Woody Morrison: Wizard's Rules

Woody Morrison makes great posts on the Tlingit and Haida people of Alaska Facebook page, if you don't already follow the page, you should [here].

I truly enjoy reading. In high school authority had a problem with me so, to keep me out of their hair and I was often sent to the library... loved it. Today I still have 2 or three books going at the same time. One of the Authors I have been reading is Terry Goodkind. One series of his books deal with Wizards, magic, etc., and through his writings he has woven in what he calls are "Wizard's Rules. Here is Rule One.

WIZARD'S RULES by Terry GoodKind

FIRST RULE: People are Stupid:

Given the proper motivation almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it is true or because they are are afraid it might be true.

People's heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People... can only rarely tell the difference been a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.

People believe a lie because they need an enemy to feel a sense of purpose. It is easy to lead people when they have a sense of purpose. Sense of purpose is more important by far than the truth. In fact, truth has no bearing in this, the Leader provides them with an enemy other than himself, a sense of purpose. People are stupid, they want to believe, so they do.

Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds betray the lie.

If People apply this rule they will easily discover that that man's true allegiance lies solely within himself, and not with the people.
People will rally around the leader and support him because he tells them he wants to protect them from the enemy. Truth is hard to sell; it gives no sense of purpose. It is simply truth.

The non-followers begin to doubt their own knowledge. They are afraid the lie is true. Being afraid something is true is accepting the possibility. Accepting the possibility is the first step of believing. The non-believers are smart enough to question. Think how easy it is to believe, for people who don't question, who don't even know how to question. For too many people, it's not the truth that is important, it is the cause.

Give it some thought when examining the words of our political, economic and, yes, to some extent, religious leaders. This is not a blanket covering all of them: ask your own questions.

SECOND RULE: The greatest harm can come from the best of intentions.

Violation can cause anything from discomfort to disaster, to death. It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes what seems right is wrong and can cause great harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, thought, and understanding the First Rule.

Good intentions, being kind, can encourage the lazy, and motivate sound minds to become indolent. The more help you give them, the more they need. As long as your kindness is open-ended, they never gain discipline, dignity, or self-reliant. Your kindness impoverishes their humanity.

The problem with the Second Rule is that you can't always tell for sure whether you are violating it, or simply doing right. When you add magic to good intentions, Violation of the Second Rule can lead to catastrophe.

Where does this one fit into the process of Colonization? The quickest way to kill someone is to pay that person to do nothing.
Time to Travel Into Light: to declare to ourselves... "From now on I want my identity back and for my life to be... I want the lives of my children to be... Do It!

Here are more of Terry Goodkind's Wizard's Rules.

THIRD RULE: Passion controls reason.

The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists; what is, is. From this irreducible, bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. This is the foundation from which life is embraced.

Reason is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts, nor are they the means to discovering them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality – its our basic tool of survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid the abyss we refuse to see.
This can also be said of “Belief”. Belief denies reason. Believing the lie does not make it so or true nor does disbelief make a thing to be not true.

To repeat from THE FIRST RULE:

The non-followers begin to doubt their own knowledge. They are afraid the lie is true. Being afraid something is true is accepting the possibility. Accepting the possibility is the first step of believing. The non-believers are smart enough to question.

Think how easy it is to believe, for people who don't question, who don't even know how to question. For too many people, it's not the truth that is important, it is the cause. Sound familiar?

FORTH RULE: “There is magic in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive.”

In forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive." People believe a lie because they need an enemy to feel a sense of purpose.