Personal Power

The Bill Cosby case is a perfect example of personal power. He felt a need, a want; he reached for satisfaction; he was denied; until he found a way. He drugged his victims and then satisfied his sexual need. Power used; power abused. The partner was not willing; the partner is victim.

A woman was victim. Again. And yet again.

It is a hard lesson to read, feel, and engage both our intellect and emotion. Especially for men. Easier, most likely, for women to grasp. Because they are victim in America’s culture. Horrible truth. 

A personal decision to control one’s needs and remain human. Satisfaction is not a moral goal. Only when it is shared in mutual consent is satisfaction OK. Whether drugs, alcohol, party frenzy, or whatever – it is not OK to take, just take. It is theft of the other person’s identity and privacy. Theft of their soul. Theft of their power.

It happens between men also; probably between two women as well. Someone needs; someone has; someone takes. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Always wrong to make the decision for one’s own good at the expense of the other.

America is known for freedom. The Bill of Rights spells out those freedoms. Nowhere does it state the right to sexual satisfaction. That is a personal transaction between two conscious, consenting adults. Request made; acceptance granted. Carry on.

With the insatiable greed and freedom of the global internet, cultures are clashing and merging. Individual wants and needs are traded quickly and in volume. Not all are appropriate. Not all are moral.

There is a fiber of our social order that needs to be maintained. Each person has their own identity and basis of power. They use it well for good of self and others. They use it badly for self alone. Pretty much speaks truth, those two simple statements taken together.

Why is this so difficult for people to navigate?

I grieve for the loss of an iconic Bill Cosby; he gave us much pleasure and wisdom over the years. But he is lost to us now in the wreckage of personal power gone awry.

Let this be a lesson for all. Personal power meets personal wants. What manages such transactions? Decency and public order. 

And so much more.

April 30, 2018

Balance of Power

Like the kids’ game Pick-Up Sticks, throw a bundle of stuff in the air and watch it land; then unscramble it. See who wins by picking up the most sticks and completing the game first.

That’s sort of the game plan of our current white house occupant. Reject the Transpacific Trade Pact and watch the confusion take place. Observe the renewed efforts of many nations to find a new balance. Do the same with the North American Free Trade Act. Watch Canada and Mexico attempt to find a new balance with the US. Same with the Paris Accord on Global Warming.

Sometimes this ploy works. Sometimes not.

Like killing the DACA program, renewal of it now is played as a game in congress to win some other gain, like the wall along the Mexican border. Only that has not yet occurred. DACA is being resurrected slowly via the courts. The issue is not yet settled, but it may soon be by the Supreme Court.

North Korea de-nuclearization is another situation in which the donald tossed past peace entreaties up in the air to see where it would land. Meanwhile he looks like a leader until substance is found lacking. Depth of knowledge on the issue is lacking. Only bullying and nasty name calling is thrown into the mix. Will North Korea remove its nuclear weapons? I doubt it. And there is really nothing we can do about it.

Russia and China are building their own mutual aid military pact. Not a good thing for American diplomacy. But then, diplomacy has been less the focus in recent years. The Bush years destroyed much of the diplomatic initiatives, and the foreign service career people along with it. Trump is doing the same. And acting like the king of the hill. All the while Obama tried to rebuild it; now it is being torn down again. What is it with republicans and diplomacy. Their forefathers believed in it; why not the sons and grandsons?

King of the hill? Mound is more like it, king of the mound. And it is made up of sand and disappearing quickly by wind and water erosion. Depth matters. Breadth matters. Diplomacy matters.

It’s time to get back to serious business and be the world partner the global community needs and asks for. We the People can make this happen. But only if we do our work learning the issues, researching the technicalities, and voting.

Bullies will disappear when common sense reigns. Sometimes common sense is not power but wisdom and logic are.

Wisdom and logic – two great cornerstones of power and balance of power.

America learned long ago that sharing power with others builds a basis for getting things done. Those end results must be good for all, not just one nation. It is the common good that needs attention. That attention will come when the global community ignores military might and exercises wisdom and logic.

The balance of power we all yearn for is but a fingertip away. Let us reach through the gap.

April 27, 2018

Keeping On Point

People Kill Not Guns.  People Kill Not Cars. Etcetera…  That was yesterday’s post. Today’s post is about sticking to the point. If we discuss an issue, please let us remain on that issue so we all have a better chance of understanding it.

Specialists live within our society. In fact, our society has gone to great lengths to make certain we have specialists educated and willing to take on the research of specialty fields. From that investment come many benefits for the rest of society.

This investment in human potential is done in hundreds or thousands of fields. The investment has developed into an industry of education in and of itself. A good thing; this industry keeps pushing the known boundaries of countless fields of study forward and outward. We learn more about our world each day.

With that knowledge come skills to work with the world. That work involves recognizing problems and then finding solutions to implement to solve the problems so identified. In this manner we have learned how to predict or forecast weather, take precautions for severe weather headed our way, and build better buildings to withstand severe weather.

We also spot pollution that harms the earth’s environment and find suitable actions to address the issues. We have done this for generations, now, and we aren’t stopping that progress.

Oh, there are political points of view that thwart ecological progress, but that discussion is not over. We the people support environmental protection. Other people in other nations support environmental protection as well. This is a global issue; this issue has global support from we the people.

Some politicians may play games with issues for their own gain of power or wealth; usually this is in response to powerful, wealthy people who will gain more power and wealth if the politicians do their bidding. However, there is a foil to this power play: we the people are that foil. All we need do is stand up, be counted, and take action to remove those offending politicians.

Yes, America has a wealth and power problem. Those with great sums of money attempt to control outcomes based on power and money. They have bought politicians for votes on issues of interest to them. Some of these wealthy people have been able to swing elections, policy formation, and counter legislation very successfully. In fact, some have even bought enough politicians to affect policy positions of an entire political party.

That is a problem for America. It does have echo effects elsewhere in the global community. But it is temporary. We the people will be heard in time, and the power belongs to all of us. Not the politicians. This is our government, our nation, our global community. We will prevail over time.

Keeping on point helps We The People win our point in time. It also challenges politicians. They are very temporary and must win election and re-election continually to gain and retain power. It is our job to make that difficult.

Sticking to the point we wish to address is one way to win the point. Do not allow distractions to thwart the articulation of our discussion. We have time on our side. We have educational resources on our side. We have research capabilities on our side.

Politicians have little depth to counteract what We The People have.

So, stay the course, understand the real issues, and vote in every election.

The utter nonsense of today’s news cycle will disappear and along with it the corrupt politicians who have lost their way in a true democracy.

Patience! Carry on!

April 26, 2018

Guns Don’t Kill; People Kill

Today’s title specifies guns but I use this as a broadside to all people who turn a complex issue into simple sound bites. Of course guns don’t kill; people using guns kill. Same for cars; they don’t kill; the people driving them kill with their cars. Same for overeating; it’s not the food, it’s the eater. Also for drugs; they are not the killer; the people using the drugs are killing themselves.

Well, even that is too simple.

Recall past posts of mine touting ‘cause, effect, result’. These three words can be powerful when used correctly.

Something has happened. We look for what happened, then we look for the why. There is a result – that is the event that has occurred. That really is an effect, but we should trace this all backward until we get at the cause of the problem.

Cause is not blame. Too many people look for blame rather than cause. That oversimplification is what steers public discussion in wrong directions, such as: Guns don’t kill people; people using guns kill people; and cars, drugs, food are not the cause of the result. People are. So let’s focus on what causes people to act the way they do to harm themselves and each other.

Human behavior is complex. It is not easily known, understood, controlled or corrected. Psychologists, psychiatrists, drug companies, hospitals, behavior asylums have all been employed to change human behavior toward healthy patterns. Prisons and jails are also used to address severe cases of human behavior gone terribly wrong.

So, all of the above leaves us with this question: Why do people choose to harm themselves or others with whatever tool is available? What can we do to lessen the chances these people will hurt themselves or others? We are seeking solutions, not comments and barbs.

Short term action can be used to lessen the threat from these people. Many short-term actions have been attempted but the problem remains. Restricting gun ownership is one such short-term. Banning certain types of guns is another short-term attempt to lessen the results of the problem. Both of these – and many other laws, rules and regulations – have addressed the same issue but the behavioral problem remains. 

That leaves us with working on two things: first, the people who have the behavior problem; and second, the environmental factors in which people are born, raised and matured. What factors can go wrong to produce the results we are trying to solve? Is this physical? Mental? Social? Is it parenting? Is it institutional? Is it…you fill in this space with whatever theory you may have.

Whatever it is we research, discuss and learn to understand, let’s pursue this work. Tossing around barbs and sound bites in the media and on social media does no good. It only serves to madden people who then choose sides and the real work never gets addressed.

So, let’s study the human behavior that uses common, ordinary things of life in bad ways to hurt themselves or others. That is the crux of the issue. Such study can be funded by government, universities, manufacturers of the goods being misused, or in any other way. We need to know what is causing the grief. What can we do as a society to produce better results? That is the quest.

When do we start?

April 25, 2018