[xtiansimon]

“The bureaucracy” wants order in all things. They want to approve what is spoken, distributed, and discussed. Absolute control. No?

The more norms are changed, ignored, trampled, inverted, the more invested people will speak out.

On a personal level, I *broke decorum* this week with my dentist introducing “my own research” into a conversation. His first reaction was to say he discourages armchair medical advice from Google. I retorted: “I need the _words_ [to have a productive conversation with you in such a short time, so I can understand what you’re saying and what are my options]. I’m not a dentist who thinks about [dentistry] all day.” And following we had an informative conversation about the details I brought up.

But who amongst us lives in such conflict with power? It’s like a muscle. You have to exercise it once in a while or you’re stiff and easily overmatched.