There are many forms of power that can manipulate and cause people to conform to the will of another. There are powers of Government, police, legal systems and power through abuse, be it mental or physical. The one thing that always seems to puzzle me is how some people knowingly follow a corrupt society, person or group as if they had no mind of their own.
One example was a reverend by the name of Jim Jones, a 47 year old Christian Cult Leader who in 1978 convinced over 914 people to commit mass suicide. Not all of the 914 cult members went to their death freely. There were 638 adults and 276 children. Some of the cult members were shot as they ran from the camp. Other cult members were injected with cyanide; while others were forced to drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide and sedatives. It is sad to know that so many people could be manipulated by ONE man.
Jim Jones was a man who abused prescription drugs and was extremely paranoid. He treated his members as though they were in a concentration camp. He was the typical abuser. He took everything from these people and like most cowards he took his cult members with him to the grave.
Then there is power to instill fear and indecision in human beings by another. This is the power of abuse. There are many victims in our society and many of them are woman, children, and even men. Some are fortunate enough to get counseling to gather the strength to leave the abuser. While others are not so lucky. The unlucky souls almost always end up abused physically to the point of death. Those that suffer emotional abuse and survive on occasion take their own lives due to the extensive nature of the abuse. It is fear that keeps the abused person in an abusive relationship. Even though they want to leave with every part of their being they cant.
To continue, there is also abuse in power within Governments; such as in the case of Saddam Hussein the former President of Iraq. He was tried and convicted for committing crimes against humanity. He committed on of the most horrific crimes against humanity, "genocide." He ordered the murder of over 400,000 people. His victims were shot and placed in 270 mass graves. Many of the victims' bones were wrapped in white bundles. Some of the skulls still had the blind fold over their eyes. Saddam's regime denied allegations by the United States of mass murder for years.
Then on November 20, 2003 British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that the mass graves containing the bodies of 400,000 Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, and Iranians had been discovered. Each group murdered for different reason like ethnicity, religion, and political views. The victims' freedom to live and breath was taken away from them with one order. Many of the victims were entire families of which included men, women and children. The victims were his people. These were people he was supposed to protect. Saddam abused his power over his people. Saddam was convicted and on December 30, 2006 he was executed by hanging.
Then there is Social Abuse. Social abuse is defined as, " The coercion of an individual in a public setting or by a collective group of people toward an individual. The power to a group to embarrass and intimidate." There are so many examples of this type of abuse. There are people even in a workplace that thrive and enjoy humiliating another person or persons. These people consistently demean and publicly put people down. Most of the time it is because these people have a low sense of worth and self esteem and feel that they can redeem themselves at the expense of another human being.
The effects in the work place however are subtle and can be viewed as the norm for all the people involved. Some co-workers may view it as, "That person is new and everyone is treated that way in the beginning." The victim is expected to shrug it off and go about their day as if nothing was wrong. The unknown fact that cannot be immediately detected is that the abuser in this case will yell, spread rumors about the victim and may even blog about them on the internet. The victims' psychological effect is that they will call in more just so they don't have to endure anymore abuse. The victim will use up their vacation days and sick days because they are no longer accepted by their peers. The victims' freedom to have peace of mind in the work place and a sense of belonging has been eradicated, while the abuser feels triumphant.
Finally, people such as these only have the power we give them. There is always a solution. We just have to look harder for it. In the case of Jim Jones, someone in his cult knew there was a problem but either did not act or was not heard. Abused persons by a husband, boyfriend, mother, father or child can get counseling. Families need to speak up and speak out against this type of behavior before the problem escalates. We can campaign more on radio, T.V. and in schools or workplace. "Fear," is an ugly emotion that can inhabit a person from peaking out against abuse, oppression and unjust confinement.
In matters such as these, the word that I prefer to choose is "Courage." Stand tall for yourself, your country, friends and family. Stand tall with courage for what is right and just. Think and research before you give power to one human being over others. We have the power within ourselves to change things. Lets' evoke our own power!
References:
Doble DeGaris, Richard, Types and Categories of Abusive Behavior, 2006 (social) http://www.abusivelove.com/abuse_type_1_20.html.>
Morrill, Dan, "Abuse in the Work Place" Abusive Love.com, (social) 2006 April
Robins, B.A. "Destructive cults The people's Temple, Led by James Warren (Jime) Jones"
Religious Tolerance, 9th April 2007
"Trial of Saddam Hussein" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, pl. 3rd October 2007
Originally written 9th October, 2007
By Donna C. Ledesma
Copyright (C) 2010
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