WHAT IS POLARITY?
We had previously mentioned “polarity,” and held it up as one of the most effective strategies for effecting political change. —Polarity implies any system of two points or poles that are of opposing value, such as night and day, black and white, positive and negative. Expressed on a linear scale, polarity commands that the greater the distance between polar opposites, the greater will be the pull on any value lying between those two points.
Imagine a one foot ruler. Let’s call “no government whatsoever”…Zero. Let’s call “total 100% government”…Twelve. Let’s say our current state of government control is around ten and one half inches. We will define that “ten and one half” as the “pole of what is.”
You might believe that the level of government “should be” around “six and one half.” Therefore your “polarity scale” is from “six and one half” to “ten and one half.” So let’s say you write a letter and you decide to demand what you believe reasonable. You write, “Dear Oppressors, I demand we restore our level of government from “ten and one half” to “six and one half.” You have established “six and one half” as your “pole of desired result.”
So now, If our elected officials pay attention to your letter at all, they may move the scale back a quarter inch. More likely, rather than reduce the rate of government, they will “reduce the rate of the increase in government and call it a size reduction.” Therefore government will now only be “ten and five eighths” rather than “ten and three quarters.” And of course, you will be expected to be grateful for this “reduction” because government has only done the very least for what is obviously for “the sake of the children.” You do like children don’t you? You wouldn”t want to be so cold and uncaring as to deny the children, would you? No, really, would you? Hmmmm?
We would probably be happier with way less government than “six and a half.”. But, for simplicity, let’s say Liberty Fulcrum had the same “six and one half inch” goal,” LF inclination might be to set our polarity scale from “one inch” to “ten and one half.” Now when we write that same letter as above , we say “Dear Oppressors, the current level of government is “ten and one half.” Return it to one inch, please.” And just in case they don’t hear us the first time, because oppressors are notoriously hard of hearing, we say it again, louder, and to several of the oppressor’s friends…”one inch ASAP!, “and “one inch YESTERDAY!” The level of government will likely be “eight” the next morning. At this point we will write the oppressors again, complement their accomplishments, and redefine the difference between “eight” versus a “half inch.”
Our negotiation went better because we established greater polarity, and because we supplied the opposition with a big enough difference between two poles or fixed points, to trigger an emotional response from them and subsequently a bigger reaction.
Opposition forces use exaggerated posturing all the time “against us” to accomplish their goals. That is why they have made such extensive inroads into our economy, law, and culture.
When we negotiate in small measures for change, we accomplish small goals. But, when we recognize the benefit of expanding our stated goals over our actual desires, we give ourselves much greater bargaining power.
