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Might Makes Right

Posted by Tug Brice on 25 Oct. 2020

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There’s a lesson we learn very early on as human beings, and if we are very lucky, we are able to forget it. It’s a lesson that applies to every power structure in existence. We like to pretend that as civilized beings that it doesn’t apply to us, but it very much does. The fact that many of us are able to pretend it doesn’t just goes to show how deep it extends into our society, and how we have internalized it. It’s a lesson I want to talk about here today because the election is fast coming up, and I want to remind those people who can afford to live in comfort that this lesson still applies to us, no matter how much we may want to deny it.

That lesson is that might makes right. 

We first learn this as children, often before we can understand the concepts involved. By the time we hit school, we are already very familiar with it. It is why so many kids struggle with the idea that things are supposed to be fair. Kids know quite well that the world is extremely UN-fair. For most of their lives up to that point they have lived in a very lopsided power structure, with their parents and other adults at the top, and them very firmly at the bottom. 

Suddenly they are introduced to the concept that everything is supposed to be equal, and yet the moment they try that on their parents (which every child inevitably does), they discover that equality most definitely only applies to the things their parents want it to apply to. Since this most often involves giving away things that the kid wants, is it any wonder that children get a jaundiced view of the concept of fairness from the very beginning? To quote Orwell “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

Close behind the idea of fairness is that of justice, another thing children often have a very poor view of. They are punished for things seemingly at the whim of their parents. Even good parents are prone to using the “because I said so” line when they are tired and their nerves are frayed, which even with well-behaved children can be often. Combine that with the advent of school, where children are expected to behave in ways that are just not compatible with their current developmental stages and are punished for that failure, it’s no surprise that children internalize the unfairness of the world and the lesson that might makes right very quickly.

Early grade school is the point where bullying behavior emerges. We like to pretend that bullying is an aberration but it isn’t. It is the natural extension of the lessons we have taught children up to that point. Either they have learned that the world will beat them down no matter what, or that they can get away with beating others down because they are stronger. It is at this point where things get more complicated. 

People tend to revert to the simplest interpretation when they hear the phrase might makes right. That the strong get what they want and the weak are prey. But that isn’t always the case. Society is built upon the idea that if the weak band their strength together, they can overwhelm any one person. The strength of the group is greater than the individual. That’s still might makes right. That’s where the idea of a justice system comes from. By creating a set of laws, a group of people can maintain order by using its shared strength to enforce those laws on individuals that don’t conform. Thus, we can pretend that fairness and justice have meaning by agreeing to only use our shared power for that purpose. And for many of us, this is where we have ended up. We have internalized this to the point where we have forgotten that society functions on a different level of might makes right, but it’s still might makes right.

But there are some people who can never forget it. For you see, there’s a thing called the tyranny of the majority. It’s where a portion of society (a majority) comes to believe a certain way, and uses the fact that they are a majority to enforce those views on the rest of society. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is the “system” part behind systemic racism and sexism, the oppression of LGBTQIA+, and a number of other issues. It’s also how the US has run since before it became a country. It is also what got us into the mess that we are in right now, what got Donald Trump elected, and why this upcoming election is so critical. 

Because the majority didn’t see minorities as humans, this country had to fight to pass laws to give them rights. And even when those laws were passed, in many cases they were not enforced and many attempts have been made to roll them back. And when society refused to give them the justice they wanted, many who still didn’t see minorities as human and equal decided that they would go back to the old school version of might makes right. Unfortunately, many of those individuals are responsible for enforcing society’s laws. Instead of defending the rights of the minority, as society deemed they should, they are actively violating them. 

This year has reminded us very vividly that might makes right. As a so-called “civilized” society, we like to believe that we are above this. We are not. We like to believe that passing laws are enough. It isn’t. That has been proven time and again. We have fought for civil rights for minorities and others many times. Even when we have won, we were ignored because society’s might steadfastly remained behind those who would oppress and harm others. 

There is only one set of inviolate laws, and those are the laws of physics. Everything else is negotiable. Society at large has shown that the only law it respects is might makes right. Therefore it is critical that you vote. Voting is a form of power. If we muster enough might at the polls, then we can show society that we are tired of being ignored. And if they do ignore us, then we have our own might as well.

As the co-founder of a non-profit, I’m not allowed to endorse any candidates, and I’m not. I am not telling you to vote for any particular candidate. What I am telling you to do is vote for sanity. Vote for empathy. Vote for your fellow human being. Vote and tell the society that only listens to might makes right that we are done, and that if they want a fight, then we will fucking give them one. 

If might is the only thing they will listen to, then let’s be mighty together.

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