Monday, February 25, 2008

Who are "We"?

I think it is important to reject the ways that the term "we" is loosely used to describe the world's population or even the U.S. population, when what is being described only accounts for the elite few.

The elite do have more sophisticated technology to move what they call information more quickly and to a wider audience. However, they are still in the minority and claims that they speak for the majority or even in the majority's best interest, can be easily proved as false with a lot less effort and sophisticated exposier than most people are taught to believe.

Claiming that those who are not speaking up have nothing valid to say has been the biggest accomplishment of every government since the beginning of time as well as the worst crime.

Too often "we" the majority don't speak up about what we really think because we are not choosing to think for ourselves or that what we think isn't important.

I don't believe that formal education or the use of eloquent or sophisticated speech are liberaters until or unless they are offered to everyone who wants that ability or set of skills. Even then, if education doesn't accomidate difference AND promote it, then it's nothing more than a mind altering training camp being used to divide, label, oppress and eliminate anyone and everyone who can be seen as unwilling to conform.

When it comes to deciding on laws that govern everyone as pertaining to how we can best be protected from foriegn and domestic abuse, then it is very important to open ongoing discussion and continue to refine the best ways to do that. However:

1) Cut out the laws that (without proof that the behavior or condition of a person will lead to violence) are being used to make false claims. Continuing to use unjust profiling as an excuse for suspicion and/or unprovoked aggression will eventually include everyone.

2) Personal and societal responsibility cannot be divided for conveinience sake. Any collective representation must include both or it will include neither.

3) A, B, C, D, and F are not a sufficient number of grades to make up a fair grading system for scholastic achievement to meet even a small portion of the population. Also, no society and no government has ever been able to predict, assume or assign age appropriate development of human anything.

4) The only plan for economic growth in the U.S. is using would require a decrease in population so that fewer people and fewer types of people would be accomidated. You won't benefit from such a policy if you are not here.

Do you think that billboards and T.V. advertisements about 1 autistic born every 20 minutes is for the purpose of the kind of awareness that would promote better education, accomidations, and job opportunities for autistic people?

I wish that people would think about the ways that they talk about the autism "spectrum" in relationship to how others (who don't have the best interest of autistics as a priority) might be using such spectrum related speech to harm rather than help us.

The whole world is too interdependent on each other for anyone to make any kind of claim that they are representive of the popular vote. Certainly the U.S. has never been liberated and free to make such a claim.

Claiming that the U.S. HAS a middle class that is filled with soccer moms with 2.3 kids, drive mini vans, and live in suburbia, may be the way to get a Clinton in the white house but it doesn't make it anymore true.

Even if the majority were the most influential voice, as long as there are lawmakers, laws, unfair influence of wealthy corporations, and the oppression of groups of people for no other reason than that they don't fit the advertised veiw of acceptable, then no one is liberated and no one is free. The reason for that is that by liberating yourself at the expense of another is the way that people imprison themselves. When freedom comes at the expense of giving up your freedom then you aren't free.

The people who are seen to have power and influence in the U.S. have designed our very perception of what power and influence looks like. They have not earned what they have at all. They create the misperception of being in the majority like The wizard of Oz created this misperception.

We are not making decisions that influence how our government is run. We are not the ones that influence policy's, laws, the people who make those laws and poilicies, or the people who enforce them.

However, those who have traded their conscience and itegrity in order to give other people the false impression that they have power, cannot convince themselves of what they try to convince others of. Therefore they have lost themselves and are truly powerless.

We who are not seen as having this power and influence, who choose not to follow in these peoples footsteps, actually do have REAL power. We have lots of abilty that we aren't using. This power and collective but diverse ability is more than sufficient enough to change the world. In order to use what we have, we must reject what we have been taught. If we start thinking in ways that they have taught us that we can't and or shouldn't , a true representation of who we are will have a chance to emerge and be heard.


3 Comments:

At 3:13 AM , Blogger Sharon McDaid said...

As always Ed, wow! I'd have to think about what you've written for a long time to really get a handle on all the ideas you have presented. The ideas of liberty, security, assumptions and power are all fascinating. It was from you that I 1st read the quote that those who give up liberty for security deserve neither. It's very relevant in so many aspects of life these days.

It is so important that more people are allowed to speak up. Many have been overlooked just because they cannot speak, which as we know, isn't the same as having nothing to say.

This charity campaign is seeking to change that for some people.

 
At 4:55 AM , Blogger Ed said...

Thanks Sharon and thanks also for the link.

 
At 9:31 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Ed,

My name is Isabelle and I'm a member of the WEGO Health Community [http://www.wegohealth.com]. I’ve been reading your blog and I’m fascinated to read the ideas you presented in your posts. I especially like your recent posts encouraging the autism community to speak up and speak out, I too think this is greatly needed. Keep up the great work, I’m eager to read more from your site.

Given your involvement within Autism community, I wanted to let you know a little bit about what we're doing at WEGO Health.

Our website recently launched and our mission is to identify, rank, and organize the most helpful health and wellness content online and make it easy to access by everyone.

Our mission is articulated very nicely here:
[http://www.wegohealth.com/our-mission.html]

I'm wondering if you would be interested in reviewing some of the Autism [http://autism.wegohealth.com/autism.html] –related materials on WEGO Health. Please let me know if you think there is a way we may be able to work together.

Thanks in advance for checking our site and I hope to hear back from you soon. Please feel free to contact me at the email address below.

Best regards,
Isabelle
WEGO Health Community
expert-supported health communities

E-mail: isabelleo@wegohealth.com
Website: www.wegohealth.com

 

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