Getting a Reaction

So a customer comes into your store and expresses interest in a product you have on display. You show it to her. She feels it, maybe tries it on, asks questions about it, and makes the decision to buy or not at that moment. You offer a product. Customer shows interest in it. A reaction is expressed. Action to buy we don’t know at this point, and probably is not the point of this post.

No, getting a reaction is often unintentional but in the mix of daily life just the same. Brrr its cold outside!  Ugh, it’s hot and humid outdoors. Isn’t she pretty, or he handsome? Nice. We react bidden or not. Of value or not is not even in the calculation.

Others, however, take action precisely to get a reaction. A nation builds a strong defense to thwart threat of take over or attack. Sometimes the strong defense attracts challenges and minor skirmishes. Were the latter intended by the defender? Or was this intended by the challenger, to get a rise out of the defender.  Sounds like the old Cold War to me. Maybe, maybe not.

Today China is building islands, yes islands, in straits off their mainland to shorten the distance between their shore and a targeted piece of real estate they feel belongs to their national identity. So yes, they are actually raising the sea floor high enough to build tiny land spits that will eventually become the core of a small island. They built it so they will name it and claim it as theirs.

Evidently this is a tactic to expand their defined sea lanes so international waters are pushed farther off. Interesting. Prior to the ‘land mass in the making’, it is not actually a nationalized land. So international waters remain as before.

The US Navy  has cruised through the area and China now claims the US is causing trouble, engaging in ‘provocations’, I think they said.. They claim the US has entered China’s waters in violation of international law.

I think not. Most others in the global community would agree that China is constructing a shadow issue. For what reason? Only they know. Meanwhile others are curious. No action is taken, imagined or otherwise. Just curious cruise-bys and maintaining open international waters regardless of what China claims.

So, have they taken an action to create a reaction? Maybe so. What else is the world to think?

Same with Russia: Crimea was a staged take-over disguised as a civil uprising. And they did this in the shadow of hosting the Olympics. Followed swiftly by their hostile actions in Ukraine. Staged actions to create reactions. A test, if you will, of the temper of the western nations and how they would counter Russia’s bold actions.

The west responded with diplomacy, behind the scenes negotiations and posturing. Such are the tools used to maintain peace and keep a hot war from happening of any size.

Political campaigns do the same action/reaction engineering. It is a way to get your name and ‘brand’ in front of the press and the public. Good or bad imaging, the issue is being controlled by someone for their own gain. The truth doesn’t matter at this point. Provocations are manipulative regardless of who does it. Has America used such a tactic? I don’t know but probably it has. But China, Russia, Iran and Syria certainly have. And of course Russia claims Turkey has done so by shooting down the Russian fighter jet although so far the proof shows the jet strayed into Turkish territory even after several warnings. That’s what happens – mistake or not – when hostile actions are taken in small regions. National boundaries are not printed on the soil as on a map! The location of a plane in flight is not always known precisely by the pilot and crew. But the folks on the ground know.

Actions and reactions staged for effect. We see this in advertising as well, personal relationship management, too. Some people are naturally pushy; we label that controlling. They act this way to force their interests to the fore in a negotiation or power play. They may be viewed as effective by some parties, but others will label them bullies. And that’s what they are.

Bullies. We see them on the highway, city streets, and even on the sidewalks. Over-important thugs dressed in suits and ties pushing their way around. The NRA does this to master its public relations challenge concerning gun rights. They are successful, too.

Same in congress and the Illinois legislature.  Regardless of the facts, parties are stating what they want people to believe as though it is fact. It isn’t. and so they get away with doing nothing while blaming someone else for the problem.

But the work remains to be done. And I for one am watching them manipulate issues and thinking they are growing their own cover. However, they are in the open and nude of such cover. We know they are doing this. When will we remove them so dedicated public servants finally get the job done?

Indeed.

December 22, 2015