![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Power Imbalance and Choice
Oct. 11th, 2008 08:31 amI'm hijacking ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wlotus's post and my response, because I think she raises a great question, and I found myself having to really think through my answer.
This was her entry:
Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.
~ The Merovingian, Matrix Reloaded
Feel free to discuss.
My response:
It's very important to me to believe that no matter what the situation I'm in, I always have the power to make choices. At a fundamental level, I am in control of my thoughts and actions.
That said, what I suspect the quote refers to is the relative lack of options available to those without power and the kinds of consequences assessed against the powerless who make the "wrong" choices.
It can also refer to the fact that most people are conditioned to not perceive or accept their freedom of choice due to cultural conditioning. There were many times growing up when I thought Oh, I couldn't do that! when in reality the choice was open and available to me but I had been trained to not even consider it as an option.
There are also, of course, cases the kind of abuse that makes leaving a bad situation "unthinkable." You keep your head down and do what you're told, believing that things will only get worse if you try to change or leave. I'm fortunate enough to have my first impulse be to consider this a rare situation -- but on reflection I think it's probably more prevalent than I realize.
I agree with the underlying observation above: that power imbalance injustly limits the options of and sets sanctions against far too many, often without the powerless fully realizing it. At the same time, I think it's important for individual mental health and simple human dignity to be aware that we can always choose. The issue becomes what consequences we're willing to face.
I think that's the power of a Gandhi, a Mandela, and the women who demonstrated and went to jail to win the right to vote in the US. They saw the culture around them saying "You can't -- it's unthinkable, against natural law" and they steadily and powerfully said, "Yes, I/we can." They were beaten, they went to jail, they suffered. But ultimately exercising their choices made a difference. Of course, their victories don't erase the tragedies of the millions who have exercised their choices and died for it.
It's a hard issue. And it's one of the reasons I'm as open as I am with Wolfling and always stress that she has choices. We discuss possible consequences of her choices, but I always want to make sure that she understands the decision of what to do belongs to her and no one else. Not even me. Not even her teachers. Not even the law.
wlotus's post and my response, because I think she raises a great question, and I found myself having to really think through my answer.This was her entry:
Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.
~ The Merovingian, Matrix Reloaded
Feel free to discuss.
My response:
It's very important to me to believe that no matter what the situation I'm in, I always have the power to make choices. At a fundamental level, I am in control of my thoughts and actions.
That said, what I suspect the quote refers to is the relative lack of options available to those without power and the kinds of consequences assessed against the powerless who make the "wrong" choices.
It can also refer to the fact that most people are conditioned to not perceive or accept their freedom of choice due to cultural conditioning. There were many times growing up when I thought Oh, I couldn't do that! when in reality the choice was open and available to me but I had been trained to not even consider it as an option.
There are also, of course, cases the kind of abuse that makes leaving a bad situation "unthinkable." You keep your head down and do what you're told, believing that things will only get worse if you try to change or leave. I'm fortunate enough to have my first impulse be to consider this a rare situation -- but on reflection I think it's probably more prevalent than I realize.
I agree with the underlying observation above: that power imbalance injustly limits the options of and sets sanctions against far too many, often without the powerless fully realizing it. At the same time, I think it's important for individual mental health and simple human dignity to be aware that we can always choose. The issue becomes what consequences we're willing to face.
I think that's the power of a Gandhi, a Mandela, and the women who demonstrated and went to jail to win the right to vote in the US. They saw the culture around them saying "You can't -- it's unthinkable, against natural law" and they steadily and powerfully said, "Yes, I/we can." They were beaten, they went to jail, they suffered. But ultimately exercising their choices made a difference. Of course, their victories don't erase the tragedies of the millions who have exercised their choices and died for it.
It's a hard issue. And it's one of the reasons I'm as open as I am with Wolfling and always stress that she has choices. We discuss possible consequences of her choices, but I always want to make sure that she understands the decision of what to do belongs to her and no one else. Not even me. Not even her teachers. Not even the law.
