The Price/Cost of Influence

The person who allegedly committed violence in Tucson, Arizona yesterday has been accused of being unbalanced and having a warped view of government and laws. Blaming insanity for his actions excuses us from having to accept our responsibility for this tragedy.

Alaina, my teenaged granddaughter, wears her hair just like every other girl in her school. They wear clothes that mirror the latest movie actress’s style. They base their emerging sense of society on the events and personalities they see on the media outside of their high school. Styles, manners of speech, advertising, and popular culture depend on influence. When it bleeds, it leads. That explains why yesterday I didn’t know what to write, and today I do.

When people have the notoriety and the media visibility to influence others, they have an inherent responsibility to use that platform according to the highest values. If their beliefs involve violence and vitriol, then their rhetoric will reflect that and influence others in that direction. If their fashions reflect lack of pride and disrespect toward themselves, then others will find the same fashions attractive. If their words, actions, and thoughts are congruent with higher values of respect, honor and dignity, then others will mirror them as well.

We’ve all heard the admonitions “Count to ten,” Think before you speak,” and “The first thought is not always the best thought,” because these phrases suggest that it is wise to stop and think before saying and doing something one might regret later. The law of cause and effect demands that the results emerge from the causes that are made. When a person impulsively says or does something that seems cute, or funny, or might make them more notorious for a moment, without measuring the effect of their actions, disastrous results often follow.

Our society is based on the values of liberty and justice for all. We need to be more circumspect in our thoughts, words, and actions so that their consequences will assure that the freedoms in our Constitution apply equally well to our targets as to enhancing our own influence on others.