Jurisdiction

"Jurisdiction is an important notion for bringing about social change.

"But first it is necessary to discuss 'social change' - and for the time being I mean the active kind. There is a strong tendency in modern society for social change to be enforced in a "top-down" manner. Those that are empassioned to improve the the state of the world, most often go about it through activism, politics, law enactment, and wide-spread media coverage. Such attempts are not complete nor long lasting. They breed animosity, hatred, and conflict.

"For change to be effective, it must be brought about on a lower level, by 'altering the landscape of consciousness'. A TV commercial or a law will never provide the impetus for someone to alter their belief system!

"No, that's not what I mean to say. Television is a powerful tool in manipulating belief systems. People do believe what they see on TV. What I mean to say is that television (and all other methods of mass communication) does not have the intended effect on people's belief systems.

"When individuals receive new information it is always through the filter of their own experience, their own biases, and their own agendas. Of course this is true, it could be no other way! It is not negative or positive, it just is. But consequently, that information is rarely received in the form that was intended by the originator of the message. And because there is no interactivity between the sender and receiver, it is impossible to gauge if the message has been received intact. Thus, as a method of social change, TV will never be effective. Newspapers will never be effective. Radio will never be effective. Their messages will always be warped and molded by the receiver, sometimes with the opposite effect. And there will always be those that reflexively doubt the source if they don't like the message, fueling their own righteousness.

"People believe what they experience. The best way to make lasting change is one-on-one, when the sender and receiver share space (physical or otherwise). When the sender can tailor the message to the receiver, when the receiver can respond with their own messages. When the sender can get feedback on how well the message is being understood. When both sender and receiver are engaged in an environment that can promote change and understanding in both.

"This does not mean that canvassing a neighborhood or cold-calling individuals in their homes is a good way to enact social change! It's invasive. Hence the notion of 'jurisdiction'.

"As the word implies, because we have beliefs does not entitle us to spread them, expound them, or (gods forbid) enforce them on just anyone. Jurisdiction implies a sphere of influence defined by personal relationships. It also implies personal stake.

"When a broadcast is aired, it has no concern for its audience. The individuals that created it, although probably well meaning, try to touch as many people as possible, in the most efficient way possible and do not build any personal ties to those they are trying to influence. They try to influence people they will never encounter. Who will never have an impact on their lives.

"When a law is enacted, it serves only to punish the wrong-doer, not to prevent the individual from doing the wrong. As in modern medicine, we are treating the symptoms and not the causes.

"When an individual is accosted on the street by someone expounding a belief system they make assumptions about that person's spiritual state of being that may or may not be accurate. They assume that people need help whether they ask for it or not. Most importantly, they assume they have the right to change the individual because of physical proximity.

"Jurisdiction says that we only have the right to affect those that we have a relationship with, although to define 'relationship' is a difficult thing. It could mean our family. It could mean our friends. It could mean the fleeting and momentary relationship you have with someone in line at the grocery store, or in a dark alley at night. But in all cases, it is bi-directional - both have a stake in the relationship and it takes place in the first person. 'Stake' is similarly difficult to define; to have jurisdiction to make change means that either the status quo or new state of affairs must impact significantly on your life. As much if not more so than the other individuals involved. Personal friends of the pregnant mother of an unwanted child who are willing to adopt that child and make it their own, have enough personal stake to try and persuade the mother to not have an abortion. Followers of a religion who feel abortion is wrong do not have enough personal stake to campaign to make abortion illegal in all cases. A lesbian couple stuggling economically have the personal stake to warrant trying to change laws that prevent their union from being legally recognized. A family that believes homosexuality is wrong does not have the personal stake to supress 10% of the population.

"Only when jurisdiction is satisfied is activism justified and social change effective.

"Making a law against racism will not make people believe that it is wrong. Allowing yourself to know and be known by a member of another race will.

"Outlawing violent music and games will not diminish children's thirst for them. Discussing these things with them will.

"Government sponsored programs to curb poverty and child abuse will not change the way that people live their lives. Intervention from family, friends, and neighbors will.

"And acting in this way brings about passive change. Change by example. Making a rule on a bus that says "give up your seat for the elderly" will not make people believe it is the appropriate thing to do. Giving up your seat for the elderly will.

"Telling people how they should behave in a conflict will not give them tools they can use. Allowing them to witness you maintain calm and dignity will.

"Change only occurs when individuals see the impact of their actions first hand. Or see the impact of other's actions first hand. Change only occurs when personal experience challenges belief.

"Jurisdiction does not imply that change cannot be widespread! All of our spheres of influence intersect in more ways than are imaginable, in more dimensions than are imaginable. It only takes a little action to create ripples that combine with the ripples of others' actions that reinforce themselves into waves that spread across the globe. And contrary to how it may seem, change can occur faster this way, for its effects are exponential. Once change hits its critical mass, it becomes self-perpetuating and ultimately pervasive and long-lasting.

"Such are the physics of social dynamics."