Handle with care

The recent news about a family’s cat being shot here in Sonoma, apparently on several occasions, shocks us with the realization that people can be cruel. That’s a lesson we’ve all learned before but keep trying to forget. Yes, what would be called inhumanity is, unfortunately, in humanity.
The recurring stories of cats and dogs who are neglected, abandoned, or abused – stories such as these tug at our hearts in ways that hurt, physically. A recent story out of Santa Rosa described foul treatment of horses, too. All these domesticated, intelligent creatures can’t help but trust people. They are pets, who love nothing more (perhaps excepting dinner) than simply to be in our presence.
Children start out the same way. They love unconditionally, wholly dependent as they are on sustenance and care from their parents, and that’s why abuse of that love is so wrong, so hurtful. Of course, children become adults, and the relationships do shift.
We understand that abusive relationships occur among adults, too. In fact, any situation in which one person has inordinate power over another is potentially hurtful. Healthy relationships grow between equal parties, when there is mutual trust and respect, and mutual vulnerability. Love somehow depends on making ourselves vulnerable to each other, an attribute perhaps acknowledged by the juvenile “pet” names we often use for those we love.
We in this country have willingly ceded to government considerable power over ourselves – including the power of taxation (forfeiture), the power of law enforcement (confinement), and the power of conscription (labor). And with those powers, in that unequal relationship, comes the potential for abuse. That’s why corruption within the police force is so much to be feared, and why public defenders are to be provided within the justice system.
As government has grown more powerful over the generations, with more opportunities to interfere in or control our private lives, so too has grown the potential for abuse. When individuals exercise the power of government – and we’re thinking more of bureaucrats, at all levels, rather than elected representatives – the temptation to grant dispensations arbitrarily is great.
In many parts of the world, a little monetary “grease” is an expected part of transactions in which a government agent is involved. It is a credit to the enduring nature of the American heritage how seldom that occurs for those of us fortunate enough to live here.
Power can exist in economic relationships, too. It is argued that capitalism, based on negotiated exchanges between willing partners in free markets, best balances power among participants. We’ve noted before our fear of collusion between government and big business, which distorts the marketplace by introducing the power of coercion. Perhaps collusion is too strong a word, as that implies forethought, but any time government, which has coercive power, gets involved in economic dealings, the nature of the exchange is affected.
That’s why competition is so healthy. If people have alternatives among which they can choose, then the ability of one participant to gain power over another is naturally limited. Not that people will necessarily abuse such power, but the best of human nature may be needed to resist that urge when we’re in positions of power over others. Ultimately, in the highest of human aspirations, we need to treat our neighbors as we would ourselves be treated.