Compliance and the Notions of Power.
POWER is a phenomenon that comes in different forms in the external world and in the internal world; the thoughts and intuitions(pre-analysis) of the individual perceiver. The forms that power take in the internal world are imagined by the individual either by assuming the cause or by linking what they have experienced to an overarching cause.
For instance, if I walk down the sidewalk and feel a harsh gust of wind behind me, it is conceivable that there may be an influx of rainy weather, but I can not form a full conception of cause as it relates to the weather if I do not turn around to see what that half of the sky looks like. If I turn to see an overcast sky, then I may infer that the harsh winds have been caused by a change in the weather. If I turn to see a clear blue sky, but still feel powerful winds, then I will need to develop a pure theory as it relates to the cause of strong winds whereas the former experience gave me the imagery to assume that strong winds are caused by the emergence of new weather. My assumption of cause will become a belief if I classify the cause of strong winds as being primarily caused by the conditions of overcast weather. If I do not doubt my initial belief, then we get a false classification without ever looking into atmospheric science. If my ill-conceived belief causes me great distress whenever I see an overcast sky, then my weak belief may become a dictate once I begin demanding others to comply by stating that strong winds are “dangerous” in a way that may or may not sound convincing depending upon on the person’s communication skills.
It would be absurd to comply with anyone who states that strong winds are “dangerous” as people experience power differently. What is dangerous to me may not be dangerous to someone else, but if someone were to propose that school kids should come inside due to the dangers of strong winds, then it would be an equally absurd proposition if it was influenced by the dictates of the fool who asserted that strong winds were dangerous. It would not be an absurd proposal to have the kids come inside if the winds were sufficiently powerful to move heavy objects, but that can be remedied by having heavy playground equipment bolted to the ground. People may be righteously fearful of a large fire, but does our fear of fire justify our inaction to quell its power? Of course not!
If people will not conform to the power of elements-which is power that yields immanent dangers-than why should people fear the wrath of men? One could argue that the power of man is more innovative, thoughtful and calculating, but who are these men of power? Men of great courage, like the abolitionists of slavery or of certain prohibitions, are more powerful than the tyrant as they create conceptual change by developing methods of thinking which may inadvertently replace the tyrant due to a technicality.
In pre-Christian times, it was the relentless irreverence of Diogenes The Cynic whose meta-cultural view of societal pleasures opened up an unseen door of existence that we did not know was present. The relentless dissent of Socrates empowered his students to question the inherently fallacious beliefs of society. Plato’s concept of the philosopher-king set a standard which allowed people to demarcate a good king from a bad one. Later Christian thinking would then go on to succeed Plato’s philosopher-king and paganism as a whole by influencing people to abandon all idol worship.
In more recent times, the development of economic science, modern logistics, applied machine science to create more efficient manufacturing techniques, the development of supply chain analytics and the entrepreneurial spirit of the industrial revolution alongside the development of a distinctly North American individualism(an offshoot of English individualism) through the Transcendental philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau have long replaced the autocratic and theocratic dictatorships of the past.
Absolute power is therefore something that eventually fades when the monopolies of the past become derelict due to an innovative style of indirect non compliance. The few Albertan farmers who were arrested for selling their own wheat back in 2002, merely had to sell their own wheat to make the swamp creatures of lawfare appear. The farmers caused the downfall of the wheat board by simply creating a spectacle, no physical war was required.
If there was a scenarios where all gymnasiums had to have their training equipment branded with a Health Canada logo after the machines, barbells, dumbbells, punching bags and boxing gloves were “assessed” by a safety specialist, then people who are successful in the business of running gyms may be inclined to comply because they do not want to lose their prosperity. In this scenario, the business person forgets that success can only be maintained when there are less unjustified constraints on his businesses operations. These unjustified constraints can be weaponized against the property owner if the minister of justice were to put pressure on the ministry of health to “take away” the licenses of the gym because they are disobeying public health orders. In this scenario, the ministries may also use the police to physically close down the gym.
Now, if the owner of the persecuted gym has a large enough backyard to continue his business using workout equipment that has not been regulated for gym use, or has friend who can make him workout equipment through woodworking or metallurgy, than he cannot be banned from his own residence as his home is his castle according to the common law doctrine.
If the gym owner had not thought of this alternative, than he would be left to ruminate about the seemingly endless reign of power in which he thinks resistance to be as futile as trying to stop water from rising-and yet the mere thought of possible alternatives ends all further notions of power that he would have.
End.
