Morality of "The Man"

     In continuing with our theme of "The Man" this week, I want to look at "The Man" and his status as an evil figure in one's life.  Let us first look at some common (and popular) manifestations of "The Man:"

 - The government is definitely one of them today.  As an entity that has so much influence over the lives of so many individuals, it is bound to viewed in an unfavorable light by at least a few.  Often this "Man" gets people down by taxing the people, outlawing different things or activities, and exerting its power.

 - Corporations get a big hit on being "The Man" as anyone who has attained such wealth and power privately is bound to gain the ire of more than a few individuals, even those with the morality of saints.  Corporations get people down by "stealing" peoples' money, bullying other businesses, and corrupting the government.

 - I feel the police have a special place in being "The Man" even beyond their government position, because they so often are the face of the government to the people.

 - Your boss likely is a version of "The Man" in your own life.

 - Teachers are "The Man" in the lives of kids.

The list could go on and on, because it is inhabited by anyone who might hold a position of authority over someone else.  

     Now look at the practices of these groups that earn them the disfavor of those under them.  As we discussed in my last blog, the source of this comes from the desire of the individual to have control over their own fate.  The instant someone steps in and says, "you can't do that," suddenly that action becomes a whole lot more important to that individual.  I wonder how important marijuana might be had it never been controlled.  I wonder how big a part of life drinking might be to teens were there no legal limit to the drinking age.  People so often flock to those things that they cannot do they forget the long list of comforts they are afforded by the absence of those few.  "The Man" is the one who says, "no."

     Now, there are a variety of reasons this particular individual in power chooses to exercise power over another.  Maybe they are really evil tyrants out to ruin the days of all they hold authority over.  Maybe they do have some selfish motivation to hold another down for their own advancement.  But maybe they also have a good set of reasons for their actions.  Maybe they even have that denied individual's best interests in mind.  

      I don't want to say that all those in power are benevolent.  But I do want to point out that they, like you, are fallible humans.  They are not villains like those in cartoons out to ruin the day of another for no other reason than the please of it.  "The Man" might be a man or a woman who has a lot of legitimate concerns regarding the position they hold and the responsibilities they bear.  Do you ever stop to consider your own place as "The Man" in the life of another?

     The purpose of this blog was to get you thinking about who those individuals are in our lives that we do not give a fair amount of humanity to.  We all like to place an arch-nemesis in our lives to give purpose to our actions and to add motivation to our roles, but this isn't fair to do.  We could be missing out on a tremendous amount of growth.  We could be missing out on great opportunities.  We might even be missing out on a great friendship.