truth to power

 The phrase "speak truth to power" originated in 1955. It was about pacifism and love. The root of the saying comes from the heart. "Our truth is an ancient one: that love endures and overcomes; that hatred destroys; that what is obtained by love is retained, but what is obtained by hatred proves a burden." It is also from the Quakers and their horse and carriage riding friends, the Amish/Mennonites. Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence written by the American Friends Service Committee. 

The notion of speaking truth to power has far outgrown the humble roots it has in pacifism and blossomed into something more. I guess I refer more to the phrase, because the idea of speaking truth to the powerful is timeless. It's inherently human to question and challenge and fight. The irony that the phrase comes from an argument for pacifism is not lost on me, so I'm all right with continuing its use. Life is a struggle and at some point we all have to fight for something. I understand the desire to be peaceful but, a peaceful man can still avoid conflict while not being a pacifist. I'm somewhat peaceful now and it was a struggle to get here so I can respect pacifists even if I don't understand them.

Ghandi, MLK, Mandela, Tutu, and the actual Dalai Lama are all included in the introduction to the Wikipedia article. Obviously, these people would have still done what they did had the phrase "speak truth to power" not existed. The declaration of independence was a wordy way of telling the King of England, one of the most powerful at the time, to "kiss our ass" and there have been plenty of other instances across our history where truth comes at the powerful pretty fast. The ides of March is remembered because of the swiftness with which the Roman senate needed to speak truth to Julius Caesar. The "shot heard round the world" took out Archduke Franz Ferdinand to kick off the first world war. These are violent acts and while speech is not actually violent, I know some folks have felt violated after speaking with me. I know because they've told me so, and then cried, as if physically hurt. That acid tongued killer's instinct with words is what has cost me a lot over the years, but it's exactly what should be aimed at the powerful. It took me a while to realize it, but words can hurt other people though they may roll off me like water.

Obviously, I'm all right saying I should be writing or doing something more productive with my time, I just said it. However, I prefer to write stupid jokes like a hurt woman on the internet for no money and a small audience, instead. My other free time I spend doing stuff for myself. Then I'll make some statement about how you need to put your mask on first before you can help anyone else and just continue on with my day being generally selfish with my time and energy. There's so much I need to do first that I don't know if I'll ever get the time to give and fight like some people do everyday. I respect it even if I don't understand how anyone can find the time.

Speaking truth to power in a singular sense is questioning authority. That particular activity is something I've been practicing my entire life but we all start out doing it, some of us just grow out of it eventually. I can't remember the last time I just accepted what someone told me at face value. I question everything and I think we all should even though it makes for awkward conversations sometimes. The annoying habit of children to continuously ask why or how is necessary for an examined life. I think it's wonderful when people ask questions even though it can be distracting. Contrary to what is often said, there are stupid questions. When something is obvious, we don't have to question it even though sometimes the obvious obscures our quest for further truth. 

The key tenet of this notion is essentially, "See something? Say something." but for everything. When you speak truth to power you're questioning the appearance of things. If you see something odd and it makes you think, you should say something. This is why I'm terrible discussing politics and religion with people. Whenever I see something that doesn't make sense to me, I want to understand it. Often times, I've discovered that understanding a thing is a lot like revealing the curtain behind the Wizard of Oz to discover it's just some weird dude pulling the strings. The truth of the world is disgusting and if you're speaking such vile things to the powerful, you're quite possibly in the worst kind of danger. The kind of danger where you may find yourself committing a suicide you didn't plan.

Society works smoothest when those in power keep the peace. However, the peaceful society means that those in power accept this society, this world. If you're agreeable to rampant greed, corporate socialism, cronyism, and excessive graft, then by all means, keep the peace. The truth of the matter is that this society is fucked from the top down but I've no idea what to do about it. I've done my diligence in questioning and seeing the truth behind the curtain where there's a small group pulling strings. It's no so complicated as some shadowy cabal but what people fail to accept anytime this type of discussion comes up is the nuanced notion of influence. There is, unarguably, a group of people with an inordinate amount of influence on the world. These people all have one thing in common: money. 

The problem is rooted deep, like a cancer leeching the life force from the world and focusing it on power and control. We, the sheeple, need to follow what the righteous want us to follow because we're incapable of making our own decisions. The problem I come up with is that I largely agree with people, in large groups, being incapable of making the right decision. I just disagree with how to address the issue. Those with the money and power now want to make our decisions for us. I'm not sure if the society we have today is capable of making our own decisions but I certainly can't stand the notion of an amoral group of inbred snobs influencing me or mine. Ugh, the thought makes me shudder knowing right now there's a group of yuppies on a conference call, possibly wearing boat shoes, and discussing what's going to be on the news tonight for mass consumption. Or worse, what the newest policy for the country may be next year or next month. 

I've no idea what can be done instead. I've some ideas but I haven't the time or inclination to go out everyday and be political. I'm a homebody with a long list of chores I've assigned myself. I like local even when I'm in another locale. I go native wherever I go and find it's more rewarding and enjoyable to focus on those things in life you can change, like your immediate surroundings. You can have an effect on the people in your life everyday even if they may be different from day to day. The people you see everyday today may be gone tomorrow, never to be seen again. I'm not talking about being some kind of semester at sea situation and then the boat crashes, I'm talking about real life shit that can come fast. What if your house burns down? What if tragedy strikes and you need to uproot yourself once more and slowly walk away into the horizon to look for a new home. People are displaced every day in the world, refugees and such. It can happen even if it seems extremely unlikely. 

Being present and accounted for here and now is important for life. It's important for living with others and when you're here and paying attention, you naturally question. At least, I naturally want to understand that which is around me and that understanding almost always brings problems because nothing is ever perfect. When you understand something that's imperfect, a natural inclination is to want to improve it but sometimes you can't and others that have come before you have had the same idea. Other times, new questions and insights can bring perfection to the otherwise imperfect. 

Often times when I do this sort of thing, this kind of free-form discussion, I feel like a hippy. Live in the moment, man. Smoke more weed, man. Nobody's perfect, bro. Maybe I am, but maybe I'm too complicated to be contained by such simplicity. I like complicated and I'm learning to like myself more too. I guess you'd have to like complicated to like me because I'm either complicated or crazy and I've been doubling down on the former for a while now. I don't think there were any particularly noteworthy insights or great jokes here today but it's just a kind of lazy Sunday morning anyways. I say lazy because I didn't really do a conclusion for this today, or work hard. I felt like it needed said and it's something I can utilize later as a good base... for something.