By: Jeremy R. Rutherford
All Jokes Aside
Introduction
In response to everything that has been going on lately, both here on Native soil and around the world, I have been parlaying jokes and satires in jest. I suppose that is all well and good, but I have also grown weary of a field of horses that has died so quickly and everyone willing to take up a stick and beat them in tandem like a giant moron playing a massive xylophone in dischord.
Once one horse is pulverized by the masses, another one steps up to take it's place like food for the masses.
Like the classic Hydra of mythology, for every one that is destroyed, two more take its place. If one doesn't stand to one side or the other of the current dead bodies, one doesn't have a say. If one tries to abstain from commenting, then that individual is observed as being remote and distant. If one chooses to present both sides, but take neither, but presents a logical view on either one, then they are seen as two-faced and therefore having an invalid point
Regardless of which side is chosen, if it is chosen, (which btw, is not required, a third, fourth or fifth side or opinion (being composed of a mix of the two or even a completely alternate view) is certainly fine according to the rules of classic argument.) Then someone is going to take issue with that choice out of pure emotional response with no empathy, analysis of point or logic involved.
Ignore these, enjoy these or pass them by as everything going on gets ripped apart unto oblivion.
Society
A society is first and foremost a contract that is general in nature and then fractured into smaller contracts. It is built like a Matroyshka Doll with a common thread pushed through the center
The structure is set up like this. Government-Factions-Governing Officials-Capitals-Cities-Towns-Province/Parishes-Populations-Groups-Neighborhoods-Circles-Houses-Families-Heads-Members-Individuals. (or by various alternative terms)
While the area gets smaller and smaller as one goes down the line, the line or the thread stays the same - The Social Contract or more commonly called, Society. This contract of course differs depending on which Society that one lives in. What is "acceptable" is agreed upon by the members of the specific, unique contract. This may also change within the same set as each different level of the society may have it's own specific set of standards apart from the other sets, but the gist of the thread remains the same.
Now, this contract is set to terms by the individuals enclosed within it, provided they are lucky enough to be of sound mind and judgement. The only reason it is effective is because the participants agree upon and to follow the myriad of rules set forth not only by the main branch, but also the subset of rules within each subsequent branch of the main.
It is an amazing system, and is effective for allowing most individuals to operate for the majority of the individuals living within it. However, there is a dark side to all of this co-existent magic.
It's called "Othering" and this is how it works. Society is incorporated by a specific set of rules and laws generated by the society and it's respective fractions own set of rules and laws spinning the borders and lines into existence that each individual is expected to follow like a linear roadmap. When an individual breaks these lines and borders, they are punished respectively to the degree of the breakage. This isn't dark per se, but it is colored by shades of gray that aren't always clear or morally correct. These "gray" exceptions are further colored by possible and outright corrupt actions that are influenced by a myriad of factors, not the least being money, relations and connections.
These exceptive factors corrupt the idea that societal punishment is direct, unobstructed, objective and absolute. But, this is something that for some reason is mutually acceptable when it defies the logic of the system. It is a myriadic type of minor othering based upon the situation and the capabilities of the individuals involved which either works to favor or detriment those same individuals, depending on which side of the coin they are on.
Actual othering is far more insidious and dangerous. As human beings, we are possessed of Free Will, which is what allows us to be individuals. However, whatever society we live in curtails and edits the execution of this Free Will by societal expectations and societal concepts.
There are people who are othered every single day from the top to the bottom of the social contract simply because they exercise Free Will to be different in a manner that does not mesh with the status quo of the specific set that is judging them for being themselves.
Judged for ideas, appearance, mindsets, expression, creativeness, and behavior. For being different and standing out, judged for exercising Free Will in a manner that deviates from the norm, even when this behavior is self-encapsulated and harms no one else in any manner. Instead of being appreciated for exercising individuality, they are cast into group labels such as Odd, Eccentric, Strange, Weird and Off because they refuse to subscribe to the "Normal" concept that the set in which they interact with deems appropriate. Placed aside not due to doing wrong, but simply due to the fact that soneone else disagrees without trying to understand and possibly accept.
The Social Contract was never designed to control people, it was designed to mediate interactions so that a group of individuals could agree to live peaceably and co-exist together in union. That is all a society is a group of different people living under a commonly understood environment in peace and strength.
It is up to each person to govern themselves in a civil manner with responsibility and courtesy towards those around them. It is the individuals responsibility to analyze their words and actions in the idea of considering those people around them before they act and speak. It is the individuals responsibility to know right from wrong for appropriate human interactions. It is the individual's responsibility to exercise Free Will in an appropriate manner. It is not the contract or those around the individual who are responsible for that person's actions.
Because we are given choice, we are to exercise good judgement in using it and are wholely responsible for the consequences, good or bad, that result from those choices. We are supposed to govern ourselves on an individual, personal basis; not expect an entity or a group of people to do it for us. Society is a tool, the contract is a tool, we are the engineers with it in our hands and it is only as effective as we choose it to be.
