Assembling a Patriarchy       Hello, kids! Today we are going to assemble a patriarchy. Patriarchy - you may have heard this word before - what is it all about? Well, it is when a whole lot of people like you and respect you, when you are always asked for your opinion and for your advice, and, above all, when you are the top dog.     So, first we are looking for some club, for example a martial arts club. Many different things have to be done in such a club, for instance writing letters, talking to people, and arranging for training halls. After some time, it is of particular importance to accomplish everything all alone. Thus, we keep other people uninformed and make them believe that we are indipensable. We give everyone what they want, and if something bad happens, we condone it and wait until it is forgotten about.     As for training, we have to teach as many beginners and children as possible. We can make them believe anything. Perhaps you already know the technical term for this? Right, we condition them. Later on, they do what we want them to do because they take us for their grandmaster or because they believe to owe us gratitude and otherwise will have a guilty conscience. And several times a year, we tell all students, even the bad and untalented ones, that they are really good and have made so much progress. We confirm it by a fancy certificate, place an impressing stamp on it, and hand out a nice colored belt. That makes them happy, and they are fond of us and stay in the club and do us favours.   After some time, there will be so many members that the club will be really big. Then we can invite famous instructors and organise big events. And that makes the club even bigger, and so on, and so on. At this, it is also extremely important to do as much as possible ourselves and to tell everybody repeatedly how important we are and how good and pleasant things are with us. Then, we head to other clubs in order to do the same.   The same we do in the clubs, we do in the association. Association - that is a kind of club where each member is a club itself. Eventually, we will have many connections and get a cushy job.   From time to time, people turn up who do not like what we are doing. They tell the other people what is really going on. Such people are banned from being instructors, and if that doesn't suffice, we will kick them out of our club. That makes us feel really strong and powerful.   And - are we finished now? No, because we fibbed a little bit. It is not possible to assemble a patriarchy by oneself. It can only result from what you are and what you are doing. Proceeding as described above, is nothing but lies and self delusion. Those behaving this way will be tarred, feathered, and chased away. A true patriarchy requires to be very honest and to do a great many good things and always put other people's well-being in the first place. To that end, one needs honour, integrity, and guts. And what that might be, we will explain soon, after the next graduation.     © 2004 UNE