Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

Power and morality, gas and steering

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Christopher S Penn
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I was talking last night with a good friend about something that popped up in Google Earth. There’s a layer that automatically got added – the crisis in Darfur, all the flashpoints in the conflict, and the topic drifted to – how do you make a difference? Ultimately, how do you effect real, lasting change? Will donating? Writing your Congressman?

Ultimately, the ability to effect change is power. Without power, you cannot effect change, you cannot make a difference. If you have a little bit of power, you can make a little bit of change. If you have a lot, then you can singlehandedly change entire countries or continents. Consider at his apex just how powerful Alan Greenspan was – a single sentence could rocket or sink the economy for days, and create or destroy billions of dollars in wealth.

That tangent led us to the discussion of power vs. morality. They’re not the same thing, and in the drive in this morning, it finally occurred to me what they were. Morality is the direction you go – the way you steer. Morality is the gas and the engine that takes you there. No power means that you can steer as straight and true as you like, but you won’t get anywhere. No morality means that you can head off the road really, really fast.

You need both. Ideally, morality and moral guidance for most people is more or less in place; the trick then is to stay on target, stay on the road while you learn how to build power. That’s the harder part of the equation. We live in a society that actively encourages the bulk of citizens to NOT become more powerful, to forfeit their power to government, business, leaders, demagogues, zealots, religion, and so forth. You hear the pleas for the surrender of your power every day:

– Buy this product and you’ll be happy.
– Elect me to office and I’ll fix your problems.
– Worship this deity and you’ll go to heaven.
– Trust me with this decision and I’ll reward you.

The powers that be don’t want to steer you off the road. They want you to stop driving entirely.

How do you resist giving up what power and steering you have?

Comments

6 responses to “Power and morality, gas and steering”

  1. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    Most of us have power we never acknowledge, because we’re too busy being scared.

    Morality is the keel of the boat, the centering force.

    People are easily blown off course, often because they forget the most powerful word in the english language. No.
    We are easily led through gradual, incremental steps towards good and bad things. You have to be willing to keep a big picture focus as well, knowing the general direction you’re following. You have to decide whether the “turnpike” or “sidestreet” approach is better, knowing that sidestreet will lead you off course, but may be safer than the turnpike. The turnpike is faster and more dangerous, but has less offramps as well. A good and bad thing.
    Ultimately, the values or morals one has is the foundation for everything else, and as soon as you begin to compromise that foundation, the whole building will start to crumble. You have to have that interior fortitude first. Nothing else matters as much.

    Reply
  2. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    Most of us have power we never acknowledge, because we’re too busy being scared.

    Morality is the keel of the boat, the centering force.

    People are easily blown off course, often because they forget the most powerful word in the english language. No.
    We are easily led through gradual, incremental steps towards good and bad things. You have to be willing to keep a big picture focus as well, knowing the general direction you’re following. You have to decide whether the “turnpike” or “sidestreet” approach is better, knowing that sidestreet will lead you off course, but may be safer than the turnpike. The turnpike is faster and more dangerous, but has less offramps as well. A good and bad thing.
    Ultimately, the values or morals one has is the foundation for everything else, and as soon as you begin to compromise that foundation, the whole building will start to crumble. You have to have that interior fortitude first. Nothing else matters as much.

    Reply
  3. Rob Suarez Avatar
    Rob Suarez

    As always, Chris… great insights into topics that most of us seldom take the time to consider. Now, doesn’t that go to the root of your question? If most people would answer your question truthfully, we would have to admit that we relenquish a lot of power for the sake of confort, expediency, … unfortunately we live in an overwhelmingly “lazy” society.

    – Buy this product and you’ll be happy.
    ==>Instead of doiong the legwork and researching A vs. B… most people let themselves be swayed by the best ad campaign.

    – Elect me to office and I’ll fix your problems.
    ==>(besides the fact that most people forget that the USA is a Republic and *not* a Democracy – we elect people to make the decisions for us)most people choose their leaders much in the same way they choose their cereals.

    – Worship this deity and you’ll go to heaven.
    ==>Once again, “the cereal of the day”.

    – Trust me with this decision and I’ll reward you.
    ==> Oooh look a toy for me in the cereal box!

    The powers that be don’t want to steer you off the road. They want you to stop driving entirely.
    ==> This is a bit of a sweeping genralization (sweeping are the best kind, though)but it does call into mind the base of human nature – there are followers and there are leaders. The leaders want to keep leading, and the followers want to complain about not being led in the best way.

    How do you resist giving up what power and steering you have?
    ==> The best way to resist is to take control of the steering wheel. We, as a society, need to take ownership of decisions that come before us. We need to become informed. We need to stop being lazy.

    The leaders of my faith encourage me to get up off of my butt… to ask “Why?”… to explore and question with all of my reason. In this way, I find the best balance between my morality and the power that I have to drive throughout each and every day.

    Reply
  4. Rob Suarez Avatar
    Rob Suarez

    As always, Chris… great insights into topics that most of us seldom take the time to consider. Now, doesn’t that go to the root of your question? If most people would answer your question truthfully, we would have to admit that we relenquish a lot of power for the sake of confort, expediency, … unfortunately we live in an overwhelmingly “lazy” society.

    – Buy this product and you’ll be happy.
    ==>Instead of doiong the legwork and researching A vs. B… most people let themselves be swayed by the best ad campaign.

    – Elect me to office and I’ll fix your problems.
    ==>(besides the fact that most people forget that the USA is a Republic and *not* a Democracy – we elect people to make the decisions for us)most people choose their leaders much in the same way they choose their cereals.

    – Worship this deity and you’ll go to heaven.
    ==>Once again, “the cereal of the day”.

    – Trust me with this decision and I’ll reward you.
    ==> Oooh look a toy for me in the cereal box!

    The powers that be don’t want to steer you off the road. They want you to stop driving entirely.
    ==> This is a bit of a sweeping genralization (sweeping are the best kind, though)but it does call into mind the base of human nature – there are followers and there are leaders. The leaders want to keep leading, and the followers want to complain about not being led in the best way.

    How do you resist giving up what power and steering you have?
    ==> The best way to resist is to take control of the steering wheel. We, as a society, need to take ownership of decisions that come before us. We need to become informed. We need to stop being lazy.

    The leaders of my faith encourage me to get up off of my butt… to ask “Why?”… to explore and question with all of my reason. In this way, I find the best balance between my morality and the power that I have to drive throughout each and every day.

    Reply
  5. Bryce Moore, A Bite of Sanity Avatar
    Bryce Moore, A Bite of Sanity

    Fascinating idea, but allow me to add a tweak or two to it…

    Money (and/or the control of it) is probably the largest, but certainly not the only, creator of power. You said it yourself with the Greenspan reference. Because a single comment from him could send the markets sharply in either direction, you could make a convincing argument that Greenspan for several years was more powerful than all the Presidents he served under.

    Without money, or access to it or control of it, most of us will never really have the power you speak of, and therefore, to continue your analogy, we’ll never have that proverbial car to steer.

    If you have your morality, your steer/direction, then don’t stand around waiting for a car to drive. Get out and start walking to your destination! You won’t get there as fast as the people zipping along, but you’ll get there eventually if you keep your eyes out for people who can’t keep their car straight. If you’re lucky, someone with a fast car and good steering will stop and offer you a ride.

    Reply
  6. Bryce Moore, A Bite of Sanity Avatar
    Bryce Moore, A Bite of Sanity

    Fascinating idea, but allow me to add a tweak or two to it…

    Money (and/or the control of it) is probably the largest, but certainly not the only, creator of power. You said it yourself with the Greenspan reference. Because a single comment from him could send the markets sharply in either direction, you could make a convincing argument that Greenspan for several years was more powerful than all the Presidents he served under.

    Without money, or access to it or control of it, most of us will never really have the power you speak of, and therefore, to continue your analogy, we’ll never have that proverbial car to steer.

    If you have your morality, your steer/direction, then don’t stand around waiting for a car to drive. Get out and start walking to your destination! You won’t get there as fast as the people zipping along, but you’ll get there eventually if you keep your eyes out for people who can’t keep their car straight. If you’re lucky, someone with a fast car and good steering will stop and offer you a ride.

    Reply

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