User:Chadlupkes/Peace, Power, Control, Cooperation

From Left Space

Power or Peace through Control or Cooperation

It's important sometimes to identify core values, and I want to talk about goals and methods in the following context:

I see two different paths to two different destinations. The two destinations are distinct from each other, as are the paths to reach those destinations. But choose the wrong path, and you will reach the wrong destination. The two paths are cooperation or control. The two destinations are peace or power. Since I first started getting engaged in politics, I have seen both paths used by various people, and both destinations reached by those people. Much of what I have seen is intentional, but most of it is not. And the outcome is often not what is expected or desired.

I believe that conservatives choose to walk the path of control, even if their desired destination is peace. Control will never get them there, at least not without leaving someone behind or keeping someone supressed or ignored. Control means using tools to stop someone else from doing something, without getting their understanding and permission. Even if you want to achieve peace, using force of any kind (physical, legal, etc.) means that you have stopped trying to cooperate, and you are instead trying to take control. The result is bad feelings, harm or worse. The only path to peace is cooperation. The only destination of the path of control is power. Power corrupts, by default, because it keeps us on the path of control searching for a way to maintain the power we have, or increase it in the face of new situations and circumstances.

I also believe that progressives often find themselves on the path of control, because they see it "working" in the short term for conservatives. Power is attractive, especially when it gives the illusion that we have reached peace with others or ourselves. But it is certainly an illusion, because peace is forever while power fades or other people attempt to take it away. The paths sometimes seem to cross and are often woven together in such a way that it is difficult to determine which is which unless we are grounded in our values and have our true destination in mind at all times. It is easy to step onto the path of control, but it is hard to step off that path. To do so frequently requires assistance from others, our friends, families and communities. We need constant feedback to help us see the potential results of a decision and the other options that are available. We are constantly bombarded with mixed messages, cross-purposes, and crossed wires, etc. We can help each other, but we have to be able to receive as well as give.

I've used these words before when talking to people, but I've used them as opposite ends of a progressive/conservative spectrum. It's been too easy to say that people who want power are conservative, and people who want peace are progressive. It's also been too easy to say that people who want control are conservative, while people who want to cooperate are progressive. The world doesn't exist in such black and white terms, and I realized that when I thought about how elections fit into the picture. People campaign for office for the power of that office. There is no getting around that. And while people within an organizational structure can use the infrastructure of that organization to control a situation sometimes more easily and effectively than they can accomplish the same thing through cooperation with others, that doesn't speak to their motivation or intentions well enough to draw final conclusions.

The only path to peace is cooperation. The only destination on the path of control is power. Progressives desire peace through cooperation, not power through control.