Passivity Versus Personal Power

In today's blog, I want to go off on another tangent, and that is to talk about passivity and Personal Power.

The word, "power" is not one most individuals are comfortable with, as most of us have experienced being on the receiving end of some authority or other exerting his/her/their power over us most of our lives. Passive, on the other hand, is what we have been conditioned and Programmed to be--to "not rock the boat"; to "not make waves," to "be nice."

This conditioning in passivity, which is then taken as acquiescence, may actually be less in this Country than, for example in the Orient, however. In a recent blog, I believe I discussed an article I had read regarding the common use of two similar, proverbs: in China, "It is the nail that sticks out that gets hammered," while in the West, "It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease."

Feeling powerless in one's life is a state-of-mind that can be overcome in a number of ways. Many individuals who have a sense of personal power probably do not think about it in those terms, or about how the change came about.

It is very rare, and probably non-existent, for an individual to start out life feeling powerful. In Victorian times, the goal of parenting was to break the will of the children, in order to make them obedient and compliant for the remainder of their lives. The origin of the saying, "children should be seen and not heard," can be traced back to the 15th Century to collections of homilies written by an Augustinian clergyman.

Perhaps needless-to-say, in current times, this idea has been turned on its head by the Child Psychologists, preaching instead the mantra of promoting, "self-esteem" in young children. As a result, youth today are puffed up with their own self-importance, with many dominating the activities and lives of the whole family.

In actuality, the condition of adults feeling powerless is really a relatively modern one, beginning, probably, with the Industrial Revolution. Prior to that time, adults had to be self-sufficient in order to just survive. Unaffiliated individuals had to survive as best they could. The most self-sufficient and capable were the most able to strike out on their own. Such individuals made up the leaders among the early immigrants to this country, as well as the settling of the West.

The extended families of the past were collectives in which new members were taught the skills needed, firstly, to enable them to contribute to the survivability of the collective, and, secondly, to eventually replace the older members. This required younger members to learn how best to contribute. Formal education was only available for a privileged few.

In those times, knowledge was gained empirically--through experience--just as in primitive societies. If one wished to learn a trade, one was apprenticed, or apprenticed oneself, to a Journeyman in the trade. At the end of one's apprenticeship, one was, also, a Journeyman, capable of teaching others.

With the advent of general public education, one learned through going to school, rather than doing. Becoming, "learned" is a passive process. Those who had the advantage of learning through apprenticeships came away with the knowledge that they had become competent in doing a particular thing. Being competent in a trade not only accorded status, it gave one a sense of, "Personal Power." The more things one became competent at, the more the sense of both self-esteem and Personal Power.

Valid self-esteem and Personal Power are interconnected in all respects. Self-esteem comes from personal competence; the more things one is competent at, and/or knowledgeable about, the more self-esteem and sense of Personal Power one gains.

In past times, due to the nature of many activities being physical, physical strength was developed along with competence. The current passivity on the part of many individuals encourages the breakdown of the physical body. The resultant lack of personal health and physical strength--a fact of life for many individuals--naturally causes so many to feel vulnerable and powerless.

With the switch to the importance given to, "getting an education" and the supremacy of the "scientific method" in schools of, "higher learning," empirical learning has been relegated to being equivalent to, "quackery." Vocational schools, where individuals learn a, "trade" are for those who are not considered able to handle intellectual learning. ("Trade"--such an interesting word. In actuality, those who know a trade well, have a much higher survivability potential, than those with a, "profession.")

Self-sufficiency is a major aspect of much Personal Power. A major percentage of the population of this country would not be able to survive for long if deprived of stores, and the ability to purchase things ready-made. All-things-considered, it is little wonder that so many individuals feel powerless.

On that depressing note, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup