Do you remember Salt-N-Pepa? I just love that line “I got the POWAH!” Now, of course, I have to say right off the bat that Foucault would not like this song. Power, he would say, isn’t something you got. You can’t hold it or have it or share it or divide it or vacuum it. Rather, it’s a force. It’s something you exercise. How…?
…Through words. Let me give you an example: I whine, therefore I receive. The more I whine, the more my master pays attention to me. Life as a three-legged dog is great! Humans hand me sympathy left and right! And… if they don’t, all I do is give a little word like a whimper or whine (at most a bowOw!Ow!Ow!), and people give me whatever I want!
So, my experience with humans is that it’s pretty easy to use words to gain power. Give it a try… but perhaps don’t be as annoying as a whiny puppy like me 🙂
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