Darkworkers Everywhere!

[Thomas]

Something (I might not have given enough thought yet) occurred to me, and I'd like to ask for input/opinions:

A lot of activities/interests I'm involved in or pursue seem to be led/managed/headed by darkworkers or at least people that lean more or less strongly towards darkworking (I'd say they most closely seem identify as such by their adherence to either Machiavellian principles or the 48 Laws Of Power that Steve incidentally quoted not so long ago).

Even though for a long time I didn't bother or notice how things 'worked', in the past few months I've come to see that more and more I don't identify with or approve of the methods used to manage these activities/interests.

Now, a lot of these activities/interests are things I'd like to keep doing - some are charity based, too, so they aren't really serving my own best interest, either.

So, with lots of manipulation behind closed doors (ranging from filtered information distribution to spreading rumors) more and more of the things I actually _enjoy_ doing seem to be ruined by people in power trying to become more powerful and abuse of idealistic people for more power/wealth.

I've given the situation some thought (giving stuff up, retreating or finding other interests isn't quite what I'm looking for), but so far my solutions aren't that great.

P. S. Unfortunately I seriously doubt that I'd find equally minded people with regards to those activities I'm writing this about - while they aren't completely numb, they're not exactly on fire about personal development, concepts of light/darkworking, being manipulated or changes on a larger scale than the price of a cup of coffee by a few cents.

In a sentence: What to do about co-workers, fellow hobbyists and similar people that are leaning strongly towards darkworking?

"Love them for what they are." sounds nice but isn't hands on enough for me. Maybe crayons would help.

If it's a dumb question in your opinion, feel free to say so or rtfm-link me.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Light and Dark are opposites, they cancel each other out. Therefore you just have to beat them at their own game, but by Lightworking them...

[raja]

How exactly are you affected by this, and what do you want to change? I think you need to be a bit more concrete before people can give useful advice.

Depending on the exact circumstances I would try one of the following approaches:
- Work around the manipulative information (the exact same advice we give kids being bullied at school: ignore it). If you can spot rumors and filtered information, you should have a good chance of being able to alter your routine such that the information doesn't affect you that much. The worst kind of manipulation is the subtle one, which you don't see.
- Counter the manipulative information. When you hear about the information take action to make it less effective. For instance if a manager has introduced changes in the working environment which you consider to be pointless for the greater good, inform others. Tell them why you consider the changes to be a bad thing from their perspective, and help spark discussion about the subject. If people are enlightened perhaps they will collectively oppose changes. In other words: raise others' conscience.
- Ignore it if it's merely a minor inconvenience. Pick your battles carefully.
- Confront people. I guess confronting coworkers could work wonders in many cases, as many people are slightly biased towards darkworking without being fully aware of it. Probably the best alternative in most situations.

The specifics would of course depend on your situation, and the means you're willing to use. Just remember that there is a societal pressure towards light working, so darkworkers would rather not be exposed as it could hurt their position.

[Dave Kaminski]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Something (I might not have given enough thought yet) occurred to me, and I'd like to ask for input/opinions:

A lot of activities/interests I'm involved in or pursue seem to be led/managed/headed by darkworkers or at least people that lean more or less strongly towards darkworking (I'd say they most closely seem identify as such by their adherence to either Machiavellian principles or the 48 Laws Of Power that Steve incidentally quoted not so long ago).

Even though for a long time I didn't bother or notice how things 'worked', in the past few months I've come to see that more and more I don't identify with or approve of the methods used to manage these activities/interests.

Now, a lot of these activities/interests are things I'd like to keep doing - some are charity based, too, so they aren't really serving my own best interest, either.

So, with lots of manipulation behind closed doors (ranging from filtered information distribution to spreading rumors) more and more of the things I actually _enjoy_ doing seem to be ruined by people in power trying to become more powerful and abuse of idealistic people for more power/wealth.

I've given the situation some thought (giving stuff up, retreating or finding other interests isn't quite what I'm looking for), but so far my solutions aren't that great.

P. S. Unfortunately I seriously doubt that I'd find equally minded people with regards to those activities I'm writing this about - while they aren't completely numb, they're not exactly on fire about personal development, concepts of light/darkworking, being manipulated or changes on a larger scale than the price of a cup of coffee by a few cents.

In a sentence: What to do about co-workers, fellow hobbyists and similar people that are leaning strongly towards darkworking?

"Love them for what they are." sounds nice but isn't hands on enough for me. Maybe crayons would help.

If it's a dumb question in your opinion, feel free to say so or rtfm-link me.

Blow the whistle on them.

Find the people in your hobbies/work that DO care, and work together to get the bad people out!

[yossarian]

I doubt retreating will accomplish anything. What you need to do is lead by example and do your own lightwork in spite of the darkwork.

Every organization has mixes of people, you can't get around that. The task is to do the best that you can in the cirumstances.

Will withdrawing from the charity help anyone?

[Cran]

I doubt that you are really surrounded by darkworkers. Are you sure that you don't confuse "doing things I regard as-not-so-positive-and-light" with "darkworking"?

[Michael Chui]

Being less self-righteous would help.

[Ninja]

I would rather be surrounded by true Darkworkers rather than people in the grey area. At least you know their motives.

[Akashic_Librarian]

I concur Ninja. And besides Darkworkers aren't evil, what is wrong with you people? I don't think Steve argues the case for Darkworkers that well, I just posted this and it explains my views better.