Social Power

Humans live, and must live, in a world with others.

That’s no surprise to any of us. We’re social creatures and need each other to survive.

We can use our bonds to help each other with basic needs and nurture each other’s growth, freedom, and creativity.

Or…

We can use those bonds to… well, tyrannize each other.

That second possibility happens much more often than we’d like to admit.

We all feel the pressures of cultural expectations.

Culture – along with all its norms, values, and hierarchies – provides a structure and context that helps us get our bearings in the world. Culture, in one sense, is like the soil, sun, and water that help the little individual seedlings that we are stabilize and grow.

But culture also influences and shapes us in rather specific ways that we didn’t choose.

And this happens long before we can examine it, consent to it, or decide where we might want to draw some boundaries for ourselves.

At some point, it might dawn on you . . .

… that the weight of culture, the pressure of popular opinion, and the influence of those in power might not always be in your best interest. It’s not all support and nourishment. There’s some poison thrown in there, too.

You might find that the agents of social power operate to keep everything standard, predictable, uniform, and controlled – without much care for your differences or your unique needs, vulnerabilities, aspirations, or joys.

In fact, the agents of social power might ignore that you are a human being altogether, treating you like a “thing” or a “resource” to be used and used up to serve the “machine” of profit, dominance, or empire.

In doing so, it’s like they stifle or kill off parts of you that are trying to sprout before they even have a chance.

Being at odds with social power structures …

… can range in experience from light annoyance to dark struggle.

You might be trying to find your way, develop your sense of self, and express your individuality amid many social pressures and hierarchies that feel like obstacles.

Or you might be struggling to find a way to assert your freedom when you find yourself subject to abuses of power.

Or perhaps you are literally trying to save yourself in toxic and authoritarian situations where you are subject to dehumanization daily, and you need a way to fight back or get out.

Under extreme forms of insidious social power like exploitation, injustice, and oppression, you might be alone, scared, and barely surviving.

Dehumanization can tear you apart.

It can tear you apart from yourself, from your sense of self-worth, from your thoughts, your feelings, your choices, your body, your work, your creativity, and your friendships….

All these parts of your life start to feel like they are no longer your own.

Your activities become restricted and deformed. You feel small… stunted.

You may become physically, mentally, and spiritually ill.

How can you make a change when you feel so degraded?

How can you resist?

It’s not all in your head.

First, I want you to know that when you feel really powerless, it’s unlikely that it’s “all in your head.”

There’s something amiss on a social-political level.

It takes time and analysis to see the abuse, exploitation, objectification, and even bullying that’s baked into a culture. It then takes effort to resist mainstream gaslighting about all those things and find ways to keep oppressive forces from imprisoning you.

The pain and powerlessness you feel in life are not always MERELY personal. They are often an expression of systemic injustices that need reform. They are signs of deep problems with social power.

The suggestion that you should turn inward to figure out what’s wrong with YOU for not better enduring systemic abuses of power – for not being able to adapt, conform, and submit better – is frankly perverse.

Been there… tried that. We won’t be making that mistake. We’re not going to do the work of the oppressors for them.

Let’s analyze power dynamics and find your voice.

In philosophical counseling, we can work together to…

… better understand the dynamics of social power in your situation.

… question what forms of power are legitimate versus unjust.

… consider forms of resistance in your thinking, speech, and action.

… find the windows of freedom still open to you.

We can also discuss how you can form alliances and do what it takes to empower yourself.

We’ll explore how you might make meaning out of old injuries, find ways to move forward creatively, and even become an agent of change for the next generation.

You still have choices.

Together, we will find the ones that will help you take your life back.

You don’t have to go it alone.

Contact me for your free consultation call today. Let’s talk about it.