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