. I have read many books.
Here is what I know.
Private companies and their owners make a lot of money when a country is in a state of war. They make the money by building weaponry.
From the 1950’s to the 1990’s we lived in a constant state of fear. Fear of the Soviet Union’s world domination agenda. Our governments had no trouble getting us to spend vast amounts of money on military build up and nuclear weapons. These were built by private profit oriented corporations – not government personnel. Those private firms made a lot of money.
By 1990 the Soviet Union had fallen. So we created the threat of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. That kept our fear going. It kept the weaponry business employed.
But the UN searched and searched Iraq and found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Then in the early summer of 2001 the US Congress did the unthinkable. They told us we did not need to be afraid anymore. They told the manufacturers of weapons that we did not need a Missile Shield system and the shut down the production of a hundred billion dollar contract.
Then terrorist planes hit the WTC and other “targets.”
We are afraid again.
Now we have two wars – one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
And now ten years later, after trillions spent on defense, the US government is in so much debt, no one thinks it will ever get out of it.
Other things I know:
The Al Qaida and the Taliban are extensions and successors of the Mojahedin. They were a guerrilla organization started in Iran and Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets after they invaded Afghanistan in 1979. They were armed by the US by sneaking weapons in through Iran. They were trained by US military in camps around the world. This is common knowledge.
George Bush Sr. was the subject of an assassination attempt by Iraqi personnel when he was visiting the “newly freed” Kuwait after the first Gulf War. This is common knowledge.
The Bush’s and the Bin Laden’s are long connected. This is common knowledge.
There were three buildings that collapsed on 9-11. World Trade Centre buildings 1 and 2 which everyone saw fall. Also WTC 7 collapsed . Of course it is said that it fell due to the spreading of the fire from 1 and 2. However that fire spread very curiously because it went right over WTC 6 which only experienced partial collapse and damage. These are pictures from FOX news. They are common knowledge.
Thousands of architects and engineers agree that the collapse of the three buildings could not have been caused by the planes. Moreover, the collapses look exactly like planned demolitions. This organization has been around a long time and their science is common knowledge.
Many people have alleged that President Bush knew of this event before it happened. No formal investigation has been conducted and the family members of the deceased have asked many times. This is common knowledge.
Richard Clarke, who was the White House Counter Terrorism advisor under four different presidents, has stated clearly in his book, that Bush was warned, that Bush was told that there was no connection between Al Qaida and Iraq and that Bush told him to make a connection somehow so he could justify a war with Iraq. This book was a best seller.
Outside the Pentagon there was no wreckage of a 757. No bodies. Not even a reliable piece of the supposed plane. Many people of the press have said that the hole is too small to be a plane of any size. Look at the photographs your self.
There is a lot more information and allegation out there. But I offer only information that is well known and is proven fact.My answer to the cynics who call us conspiracy theorists - I dare you to try to prove to me that your version of the story is true. Use facts and pictures and prove you are right.
Every year I am upset by the continuing lie of 9-11 and the willingness of the public to believe the lies.
Planes crashed into buildings and people died. For this we need to grieve.
How and why it happened has not been established yet. For this we should grieve as well.
The western world economies are in chaos because of the enormous borrowed spending on wars and defence. For our lost future we should also grieve.
Lies are mechanisms of power. Lies can control, influence or seduce the choices we make. Lies exploit our needs to our detriment and pain.
Lies should never be tolerated.
We control, influence or seduce a choice by creating an emotion in the subject. They are emotions of anger, excitement or – most effective of all – fear.
Choices are made with information.
If the information creates fear, the choices are obvious.
However, information can be manipulated or even fabricated. It can be selectively shared or withheld.
We usually call any manipulation of the truth a lie, partial truth or deception.
People who get other people to help them tell a lie fit the classic definition of conspiracy.
It is funny however, that we attack those who attack systematic deceptions as conspiracy theorists.
Whatever I say, I encourage you to examine the ideas for yourself. Don't accept my words. Do your homework and formulate your opinion.
Some people call me a nut.
However those people are so busy trying to protect their fears that they don't take the time to conduct their own research to find the truth. They are incapable of critical thinking and so I don't really have any respect for the opinions of those people. Their insults don't hurt.
Mostly I feel sorry for them. We are all people walking the path. Trying to find our way through this human experience. Trying to find happiness. Trying to make our way back to oneness.
We suffer and we do whatever we can to avoid the suffering.
So from time to time, when the suffering is too great, we will believe a lie.
It`s easier. It`s safer. It`s simpler.
Lies are a mechanism of power. They work because they fulfill a need - just like any mechanism of power.
The source of all power is the need of the subject.
When it comes to the lies about 9-11 we believe them because we want to. Because we need to think our government, and the people in it, are honest and care about us. We need to think that we will be ok and that no one would really manipulate everyone so badly just to get what they want - just to make money.
Unfortunately, the only thing necessary for a lie to work is that people want to believe it.
I have read through the 9-11 Report. I have seen the news reporting. I have watched the videos produced by many people who want truth and who are trying to create the truth. I have read many books.
Here is what I know.
Private companies and their owners make a lot of money when a country is in a state of war. They make the money by building weaponry.
From the 1950’s to the 1990’s we lived in a constant state of fear. Fear of the Soviet Union’s world domination agenda. Our governments had no trouble getting us to spend vast amounts of money on military build up and nuclear weapons. These were built by private profit oriented corporations – not government personnel. Those private firms made a lot of money.
By 1990 the Soviet Union had fallen. So we created the threat of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. That kept our fear going. It kept the weaponry business employed.
But the UN searched and searched Iraq and found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Then in the early summer of 2001 the US Congress did the unthinkable. They told us we did not need to be afraid anymore. They told the manufacturers of weapons that we did not need a Missile Shield system and the shut down the production of a hundred billion dollar contract.
Then terrorist planes hit the WTC and other “targets.”
We are afraid again.
Now we have two wars – one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
And now ten years later, after trillions spent on defense, the US government is in so much debt, no one thinks it will ever get out of it.
Other things I know:
The Al Qaida and the Taliban are extensions and successors of the Mojahedin. They were a guerrilla organization started in Iran and Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets after they invaded Afghanistan in 1979. They were armed by the US by sneaking weapons in through Iran. They were trained by US military in camps around the world. This is common knowledge.
George Bush Sr. was the subject of an assassination attempt by Iraqi personnel when he was visiting the “newly freed” Kuwait after the first Gulf War. This is common knowledge.
The Bush’s and the Bin Laden’s are long connected. This is common knowledge.
There were three buildings that collapsed on 9-11. World Trade Centre buildings 1 and 2 which everyone saw fall. Also WTC 7 collapsed . Of course it is said that it fell due to the spreading of the fire from 1 and 2. However that fire spread very curiously because it went right over WTC 6 which only experienced partial collapse and damage. These are pictures from FOX news. They are common knowledge.
Thousands of architects and engineers agree that the collapse of the three buildings could not have been caused by the planes. Moreover, the collapses look exactly like planned demolitions. This organization has been around a long time and their science is common knowledge.
Many people have alleged that President Bush knew of this event before it happened. No formal investigation has been conducted and the family members of the deceased have asked many times. This is common knowledge.
Richard Clarke, who was the White House Counter Terrorism advisor under four different presidents, has stated clearly in his book, that Bush was warned, that Bush was told that there was no connection between Al Qaida and Iraq and that Bush told him to make a connection somehow so he could justify a war with Iraq. This book was a best seller.
Outside the Pentagon there was no wreckage of a 757. No bodies. Not even a reliable piece of the supposed plane. Many people of the press have said that the hole is too small to be a plane of any size. Look at the photographs your self.
There is a lot more information and allegation out there. But I offer only information that is well known and is proven fact.My answer to the cynics who call us conspiracy theorists - I dare you to try to prove to me that your version of the story is true. Use facts and pictures and prove you are right.
Every year I am upset by the continuing lie of 9-11 and the willingness of the public to believe the lies.
Planes crashed into buildings and people died. For this we need to grieve.
How and why it happened has not been established yet. For this we should grieve as well.
The western world economies are in chaos because of the enormous borrowed spending on wars and defence. For our lost future we should also grieve.
Lies are mechanisms of power. Lies can control, influence or seduce the choices we make. Lies exploit our needs to our detriment and pain.
Lies should never be tolerated.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
A Little Misdirection...
Power isn't magic. But we use a little misdirection to keep people thinking it is.
If we really want to understand the dynamics of power – the way we get others to choose to do, say or think what we want them to do, say or think – we need to shift our attention from the Actor to the Subject.
There is a common myth about power that keeps many of us living as Subjects.
People are powerful.
This isn’t so. It is myth. I call it myth because it is an ancient belief that we use to explain what we do not understand.
The real problem with this myth is that it leads us to misunderstand the whole process of control, influence or seduction. It points us in the wrong direction. It causes us to focus on the Actor thinking that there is something about them that is inherently powerful.
People do not have power. It is not something you can have. It is something that you use.
People use power. Some people are good at using it. Some people understand it and use it on a regular basis. But when they use it, their focus is not on themselves. Their focus is on the Subject. The Actor recognizes something in the Subject.
So…we ask …What do they recognize?
Need.
They recognize that the Subject has a requirement, a desire or an attachment.
It is true that people who use power have something. But it is not power per se. It is an ability to use something to help or hinder that need that they recognize in the Subject.
That ability might be the ability to use money, or authority, or physical strength.
But it does not matter what the Actor has the ability to use, unless the Subject has a need that can be helped or hindered by that ability.
The Actor has no power unless needs are recognized in the Subject and the Actor has an ability to address that need.
The source of power is not money, authority or brute strength. The Source of power is need.
You can’t bribe a rich man.
The power does not reside in the Actor. It resides in the need of the Subject.
We would miss this if we were to always focus on the Actor as a “powerful person.”
Ignore the myth and shift your focus.
Shift your focus and see through the misdirection. You will discover the source of all power: the need in the Subject.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Needs
The source of power is need.
The requirements, desires and attachments we all feel everyday.
The number of needs we have as people livivng in this physical world is enormous.
The limitless ways these needs get expressed and satisfied makes almost anything a potential mechanism of power.
I think belonging and self esteem needs are some of the most confusing and effective needs to create influence and control. The opportunity to fit in can be very seductive.
We defend ourselves to gain approval and acceptance. We fight and resist each other to be allowed to be "ourself" - whatever that means...
But our need to fit in is an easy target for those who would have power.
Can it be overcome?
Check out this article...
Let me know what you think.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
I was having breakfast with Al yesterday morning.
As always, we talked about "big things" in our attempt to understand and then fix the world. :)
We talked about how the internet is a necessary part of any business. How your life is being lived in a very exposed way. How every aspect of your life is available to the public and how that lack of anonymity can be both good and bad.
We discussed the way the frivolous use of social media is making government and conservatives want to limit and regulate the web. How the glib use of insult and spreading of uncorroborrated information can ruin someone in a flash. And...how the quick exposure of talent or ideas can make someone big just as fast.
Government has been wanting to get their hands on the massive data base google has about people behaviours on the web and their search habits - what they are looking for and what kind of human characteristics/demographics allign with certain search interests.
I noticed recently how facebook changed its functionality so that you can no longer communicate with all your friends in one note. Now you can only access 10 friends at a time. With an average of 500 friends, it takes a long time to get to all of them.
What if the message is important?
Why would they do this?
Maybe this is good - because it makes people responsible for their words.
Or maybe it is bad because limiting communication encourages the status quo.
It depends on what you want to accomplish-
It depends on the choices you want people to make.
How can anyone make any choice without information?
Information is the most insidious of the power mechanisms.
I spent my morning today preparing to speak to the Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes Builders Association on Thursday night. My topic - 30 Questions in 30 Minutes about Marketing and Social Media. It should be fun.
I have been consuming as much info as possible about social media and its impact.
When I saw this article I thought it should be shared.
Take a look and let me know what you think.
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