Authority

 

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

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

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

Everyone always has a need to feel safe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Rules of Engagement

 

I want to offer some ideas into the cyberscape.

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

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

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

Answers do not create growth. Questions do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Twitter

Gotta love twitter.

Nothing riles me up like twitter does.

Gotta love twitter.

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

Gotta love twitter.

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

Gotta love twitter.

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

Gotta love twitter.

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

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

Gotta LOVE twitter.

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

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

I love twitter.

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

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

Yes, I love twitter.

Yes, I love twitter.

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

Yes, I love twitter.

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

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

Thank you twitter.

Choice and Privacy

Hey

I'm back
😊

More focused on choice than ever before.

This one gets to me good, so I had to speak up.

Choice.
Do you really have any?

You live in a world that seeks your compliance.

Go to school. Learn what we tell you. Sit down and listen. Be quiet.
We will teach you what you need to learn. It will get you a good job and a happy life.
Follow the rules and be a good citizen.
Compliance.
Conformity.
Safety.

Has the illusion of safety become our highest value?
is it better to be safe than to be great?

I want to be safe too.
But I don't assume all people are bad and out to hurt me or someone else.

Don't you think that if everyone was busy living the life that they wanted, rather than striving for the unachievable top in a hierarchical world, we would be more likely to leave each other alone in peace?

Wouldn't we be safer if we stopped creating poor people in a money based world?

So many find themselves ill-prepared, or even sabotaged, by a system that not only rewards unfairly but also inhibits those who do not fit into the narrow confines of an out-of-touch and out-of-date american dream.

Every day I teach students who feel like they are preparing to be part of a failing system.
And they are right in that assessment.

Where will the next great social system come from if we demand conformity?

Who will step up and offer new ideas if they are being watched and monitored as if they were criminals?


Isn't the advancement of any field lead by those who reject the common view and consider the possibilities?

This is the importance of privacy.

I am not a criminal because I question authority and advocate for new ideas.

That is what promoting entrepreneurial thinking does.
It is what I teach.

I teach a simple idea - Be Free. Start your own Business. Everything in the market place can be better. Go for it.

I think I am an advocate for what is best in people. Creativity, initiative, vision.

Sometimes we need to challenge the status quo. Sometimes we have to support others who do the same.

But I am being watched.

Every movement I make is tracked by 20 different apps on my phone.

And those are the ones that I agreed to.

How many apps or programs on your phone are doing the same thing without your permission?
And where is that data going?

How many of my conversations are monitored?
How many of my texts and tweets get reviewed by some AI programmed to assume that everyone is a criminal and any idea outside the norm is unacceptable?

That is the reason to support privacy.

The underlying assumption behind the surveillance of everyone is that we are all criminals and we need to be afraid of each other.

The only people who think this are those who have been trained to think this. This is unnatural. It is unfair. It is counter-intuitive. It is counter-productive.

The nature of creative innovation is challenging society as we know it. Everyone who thinks things could be better is not a criminal.

This is why I advocate for privacy.
Privacy encourages new choices.

The problem...

Hey


Been a while...


Just came across this one today.


http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/republicans-block-paycheck-fairness-act-again


Not sure how I missed it a few months ago.


I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I could best help the world. I know that sounds a little grandiose. But I am not really thinking that big. I am just trying to be realistic and truly helpful. Helpful to real people rather than to some larger than life idea of "society" or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, my ego.


My thoughts have lead me to a simple idea that seems to explain all the upsetting things I see in this life.


Our active life always reflects our values. Our choices verify to ourselves and others what we claim our values to be.


As I observe how our life manifests itself, it seems to me that, as people acting in the world, we have lost two of our most important values: equality and compassion.


We have rationalized them away.


We are so talented at twisting words until they mean nothing. We are able to persuade ourselves that what deeply matters to us in the abstract might not actually matter to us in practical circumstances. Then we start the process of trying to feel better about our moral compromise through denial and distraction. Soon we simply ignore the idea of values. It is too painful to acknowledge. The internal conflict demands either change in behaviour or change in values.


So we ignore the values.


But in that process we erode the foundations of our own self.


At one point or another you have to ask and answer the question, "Are all people truly equal?"
It's a yes or no question. There is no middle ground. When you answer it from your heart it will require a response in your life.


I have come to the conclusion that although we espouse equality, we really don't believe in it.
It is a nice idea but really we have so many exceptions to the rule that it has become meaningless.


If all people are truly equal then inequality in all forms is a fundamental violation of life.


Then there is another fundamental question, "Am I my brothers' keeper?"


It too, is a yes or no question. There is no middle ground. And when you answer it from your heart it will require a response in your life.


When we answer these questions using conditions and circumstances to slide between the only two options - yes or no - we are only dodging the question. Such questions could never be contingent on circumstances. They are the questions that resolve circumstances and provide the direction we need in making life choices.


When we answer the questions directly, we are compelled to accept the obligations that flow from that response.


And I think if the unanimous answer was really "Yes" the world would look very different than it does.


So,


I am sorry to sound so pessimistic but I think we have lost those values. And let's at least be honest with ourselves that we may never really have believed in them anyway.


But we could believe in them.


We could ask and answer the questions today. We could let the change begin within ourselves.


We might even find some peace.


So I ask you, and encourage you ask as many people as you can today,


Are we all equal?
Are we our brothers' keeper?


Peace to you all.

This is incredible...

Always be asking questions and never cling to the answerrs.

Lao Tse said
"The master is free from his/her own ideas."

Check it out and enjoy :)

A-Day-at-the-Park

Feel free to comment and ask your own questions
I always love hearing from you...

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.
:)

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/
 

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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 :)

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.

:)

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!

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

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 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