Empower and Enable My Ass

I’ve held off as long as I can about this subject, but the common sense

behind it is so lacking that the time to spout off has arrived. My take on it will rub some folks the wrong way, but on this we’ll have to just disagree.

For too long now, our society has taken on “catch words.” They serve as nothing more than deflections for what is reality. One, for instance, is “empower.” According to the dictionary, the word means “to promote the self-actualization or influence of.” We hear it all the time. Some organization claims that its agenda “empowers” individuals to do something. Legislation is passed to “empower” some special interest group in its fight for their place in society.

Give me a break. Since when did individuals or groups need empowerment from the government? Over the course of years, they were empowered through the sweat created by their own efforts. The civil rights movement empowered itself by taking its message to the streets where common folks live.

The same is true of women’s suffrage. The stronger sex grew tired of being treated as second class citizens, so they took the fight for voting rights to the courthouses, community centers, and other public places. Then they demanded an equal voice in the choices made by this country, and guess what. Changes occurred and the vote was theirs.

The Vietnam War brought about never before seen waves of dissension. Citizens, as well as many veterans of that war, saw the injustices of it. They so believed in their cause that they organized and marched and protested until the war that the government wouldn’t let the troops win ended.

Now, all sorts of groups clamor for inclusion in society. They want equal footing with other well-established causes, organizations, or mores. However, advocates aren’t about to tackle the tasks on their own. No, they stand around and complain and whine and wait for some entity to “empower” them. They want it free of charge and without having to put any effort or sweat into make dreams reality.

And what is all this about “enabling.” The definition of “enable” is “to provide with the means or opportunity.” Again, those who want something want it for free. Individuals look to someone or something to “enable” them to act. How does that work? If I need money to pay the bills, why in the world would I look to some group to give me the means to earn money? Seems to me that the need to eat and pay bills is enough motivation to find a job. I don’t need anyone to provide me with the means or opportunity to search for employment. I sell myself to a boss, and through my own actions I enable myself to earn the money I need.

The term “enabler” has replaced teacher too many times in public schools. I always hated to be called one. I was a teacher. That meant standing in front of classes and explaining how to do something or interpreting some piece of literature. When I’d covered the skills, the time came for students to put into practice the skills that I taught. I didn’t enable anyone. Instead, my job was to provide the material or the skill. Whether a student took those things and applied them or sat idly by and earned failing marks was his or her decision. They “enabled” themselves by taking up what I taught and applying it.

Empower and enable my ass. The folks of this country need to stop looking outside themselves for power and motivation. Those things dwell within, and that’s where we all need to look if our hopes and dreams are to come to fruition. Ralph Waldo Emerson “empowered” all of us with one line: “Insist upon yourself; never imitate.” That’s good enough advice for me.