Bullying
or
My First Memory of Being Physically Superior was when...
November 13, 2012
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
As a frequent jaywalker, we have seen billboards bringing “bullying” to the public discussion. We know Terre Haute is behind the times, so this topic must have been a national issue for some time before it is found here and, in the spirit of Modernism, displayed openly.
According to Wikipedia, “Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others.”
As a philologist, we become suspect of any definition that has more than one “or”, since it tends to conceal and not reveal information.
“Bullying can be defined in many different ways” Wikipedia continues.
As a philosopher, we think “Oh, no, we don’t know what it is...”
“The behavior[of bullying] can... involve an imbalance of social or physical power.”
As a scientist, we know this “imbalance” comes about through the natural inequality of people.
“Bullying can occur in any context in which human beings interact with each other.”
To paraphrase Jesus: if two or three people come together, bullying is possible.
“Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse.”
We now know why Wikipedia is not to be trusted. A peer, by definition, is one’s equal. One can only be abused or intimidated by one’s superiors, or by several inferior people joined together, never by one’s equal.
“The meaning deteriorated through the 17th century through "fine fellow", "blusterer", to "harasser of the weak"”
People who harass the strong are defined by the words “fool” or “foolish”. For example, we will not be walking into a local college bar, chat up the football squad, and offer our learned opinions on the topics of the intelligence of athletes and of the academic standing of their school.
Gentle reader, we will not continue through the rest of the article, however, Wikipedia lists the following examples of bullying-cyber, disability, gay, military, prison, school, sexual, workplace, in academia, in blue collar jobs, in information technology, in medicine, in nursing and in teaching. If one has the stomach for further information on these groups, each item has a dedicated page on Wikipedia.
Only in the Modern Age, do we give the natural order of people a nebulous definition of “bullying”. We prefer Plato’s definition: ”justice is the interest of the stronger to the detriment of the weaker.” By substituting one word we have “bullying is the interest of the stronger to the detriment of the weaker”. This is an appropriate and useful definition that does not require reams of paper to give a multitude of examples.
The liberal idea of equality is meeting resistance through various social strata- to wit--cyber, military, prison, school, workplace, in academia, in blue collar jobs, in information technology, in medicine, in nursing and in teaching. In essence, there is now an ever expanding field information of bullying that was unknown 20 years ago. This “knowledge” about bullying will provide a lifetime of job security for sociologists and one can not forget the army of attorneys that are ready to “lawyer up” for their abused clients.
To paraphrase Saint Paul, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to philosophers.
According to Wikipedia, “Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others.”
As a philologist, we become suspect of any definition that has more than one “or”, since it tends to conceal and not reveal information.
“Bullying can be defined in many different ways” Wikipedia continues.
As a philosopher, we think “Oh, no, we don’t know what it is...”
“The behavior[of bullying] can... involve an imbalance of social or physical power.”
As a scientist, we know this “imbalance” comes about through the natural inequality of people.
“Bullying can occur in any context in which human beings interact with each other.”
To paraphrase Jesus: if two or three people come together, bullying is possible.
“Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse.”
We now know why Wikipedia is not to be trusted. A peer, by definition, is one’s equal. One can only be abused or intimidated by one’s superiors, or by several inferior people joined together, never by one’s equal.
“The meaning deteriorated through the 17th century through "fine fellow", "blusterer", to "harasser of the weak"”
People who harass the strong are defined by the words “fool” or “foolish”. For example, we will not be walking into a local college bar, chat up the football squad, and offer our learned opinions on the topics of the intelligence of athletes and of the academic standing of their school.
Gentle reader, we will not continue through the rest of the article, however, Wikipedia lists the following examples of bullying-cyber, disability, gay, military, prison, school, sexual, workplace, in academia, in blue collar jobs, in information technology, in medicine, in nursing and in teaching. If one has the stomach for further information on these groups, each item has a dedicated page on Wikipedia.
Only in the Modern Age, do we give the natural order of people a nebulous definition of “bullying”. We prefer Plato’s definition: ”justice is the interest of the stronger to the detriment of the weaker.” By substituting one word we have “bullying is the interest of the stronger to the detriment of the weaker”. This is an appropriate and useful definition that does not require reams of paper to give a multitude of examples.
The liberal idea of equality is meeting resistance through various social strata- to wit--cyber, military, prison, school, workplace, in academia, in blue collar jobs, in information technology, in medicine, in nursing and in teaching. In essence, there is now an ever expanding field information of bullying that was unknown 20 years ago. This “knowledge” about bullying will provide a lifetime of job security for sociologists and one can not forget the army of attorneys that are ready to “lawyer up” for their abused clients.
To paraphrase Saint Paul, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to philosophers.