Taking Away The school Yard Bullies Power ~ Where Wind And Tide Take My Thoughts ~ The View From The Cheap Seats

 

There is always a ;price

A Lesson From History And The School Yard:

History has, biblically speaking, given us two types of prophets from Judaism, the major, and the minor. You can find them in both the Jewish sacred scriptures and the Christian Old Testament.  (feel free to look it up) 

Human evolution has, in my view, created two main types of people: 'Hard People' and everyone else, with a subgroup I'll label 'Wannabe'. I'm in the rest of us camp. Growing up, I had my share of fights, but that doesn't make anyone a hard person.  

We were talking about one of his friends and the trouble he was in. We were talking about one of his friends and the trouble he was in. “If he was coming for me like he's coming for (any name you choose), I'd lock myself in a bathroom with a month's supply of food and a sawed off 12 gauge.” The 'He' who was coming for his friend was a hard man.

Today I'm going to talk about the wannabe category. Some wannabes' want to be chefs. Best to stay away from their table. Others may think of themselves as great intellects. Don't be taking their advice. For the most part, wannabes' just offer good sport and a laugh to the real deals that are out there. 

However, there is a subgroup of wannabes that cause a lot of harm and pain. The wannabe Hard People. Or, as I prefer to name them, school yard bullies. They hurt the weak and powerless. This is not a good thing in a school yard or a playground. How much worse does it become when the school yard bully through the application of cunning effort and the suppression of their conscience gains serious power? Well, it's a lot worse. If the school yard bully leaves the sandbox and enters the halls of power, the damage goes global!

When we have people in power who live in total opposition to the Golden Rule or the Noble Eightfold Path, people get hurt. The broader the power base, the greater the hurt the wannabe will inflict. Any person of good will who looks at the world we live in will with no trouble at all be able to see the school yard bullies. Some of whom have through their cunning and lack of conscience risen to positions of immense power in our world. People of good will also be able to see the pain and suffering they are causing.

The Price of Ethical Living:

Ethical living comes with a price. As the proverb puts it:

Every now and again, the good person must put themselves in harms path.

If they don't, they lose their status and become an enabler. Looking for an example? Look no further than Russia, China, America, or North Korea. Within the ruling elite of those countries are many who bend the knee to kiss the ring of the Glorious Leader. Every time the knee is bent, and the ring is kissed, oceans of people have their pain and suffering increased to satisfy the Glorious Leader's ego. 

There are two ways to attempt to change this horror. One is with a bullet. The other is by fostering ethical living in everyday life. The former has historically never worked. The latter has shown promise. Though, it too has never worked in the long run. Gandhi was perhaps the greatest exponent of ethical living as a way to change the world. I believe that he failed because he believed that an individual could apply the needed moral force to change society. While Gandhi focused on external societal change, Buddha emphasized internal transformation as the foundation for broader change. I believe that the Buddha's belief (at least as far as I understand it) that all we can reasonably do is change ourselves is a better understanding. 

It is only once the personal inner change has begun, that we can then help others to begin their own transformation. As each person transforms, society becomes better and there is less room for the school yard bullies in the sandbox or the halls of power.

What You Can Do:

Take a long, hard, honest look at yourself. Do you see within yourself areas that need working on? If you do, then it may well be time to start your own inner transformation. I'm not a believer in one size fits all. I do believe that if you are now within the folds of any faith or philosophy that is truly built upon doing justice, offering mercy, and walking humbly you can find the needed tools to achieve your transformation from within your faith. 

All that's needed is the first step. 

Brian