Choice! Really?

I was brought up short on how little choice we give people when we are the ones in power to decide. We asked the kids that I work with what they would like for their Christmas party. Of course they came up with loads of different ideas but in reality there was only one option and we, the adults in charge, went with what we believed would work and would come within our budget. One of the young people challenged me on it and I did realise how often I do it too. In my family I will ask my kids what they fancy doing and then will make the executive decision myself.

Here’s a great article in The Guardian online that says the
same: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/18/nhs-didnt-listen-department-health-service-public-consultation?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=The+Best+of+CiF+base&utm_term=144793&subid=14796436&CMP=ema_1364   This says how the government did asked what people wanted but in fact had their own ideas of what they wanted and so went ahead with that.

In fact anyone who has a modicum of power over someone does the same. We pretend that we are including them in the process but in fact we are only going through the motions and making them feel good. Yet there are times, like with me in the week or with this article in the paper where someone pulls them up. What do we do about it? We carry on anyway.

I have often thought that we pretend we live in a free country, yes to a point we do because we can say what we want without fear of arrest, on the whole worship how we want without fear. There are certain rules, like not running naked in public, driving on the left hand side of the road, our judicial system, that keep us in check on certain things but on the whole we are free. But that freedom only comes with being able to safely do and say what we like. It does not mean that anyone will take any notice – whether government, parent or teacher!