We Need to Agree on Something

You say you want a revolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

You tell me that it’s evolution

Well, you know

We all wanna change the world

But when you talk about destruction

Don’t you know that you can count me out

The Beatles

Revolution is a loaded word. It carries many stories that often end the same way.

The idea of a revolution is inherently new and exciting. In modern times, we have a new view of the world and humanity as a whole. We find ourselves talking about justice and injustice regarding humans on different sides of the world from us. This is unprecedented for the vast majority of human history!

Those of us lucky and brave enough to travel the world agree that people are pretty similar no matter where you go in the world. Everybody loves their family and wants a happy and healthy life. This is true all over the world and only varies with people’s definitions of family, happiness, and health. It’s something we all have in common, something we can all agree on.

Have you ever wondered what else we might agree on?

Society only exists because we all agree not to kill each other. Society requires an agreement: we can see the world in the same way. Not exactly the same, but we can agree on a few things.

Let’s start off by agreeing on something that happened on January 6, 2021.

Citizens of a nation entered the governing building of that nation and took over the room where laws are made. I say “take over” because the room was empty when they arrived. The active lawmakers had left.

According to playground rules, that base is deserted and the takeover is complete.

There are many other ways to look at what happened that day, but that’s not the point of this post. The question I pose to you is this:

What would we do if those people had made a law?

They were in the room where laws get made. The people who made laws before had left and now there were new people in that law-making room. This is a generic way of describing a republic. The biggest difference is that these citizens were not fairly voted into office. However, there are many claims that can be made about the fairness of the elections that gave power to the current lawmakers.

I’m not here to claim that the American voting system is compromised, there are plenty of other people on the internet for that. I am here to ask you:

What would we do if those people had made a law?

Even on a napkin! If they wrote down: “Everybody should drive on the left side of the road” and then if they voted amongst themselves and hit the special wooden hammer, what would you do?

They were in the room where the laws get made, and they hit the special hammer. They said you have to do something, so what would you do? Do you listen to them and start driving on the other side of the road? That could be dangerous if we don’t all agree.

A law only has power if people agree to follow it. You can choose not to follow some scribbles on a napkin, but then why do you choose to follow other laws?

This brings us to question the point of government itself. Among the many possible perspectives, what happened on January 6th, 2021 brings up a philosophical question: why do we have a government?

Clearly, people were feeling a lot of feelings that day. Among those feelings was betrayal. A government is meant to protect and provide for its people so a group of people that decide to attack their government are betraying their government. But their actions came from a feeling of being betrayed. Those people felt betrayed by their government.

When backed into a corner, animals fight for their freedom. If the laws of a government feel like they are backing you into a corner, why would you agree to follow those laws?

A law is meant to provide structure to society so that we have an agreed understanding of what we should not do for the sake of everyone’s benefit. We agree to give the law power, follow the law, and listen to the enforcers of the law. All consequences for not following the law are enforced by people. And people only have power over others if it has been given to them.

Power exists where the people believe it exists. It’s an agreement that you and I drive under a certain speed and it is an agreement that you and I stop when we see blue lights in the rearview mirror. Why do we stop? Is it for the sake of our society, or is it because we fear the consequences if we don’t? Why does a person within our society have enough power to strike fear into the other people in society? Where did they get that power?

It’s perfectly fine to give your power to something outside of yourself if you like what happens when you do. Maybe you give the power of the roadtrip to your friend because you don’t like to plan but you’re down for the adventure. Maybe you give the power of your anniversary to your wife because it’s just another day to you.

I would happily give my power to a law that tells people not to kill people. Sign me up! The reason I’m good with that is because it benefits me if everyone agrees to it, so I’ll agree and get the ball rolling. Everyone else who agrees, say Aye!

The Toltecs, according to The Four Agreements, believed that everything in society was an agreement and that laws were simply formalized versions of those agreements. The book provides a set of four agreements that could greatly benefit ourselves and the people around us that make up our society:

1. Be impeccable with your word: say what you mean, and mean what you say
2. Don’t take it personally: the world is not about you, there’s other stuff going on
3. Don’t make assumptions: you’re probably wrong and that’s a waste of energy
4. Always do your best: if you are following the first three, then your best will always be good enough

The revolution ahead will not be won by conquering buildings or tearing down statues, we gain another victory every time you say hello to your neighbor. When we learn to listen to each other, regardless of our own beliefs, we can make a world that works for everyone. Of course, there will be compromises, but they help bring us to agreement.

We all have the freedom to choose what we do with our lives. We have the freedom to put our power, time, and energy into what we believe is good and right. If everyone wakes up tomorrow and truly believes that there is a better way to live, this Big New Revolution will be won! Next up, we have to come together and make something bigger than ourselves.

Imagine a life in a free and beautiful society. How do people behave? Are they following rules that incentivize that behavior? Would you agree to those rules?

Go talk with your neighbors and friends and even your enemies. Ask them all how they want to live and maybe, with a bit of compromise, we can agree on something.

You, the people have the power, the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then – in the name of democracy – let us use that power – let us all unite!

Charlie Chaplin, The Good Dictator