the terrible dance of power

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
05/08/2008 15:06

The terrible dance of power

For a while now I have believed that people get trapped in systems. It is the system that perpetuates certain types of behaviour. Once the system starts it’s beat then people unwittingly dance to it’s rhythm.



There are a number of writers on systems thinking but one writer recently caught my eye. His name is Barry Oshry, an American.

Oshry set up ‘Power Labs’ to observe how the system perpetuates certain predictable behaviours (similar to the Stanford prison experiments). Oshry has studied conflicts around the world and found their is a distinct repeatable pattern. He calls this pattern ‘the terrible dance of power’.



I will give you a shortened synopsis so that you can relate it to the Cyprus issue (how Denktash gets involved, how GC’s killed GC’s and how Greece comes in as the privileged high power and the dance changes with the enetering of Turkey) or any other issue. Oshry believes that people should recognise when they are being played by the system, and should learn to jump out of it.



‘The terrible dance of power’



In the dance of power there will be a high power and low power group. The high power group has some noble mission for the system: manifest destiny, the true religion, the master race, enosis etc.



Contained within the high power is all of their “we” (their togetherness) the rich emotional history of that culture. The high power people see themselves as special, noble, righteous, favoured by god or by history.



The high power ‘we’ group see’s the others as ‘them’. The ‘we’ group can see the ‘them’ group as being less significant, dirty (invoking feelings of disgust) or even evil. Seeing the ‘them’ this way means that they can do things to the ‘them’ that they would never do to the ‘we’.



The high power people establish laws or customs to make things better for the ‘we’ and worse for the ‘them’. They may stop the lower power people from speaking their language, confiscate their property, enslave them, exile them or even look to exterminate them.



The high power people can do all this because the lower power people are less significant, dirty, dangerous etc

The low level people respond gently, fearfully, rationally, even apologetically. They don’t want to make the high power people angry. They cast ballots, elect representatives, debate, and demonstrate.



To the high power people the response of the low power people is out of line, a complaint, a threat, an insult to the dignity of the ‘we’. (‘who are they to complain?’)



The response of the high power people is harsh requests are ignored, promises are made and then broken, they delay, they ban demonstrations, they pass new laws, they intensify the oppression.



Enter the radicals



A new force develops amongst the Low power people – a radical force. The radicals call for more drastic action – not accommodation, but fundamental change, overthrow the power system, withdraw from the structure, or separate from the nation.



The radicals become a ‘we’ and tap into all of their rich emotional history. They proclaim that all who are not ‘we’ are ‘them’.

The high power people are the ‘them’ and so are the moderates. And you can do to the ‘them’ that which you wouldn’t do to the ‘we . You can hurt ‘them’, bomb ‘’them’, main ‘them ‘



The radicals can do all of this without shame because they see the high power people as ‘them’ and the moderates as ‘them’ as lesser. Insignificant, dirty, evil and dangerous.



Enter the accommodators and extremists



In the high power group there are liberals who want to accommodate the low power people – redress their grievances, right their wrongs.



But in response to the radicals actions a new force emerges amongst the high power people – an extremist force. Angered by the radicals and feeling threatened by ‘them’ the extremists stand against any accommodatio

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
05/08/2008 15:07

Between fanaticism and barbarism there is only one step – Diderot



Imagine asking people who they are and the only thing they can come up with is ‘I’m a Croat’ or ‘I’m a Serb’ or whatever. Imagine these people were born that way and they haven’t made any progress since’ – Bosnian woman



Are you sure it was god who gave you permission to kill women and children





There is no ‘we’, there is no ‘them’, there is only ‘you’ and ‘me’ and all of ‘us’ and then the new dance begins







John Watters is running a systems workshop on the work of Barry Oshry in September in London. You will be thrown in to a real situation to experience how the system can dance you to its merry tune. The theme is about organizations not countries but it should be interesting. John is working with Wendy Palmer An American black belt six dan who will be helping people to find a sense of peace and calm in the system, so you can step out of the system.

Come and join me.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
05/08/2008 15:08

Some questions



Is there no longer a ‘them’ and ‘us’ between TC’s and GC’s?



Is there a potential ‘them’ and ‘us’ between the GC’s and Turkish settlers?

How many settles will be able to vote for the proposed solution? Are there more potential voters than TC’s? Presumably the settlers will note vote for anything that will exclude them i.e returning to Turkey?



Will English be the main language (for the first number of years) as the only way for GC’s and TC’s to communicate, to stop a ‘them’ and ‘us’? (humans can build identities around language. We learn a language to be able to move in to the other group otherwise we are often excluded from that group)



Will there be problems in language between settlers and GC’s potentially accentuating a ‘them’ and ‘us’

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
05/08/2008 21:18

"...John is working with Wendy Palmer An American black belt six dan..."



Who presumably will change the dance to kick the s*** out of people not paying attention at the back.



Yeah, that's good stuff, ILC. I always did well at the sociology and psychology at uni because it was something interesting and relevant. You can put many BB members into their respective pigeonholes using the Oshry pattern, pick out the potential killers and their supporters, the peaceniks etc.



Despite the fact that so many people on both sides need someone clearly identifiable to hate in Cyprus/N London (in order to fill a gap in their own self-identity insecurities), I'd say the level of real social mixing between settlers and GCs will be so marginal in the early years of reunification that language won't be an issue. Or something.

windmill


Joined: 06/07/2008
Posts: 143

Message Posted:
05/08/2008 22:22

Susanne and pike are the same person

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
06/08/2008 02:53

Windmill is me.

Troodo


Joined: 12/06/2008
Posts: 1002

Message Posted:
06/08/2008 09:18

Which are you Eric, a we or a them?

A very interesting thesis, will be interesting to find out more.



Troodo

Happy to live in the safe area.

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
06/08/2008 20:42

Troodo: "Which are you Eric, a we or a them?"



Well, I'm not one of them, ducky.