Bullies

The world is run by bullies. Aggressive men and women make it to the top of private and public pyramids with many casualities along the way. This is probably one of the major reasons why poverty and violence are virtually untouched by political and monetary powers around the entire world.

The majority of men and women are conditioned to accede to bullies early in their lives. They are beaten or humiliated into submission as children. Those lessons go deep into the developing psyche. Perhaps this is one reason for the ineffectiveness of educators at stopping this from being perpetuated in the schools they now run. They too have been conditioned to accept bullies as unbeatable, or are the administrators in education bullies themselves?

Dick Cheney is perhaps one of the most outstanding bullies of our age, equaled by the thugs who run Myanmar (Burma) or the thugs who run parts of Somalia. Any man or woman who shamelessly defends torture is a bully, no matter what his or her rationalization may be. And Cheney still wields power. His Blackwater-Halliburton buddies are gearing up to make another fortune in Afghanistan. It seems obvious to me that there will be a succession of these conflicts as long as they are in business with the Pentagon, and as long as there are Cheneys to get them their way.

How does practice relate to dealing with bullies? Bullies draw their power from the fear of their victims. The mindful person can see a bully readily. The mindful person can then refuse to acknowledge the bully's power. Ignore bullies. If confronted by a bully, refuse to engage in any intercourse with that person. If pushed by the bully, walk away. If pursued by the bully, call the police. The police are the people's bullies ideally. They are hired by bullies to bully the bullies.

Bullies fear the truth. They also fear those who do not need or want anything from them. Refusing to acknowledge the bully is a great weapon to defend against him. This can be honed with daily practice of peace, compassion and focus on that which is positive and good.