Bluff
January 26th 2008 03:18
A friend, IW, tells this story:
A child drops a banana peel. The teacher on playground duty notices. In order to teach the child a lesson, the teacher orders her to carry the peel for the remainder of lunchtime. The child woefully complies.
Now, given that this is unjust, said IW, what if the child simply went round the corner, threw the peel in a rubbish bin, and then avoided the teacher? How could the punishment be policed? And what could the teacher do on finding out? Would matters really escalate -- would refusal to carry a peel turn into lines on a blackboard or a meeting with parents or an expulsion?
How real is the teacher's power?
Years ago, a paramedic told our first aid class: if they refuse help, legally you can't help them.
But do people really know what's good for them? he continued. Accident evokes all sorts of psychological response, from hysteria to plain contrariness.
So here's what we do. We ask them once; we ask them again -- firmly; and we ask them a third time louder still.
If they clearly say no three times, then we let them be.
Of course, police officers will often use similar bluff, will simply demand what they have no warrant or reasonable cause for.
Not to mention the bluff of bouncers and security guards...
I think it's often the case that when people first collide with authority, and then many times afterwards, their only fault is ignorance. They cross some line the authority has drawn, and they cross without realizing. -- The authority slaps them back.
From a child's-eye view, the world is populated by various authority figures, each a petty monarch; and the power of each is limited only by others.
There is no requirement that the rules make sense. The rationale isn't given to you.
And you're certain neither of what the rules are, nor how far, to what subject matter, to what punishment, the power reaches -- what they can do to you if you refuse or transgress.
Probably there is punishment for simply questioning legitimacy, or asking after the rationale.
Almost certainly there is no scope for debating.
Gods grow angry for all sorts of unfathomable reasons. One doesn't tell them they shouldn't be angry. One simply tries to appease them or to avoid their wrath.
"Discipline" in schooling seems often to amount to conditioned subservience, the habit of instant compliance. Stunting personality. Stamping out tendencies to think for yourself, to question, to adopt different perspectives.
Transit officers have patrolled NSW trains probably for about a decade now. I think I'd rather have transit cops than not have them, but let's not close our eyes to negatives. The experience might be different if you've grown up with them, but for some people they create an oppressed mind -- a worry, a dread -- that previously wasn't there.
The uniform alone is confounding, an open threat -- paramilitary, humourless, unthinking, inflexible -- suggesting preparedness to use force, and social sanction of that force.
An authority presents itself. Even if you're "innocent", there is anxiety over collision through accident (if your ticket is misplaced, for instance, or if there's a misunderstanding), and there is the chance of collision through ignorance.
And there is always the possibility of abuse of power.
Notes
-- Friday 1 February 2008: "Don’t we all feel a bit guilty, though, when we pass through security or customs, just because we feel watched?" -- from an article by Oliver Burkeman on airport security.
A child drops a banana peel. The teacher on playground duty notices. In order to teach the child a lesson, the teacher orders her to carry the peel for the remainder of lunchtime. The child woefully complies.
Now, given that this is unjust, said IW, what if the child simply went round the corner, threw the peel in a rubbish bin, and then avoided the teacher? How could the punishment be policed? And what could the teacher do on finding out? Would matters really escalate -- would refusal to carry a peel turn into lines on a blackboard or a meeting with parents or an expulsion?
How real is the teacher's power?
***
Years ago, a paramedic told our first aid class: if they refuse help, legally you can't help them.
But do people really know what's good for them? he continued. Accident evokes all sorts of psychological response, from hysteria to plain contrariness.
So here's what we do. We ask them once; we ask them again -- firmly; and we ask them a third time louder still.
If they clearly say no three times, then we let them be.
***
Of course, police officers will often use similar bluff, will simply demand what they have no warrant or reasonable cause for.
Not to mention the bluff of bouncers and security guards...
***
I think it's often the case that when people first collide with authority, and then many times afterwards, their only fault is ignorance. They cross some line the authority has drawn, and they cross without realizing. -- The authority slaps them back.
From a child's-eye view, the world is populated by various authority figures, each a petty monarch; and the power of each is limited only by others.
There is no requirement that the rules make sense. The rationale isn't given to you.
And you're certain neither of what the rules are, nor how far, to what subject matter, to what punishment, the power reaches -- what they can do to you if you refuse or transgress.
***
Probably there is punishment for simply questioning legitimacy, or asking after the rationale.
Almost certainly there is no scope for debating.
***
Gods grow angry for all sorts of unfathomable reasons. One doesn't tell them they shouldn't be angry. One simply tries to appease them or to avoid their wrath.
***
"Discipline" in schooling seems often to amount to conditioned subservience, the habit of instant compliance. Stunting personality. Stamping out tendencies to think for yourself, to question, to adopt different perspectives.
***
Transit officers have patrolled NSW trains probably for about a decade now. I think I'd rather have transit cops than not have them, but let's not close our eyes to negatives. The experience might be different if you've grown up with them, but for some people they create an oppressed mind -- a worry, a dread -- that previously wasn't there.
The uniform alone is confounding, an open threat -- paramilitary, humourless, unthinking, inflexible -- suggesting preparedness to use force, and social sanction of that force.
An authority presents itself. Even if you're "innocent", there is anxiety over collision through accident (if your ticket is misplaced, for instance, or if there's a misunderstanding), and there is the chance of collision through ignorance.
And there is always the possibility of abuse of power.
***
Notes
-- Friday 1 February 2008: "Don’t we all feel a bit guilty, though, when we pass through security or customs, just because we feel watched?" -- from an article by Oliver Burkeman on airport security.
| 111 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
It only matters when the bluff is called.
That is when you need the big stick.