The Politician and The Bully
The term "Politics" has many definitions and does not necessarily apply to the electoral process alone.
One definition according to the thefreedictionary.
com website is "any activity concerned with the acquisition of power, gaining one's own ends, etc.
".
This same website has a definition for bully (as a verb) as "to treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner".
It could be argued that The Politician and The Bully, if not synonymous, have a lot of common ground.
There may even be a correlation between them in terms of cause and affect.
Taking politics out of the Republican vs Democrat arena and instead applying it to a school or office setting, 'bullies' exist everywhere and the "politics" seem to determine how the scenarios play out.
There are multiple studies and statistics which provide the number of children who are bullied every year.
(This author will not quote statistics due to a firm belief in a modified version of Newton's Laws of Motion that for every statistic there is an equal and opposite statistic.
) Unfortunately, the victims often suffer permanent self esteem and other issues, are taken out of school, or in the worst case scenario resort to violence.
Here the politics or popularity and acceptance are strong forces and often the bullied children are from families who are not as well off as the bullies' families.
The bullies learn that this behavior seems to be acceptable (since they are rarely punished), and it may become a large part of their identity.
With parental (or any form of) guidance, these behaviors could be modified to a more constructive and less violent behavior.
The time for action should be at the school age.
Common sense should dictate that the parents of the bullies step up to the plate and acknowledge the problem.
The victims are the only ones talking and it seems the bullies have little accountability.
School as well as local politics come into play as well.
If the bully comes from a 'respectable' family, it is often shrugged off as being exaggerated or 'typical behavior'.
Parents may be in denial, refusing to believe that their child could do such a thing.
Perhaps they are too wrapped up in the politics of their lives or jobs and waiting until their child becomes an adult.
Maybe the bully is being bullied at home.
Schools are often hesitant to get involved for fear of backlash, lawsuits, or having to take some responsibility for potential consequences.
Once the bullied and the bully venture into the world of adulthood, what have they learned? The lessons in school politics make a more lasting impression than anything they absorb in classroom or Internet learning.
It is a sad state of affairs when there are few outlets for positive rewards for 'good behavior'.
The news, general TV programming, and elected politicians are not exactly positive entities these days.
The news carries stories far too often of school shootings usually resulting from a child who had been bullied or felt 'different'.
General TV programming contains show after show about people in various 'reality' scenarios whose sole purpose is to backstab and intimidate everyone else on the program.
(Ironically, the new movie which addresses the topic of bullying and is called a "must see" for teenagers has an R-rating.
If teenagers have cable TV, they have heard it before.
) Elected politicians and those running for office spend more time bullying their opponents than constructive ideas on how to fix today's problems.
While most adults would probably admit to being victim to a bully at some point in their lives, most do not resort to the level of violence that seems so prevalent nowadays.
The politics of bullying has not changed and that is the most unfortunate part.
Politics is perception and no one wants to be seen as weak.
Bullies feel the need to make their victims feel weak.
The weaker candidates will eventually show humitlity (one can only pray) and the successful politician will change his/her focus onto another subject or maybe, hopefully, choose a more constructive approach to the important issues of the day.
Bullies may continue in varying degrees their destructive behaviors and grow up to be Politicians.
Chronic victims of bullying may snap under the strain or they may grow up to be Politicians and stop this cycle.
This outcome could be more likely if parents or other adults would be strong enough to stand up, deal with the fact that their child is a bully, and stop worrying so much about appearances.
What ever happened to the Golden Rule and just doing the right thing? There are no simple solutions to politics or the issue of bullying.
If the adults (this author included) were better role models and focussed more on "how can I help you" instead of "what's in it for me", politics wherever they may apply would be a much more productive and perhaps no one would feel the need to make another feel inferior for nothing more than personal gain.
One can only dream!
One definition according to the thefreedictionary.
com website is "any activity concerned with the acquisition of power, gaining one's own ends, etc.
".
This same website has a definition for bully (as a verb) as "to treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner".
It could be argued that The Politician and The Bully, if not synonymous, have a lot of common ground.
There may even be a correlation between them in terms of cause and affect.
Taking politics out of the Republican vs Democrat arena and instead applying it to a school or office setting, 'bullies' exist everywhere and the "politics" seem to determine how the scenarios play out.
There are multiple studies and statistics which provide the number of children who are bullied every year.
(This author will not quote statistics due to a firm belief in a modified version of Newton's Laws of Motion that for every statistic there is an equal and opposite statistic.
) Unfortunately, the victims often suffer permanent self esteem and other issues, are taken out of school, or in the worst case scenario resort to violence.
Here the politics or popularity and acceptance are strong forces and often the bullied children are from families who are not as well off as the bullies' families.
The bullies learn that this behavior seems to be acceptable (since they are rarely punished), and it may become a large part of their identity.
With parental (or any form of) guidance, these behaviors could be modified to a more constructive and less violent behavior.
The time for action should be at the school age.
Common sense should dictate that the parents of the bullies step up to the plate and acknowledge the problem.
The victims are the only ones talking and it seems the bullies have little accountability.
School as well as local politics come into play as well.
If the bully comes from a 'respectable' family, it is often shrugged off as being exaggerated or 'typical behavior'.
Parents may be in denial, refusing to believe that their child could do such a thing.
Perhaps they are too wrapped up in the politics of their lives or jobs and waiting until their child becomes an adult.
Maybe the bully is being bullied at home.
Schools are often hesitant to get involved for fear of backlash, lawsuits, or having to take some responsibility for potential consequences.
Once the bullied and the bully venture into the world of adulthood, what have they learned? The lessons in school politics make a more lasting impression than anything they absorb in classroom or Internet learning.
It is a sad state of affairs when there are few outlets for positive rewards for 'good behavior'.
The news, general TV programming, and elected politicians are not exactly positive entities these days.
The news carries stories far too often of school shootings usually resulting from a child who had been bullied or felt 'different'.
General TV programming contains show after show about people in various 'reality' scenarios whose sole purpose is to backstab and intimidate everyone else on the program.
(Ironically, the new movie which addresses the topic of bullying and is called a "must see" for teenagers has an R-rating.
If teenagers have cable TV, they have heard it before.
) Elected politicians and those running for office spend more time bullying their opponents than constructive ideas on how to fix today's problems.
While most adults would probably admit to being victim to a bully at some point in their lives, most do not resort to the level of violence that seems so prevalent nowadays.
The politics of bullying has not changed and that is the most unfortunate part.
Politics is perception and no one wants to be seen as weak.
Bullies feel the need to make their victims feel weak.
The weaker candidates will eventually show humitlity (one can only pray) and the successful politician will change his/her focus onto another subject or maybe, hopefully, choose a more constructive approach to the important issues of the day.
Bullies may continue in varying degrees their destructive behaviors and grow up to be Politicians.
Chronic victims of bullying may snap under the strain or they may grow up to be Politicians and stop this cycle.
This outcome could be more likely if parents or other adults would be strong enough to stand up, deal with the fact that their child is a bully, and stop worrying so much about appearances.
What ever happened to the Golden Rule and just doing the right thing? There are no simple solutions to politics or the issue of bullying.
If the adults (this author included) were better role models and focussed more on "how can I help you" instead of "what's in it for me", politics wherever they may apply would be a much more productive and perhaps no one would feel the need to make another feel inferior for nothing more than personal gain.
One can only dream!
Source...