No, You Move

There was something special about Civil War.  (Relax if you’ve not read it;  it looks like you’ll get a good chance to see it with the MCU here in a few years.)

The something special was Captain America.  Because Cap seems to understand something very important:  The rules exist for the people, not the other way around.

If you agree on the desired outcomes – and that’s a big if – then the only measure that matters is whether or not the rules bring you closer to that outcome.

Yes, rules are important.  Bureaucracy exists for a reason, to prevent a different kind of abuse.

When bureaucracy is what keeps us from reaching our goals, then the rules need to change.

When we recognize that the rules are preventing justice, it is time to change them.

And those who value the rules and procedure over the safety and welfare of those the rules and procedures are there to protect and serve… those people no longer share our goals.

(Added today; I originally wrote this post last week)

Here’s the fun thing.

This post is NOT inspired by the events in Ferguson, though it fits that situation all too well. 

This principle is more universal than that.

Those people who’d argue you have to stay in an abusive marriage because you made a promise, those people who’d argue that you can’t count a harassment report because they didn’t report it the right way, those people who complain that you can’t kick someone out of your group because the toxic person just managed to stay inside the rules….

They sound like they’re on your side.  They sound like they want you to succeed.

They don’t share your goals.

They want you to fail.

They just don’t want you to blame them for it.

Remember that.