Bullies & Evil

Last night, I had a dream.  I dreamed that I had met somebody who had read some part of this bilious Blog.

I was pleasantly surprised.  One out of 7 billion souls of this planet reads your Blog and you think you're famous.  I asked them what they thought about the issues discussed here.

They said I had raised some important issues, but they felt I had done so in an improper manner.

I asked for clarification.

They continued by saying that I was acting like a bully, had stooped to insults, name calling, and personal attacks on many good people, hurting them and their good name.  They accused me of inflaming the situation, rather than helping to improve it.

Bullying?  Wikipedia defines "bullying" as the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others.  Intimidation is intentional behavior that would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities to feel fear of injury or harm.  Coercion is attempting to getting somebody to set aside their free-will choices in favor of the will of others.  Coercion is mutually exclusive of "free choice".

Is it not the Small Flockers and the public who are being bullied by the Chicken Mafia?  It is truly the ultimate hypocrisy and psychological projection to push the crimes of the Chicken Mafia onto their victims.

I asked if this self-confessed Blog reader happened to be one of those "good people" who was the focus of this Blog's attention (ie. one of the Chicken Mafia).

"No.", was their response, then they continued, "...but that doesn't matter.  When you attack somebody, you might as well attack everybody.  Everybody is hurt by verbal attacks, even innocent bystanders."

That gave me pause.  I've been thinking about these dream-sourced comments all morning.  Is my dream part of reality?  Does my dream show a guilty subconscious?  Or is my dream God-sent insight, calling me to reconsider my Blog and my prior actions against the Chicken Mafia?

I can understand that some people might worry that the gun-sights of this Blog might swing their way after the Chicken Mafia has been fully dealt with.  Perhaps these worriers have been involved in similar evils to the Chicken Mafia.  Perhaps they are fine upstanding citizens who just worry.

I admit that the tone of this Blog has been very pointed, and has been extremely critical of the quota-bearing chicken factory producers, major chicken processors, chicken feed suppliers, both the Federal and Provincial Governments, and the Supply Management ("SM") system in general.

Is it improper for me to criticize others for their actions?

Wikipedia provides the following guidance:

The most basic "rule-of-thumb" of criticism which psychologists usually recommend is:

"Respect the individual, focus the criticism on the behaviour that needs changing - on what people actually do or actually say."

I agree with this basic rule, as stated above.  I am aware that many or most people, including me, might have fallen into the SM trap, had our roles in life been reversed. I assume that most people who are in the Supply Management system work hard, and generally perform their role in the system as that system has defined it.  To me, it appears that it is the Supply Management system itself, not the people who work the system, which is the root cause of the problem.  It is the Supply Management System which is mis-guided and poorly defined, and this causes the unacceptable consequences of which this Blog complains.

As bad as the Supply Management rules are, I have discovered that there are other people who knowingly cheat on those SM rules, going to even greater evil than what Supply Management permits.  What should we say about those people and their greater evils?

If anybody in the Supply Management system wants to reform their actions (and/or their inactions) so that it resolves some or all of the grievances complained about here, I will quickly recognize the change, and state my appreciation for their reformed behaviour.  I will then move on the the outstanding issues that have not yet been fixed; letting bygones be bygones.

Criticisms of things that cannot be changed (eg. a person's height) is pointless and unacceptable.  Attempting to impose the preferences of one person onto the rights, free choice, and preferences of others is not acceptable.

Both this Blog, and Supply Management should respect the equality of rights by everybody.

If you feel I have failed these principles at any point in this Blog, please be kind enough to point out my error, and I will promptly correct it.

Failing that, this Blog's criticisms and assertiveness for the rights of Small Flockers and the public in general stand as stated herein.  If the edgy tone in this Blog causes angst, frustration, or discomfort by those who have unacceptable behaviours in the Supply Management system, those persons are free to relieve their negative emotions by changing their behaviours for the better.

Epictetus (Greek philosopher, AD 55 - 135) believed:

"Suffering occurs from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.  As part of the universal city that is the universe, it is our duty to care for all our fellow men. Those who follow these precepts will achieve happiness and peace of mind."

and

"Where is the good?
      In the will.
Where is the evil?
      In the will.
Where is neither of them?
      In those things that are independent of the will."                Discourses of Epictetus,

If the Chicken Mafia don't want to change their evil ways, they might want to seek psychological counseling to deal with their increasingly chronic negative feelings created by this Blog.