Empowerment
Why does empowerment scare the government so badly?
The easy answer is because they feel we will need them less if we have our own power. That’s the short answer. The full answer, however, takes a bit more thought.
What IS empowerment, anyhow? That’s the tough question. Let’s turn to our friend dictionary.com for the answer:
em·pow·er
verb (used with object)
1. to give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means: I empowered my agent to make the deal for me. The local ordinance empowers the board of health to close unsanitary restaurants.
2. to enable or permit: Wealth empowered him to live a comfortable life.
Empowerment as a direct concept, however, is about the self. We have the ability to take our own power and authority, without it being “given” by another. In fact, realistically, ALL power begins with the self.
In other words – no one else has power, or is empowered, unless WE give that power.
This is a hard truth to accept, and for a lot of people, is not something easily believed. We see the wealthy, we see business and government leaders, and we see what they do, and the authority they wield. We find ourselves thinking that they have ALL this power, ALL this ability – but truth is, they only have as much power as WE give them.
It is easier for many people to give away power. Turn to an authority figure for guidance and leadership, whether a business leader, politician, religious leader, parent, or what-have-you. This is far easier than thinking for ourselves, easier than making our own decisions.
The problem is, if we come to rely on this more than ourselves we deny ourselves power. The more we empower others, the more we disempower ourselves. And if this goes far enough, before you know it, the power is out of your hands entirely, and someone else has authority over decisions that should belong to you and you alone.
Look at our modern society. We are so quick to give away power. There so many we hand off power to, for so very many reasons. And we give away so much power to others, we keep less and less for ourselves.
But in doing this, we wind up taking away our own rights. Unless you are living under a rock, you’ve seen the arguments about the so-called “war on women” being raged in politics right now. Trouble is – this is a very real movement to disempower women.
Let’s just get one simple fact out of the way – NO ONE should be dictating what someone else does with THEIR body. Sorry, but no MAN has any right WHATSOEVER to tell a woman if she can take birth control, get an abortion, or carry a child to term. That is HER decision, and it belongs to NO ONE ELSE. Period.
And yet there are a number of politicians and others who are actively speaking out on this topic. And they are planning to create laws that will control these things. Things that no government should hold ANY control over, period.
It DOES NOT MATTER, for the record, if you are pro-life, anti-contraception, or whatever. Your moral, religious, and philosophical viewpoint is unimportant. Sorry. DOES NOT MATTER. A woman has the sole right to choose what she will do with HER body. She should not have to fear that if she is raped and impregnated she’ll have no option but to bear a child she does not desire. And just when DID we go back to the 1950’s, anyhow??
But I digress. This is about empowerment. This topic just happens to be a perfect example. If you are a woman, you need to be aware of these people, and you need to NOT empower them. You need to empower yourself, and keep the rights you are entitled to.
This goes for us men, too. We have to support these rights and freedoms for women. We need to do our part to not empower these dangerous, backwards-thinking individuals.
This brings me back to the question I started with. Why does empowerment scare the government so badly? Because they want to have all the power, all the authority, and all the control. If we are self-empowered, they lose that. They lose the ability to control things like this, which they truly have no right to be in control of. If we are empowered, they fear they will be disempowered.
Do we need these leaders? Do we need the authority figures? It’s a double-edged sword, really. Yes, because there are people who either will not or truly cannot make decisions, there is a need for people as leaders and authorities. However, how much they are empowered by us we can control.
Those of us who are capable of self-empowerment, who understand why that is both necessary and important, can be a check on the empowerment of these so-called leaders and authorities. We can, and we MUST, really, keep better checks on how much we empower them, so that we are not disempowering ourselves.
Yes, this is admittedly a slippery slope. Empower ourselves, empower others…and find a true balance. But with all things in life, moderation is the key. We need the government to maintain infrastructure, collect taxes, and provide laws geared towards keeping us safe. What we do NOT need them doing is undermining individual civil rights, and what we do with our bodies. Not their place. Not what we are empowering them to do, when all is said and done.
The concept of the individual versus an enormous entity like the government may seem insurmountable. But remember, you can empower yourself, and from there, perhaps, be an example to help empower others. Because the more we empower ourselves, the more we share in that and empower others, the less outside forces can disempower us.
Being self empowered might seem like quite the responsibility. But isn’t it better than letting someone else you don’t even know dictate your life for you?
Follow me here!
