Dear Friends,
It seems to me, there are three tools to change people’s actions, one is culture, another is societal and the last is legal. Few people smoke today because the anti smoking crowd used the culture to ostracize smokers. Societal pressure has been used to silence people in the face of the outrageous. Legal means are the go to of the elite when they want to change actions. Simply pass a law, and voila, people change their actions else go to jail. Changing social and cultural norms is a slow and tedious process, and if the people resent the changes, then it becomes impossible. Plus, the elite want to retry an experiment that’s failed every other time it’s been tried, and they know the hoi polloi won’t willingly go along. Making law the most efficient way to hammer us into self harm.
Using law to control people is the acme of “power flowing from the barrel of a gun.” Law is like a hammer. Because it’s literally the State using violence to force its will. If you get a parking ticket and you refuse to participate… the State will escalate the issue to violence. If a police officer shows up at your door… violence is implicit. Should you say the wrong thing, state violence will be “justified” in the Thrasymachian sense. Regardless of the irrelevance of the initial infraction or if there was no infraction at all. The State feels compelled to escalate any smart mouth, to violence, like an abusive parent. Both are insecure in their power over their charge. Which is why laws should be used sparingly, and only in cases of actual harm to humanity, and not as a means to control us.
Culture is a powerful factor in our lives. It operates like a screwdriver. The ancient sage, Mencius, called following the culture the “Golden Mean.” He said that a human hearted person would always be upright in whatever land they found themselves. Because they would follow the Golden Mean. The path that’s not too righteous nor too vile… but the center path of that culture. I think wise people do this innately. If you live in Sodom, it’s best to be evil, and if you live in Victorian England, it’s best to be good. The culture, or in modern parlance, the “Overton Window” of right action, is based on cultural norms. As the culture changes so do the norms. It used to be perfectly acceptable to light up a cigarette in someone’s house, without asking, but sterilizing their child would get you shot. Today it’s different.
Social pressure is something everyone knows. It pinches like pliers. Often goading us into things that are against our nature. That’s why many people started smoking cigarettes, and weed. Social pressure is why so many kids today don’t know if they’re a boy or girl. Coupled with chemicals in the food and water that feminize the boys and masculinize girls. As an aside… Perhaps micro plastics, BPH and other chemicals are fine, but we should have long term testing before filling our bodies with them… else we run the risk of sweetening our wine with lead, as the Romans did. While cultural pressure comes from afar, social pressure is close at hand. It’s the taunting, ribbing and cajoling we all do to each other every day. That banter has great effect not only on us but mankind as a whole.
Of course, to want to change someone else behavior is the epitome of arrogance, soaked in egoism, and iced with brilliant stupidity. Especially when the would be demi god exploits law, to nail shut the door of actual societal and cultural innovation… free speech. Given three tools to drive a screw, a hammer, pliers and a screwdriver, the elite choose the hammer every time. Once it’s in, the pliers will rip it out easy enough. Since the elite don’t care if they mar humanity. The screwdriver is too difficult in both directions. There are times when a screwdriver is best, times when pliers will do a better job, and times when a hammer is needed. To use the wrong tool for the job, is the hallmark of a poor carpenter… or elite. Making our elites, arrogant egoist idiots, in the way, and who perpetually use the wrong tool.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
