Possible Consequences of Failing CAWTBER

Name it and defeat it.

A wide range of consequences are possible for people and organizations who fail CAWTBER, some of which consequences are up to the victim/s.  Identifying CAWTBER failures is part of the decision making process in determining consequences.

As a quick review, CAWTBER is a test that has many advantages as a guideline for social behavior and governance, including that it is not dependent upon a particular authority figure, religion, or type of government.  See CAWTBER for background information.

Perpetrators and Victims

Defining CAWTBER perpetrators and victims helps to explain types of consequences.  A CAWTBER perpetrator by definition is a person or organization that initiates a conflict and a CAWTBER victim by definition is a person or organization at the receiving end of the conflict.  A CAWTBER victim can also be someone whose freedoms are restricted without merit.  Here are examples of perpetrators and victims:

• If you let your dog dig in your neighbor’s yard, then you are the perpetrator and your neighbor is the victim.
• If you burn leaves in town, then you are the perpetrator and your neighbors that are getting the resultant smoke are the victims.
• If you play music too loud, then you are the perpetrator and the people around you are the victims.
• If a driver intimidates a bicyclist, then the driver is the perpetrator and the bicyclist is the victim.
• If you are arrested for private consensual sex, then you are the victim and the government is the perpetrator.
• If a city upstream dumps raw sewage into a river, then that city is the perpetrator and a city downstream is the victim.
• If a state burns sulfuric coal then it is a perpetrator and another state getting acid rain is a victim.
• A country invading another country for natural resources is a perpetrator and the other country is the victim.
• A country enslaving its own citizens is a perpetrator and its citizens are victims.
• If you are discriminated against because you are a hippie, gay, woman, or black, then you are a victim.

Just as CAWTBER has grey areas, so do the definitions of perpetrators and victims.  If your dog barks a lot and bothers the neighborhood, for example, this is a grey area because there is reasonable disagreement about whether excessive barking is acceptable behavior or not.

Consequences

A variety of consequences are possible for a CAWTBER fail.  If you are a CAWTBER victim, then you have several options, other members of society have options, there are religious and spiritual possibilities, and there is a likely scientific consequence.  Victims have at least the following options:

• Do nothing, allowing the perpetrator to continue the confrontational behavior—re, somebody’s got to be the bitch.
• Repeatedly warn the perpetrator with the intention that the perpetrator will eventually stop the confrontational behavior.
• Return the confrontation in a similar way to show the perpetrator that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
• Strike back forcefully at the perpetrator to show the perpetrator in a forceful way that the confrontational behavior is not acceptable.
• Report the perpetrators to authorities, if this is an option.
• Make methodical progressive stepwise reactions to stop the confrontational behavior with the least amount of counter action necessary.

What about pre-emptively striking a would-be perpetrator to prevent a confrontation?  That flips sides and makes *you* the perpetrator and the *other* party the victim.

Other members of society have the same options as above, plus more, in responding to perpetrators.  If a gang is terrorizing a neighborhood, for example, neighbors of victims can organize to react to the perpetrators by doing nothing, repeatedly warning the perpetrators, fighting back, fighting back forcefully, reporting to authorities (such as a neighborhood watch), or taking progressive stepwise reactions.  Other options include the following:

• Utilizing government functions to react, such as creating or revising laws and regulations.
• Organizing and reacting in other ways, such as through labor unions.
• Cleaning up the neighborhood to discourage law breakers.
• If the perpetrator is the government, such as a king, overthrowing the government.

Religious and spiritual possibilities also exist.  Consider Matthew 5:5:  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.”  Consider karma, which traditionally takes a while, because it involves reincarnation, but which is being redefined in modern times as any payback, and thus occurring more quickly.  In psychological terms, a poisoned mind (i.e., a confrontational one) can damage itself:  Live by the sword; die by the sword.

A possible scientific consequence also exists:  evolution.  Consider that Man has evolved largely because of mental capabilities.  If surviving was all about confrontational brute strength then apes would be more dominant.  Ants are adept at social organization and are highly successful.  Social skills may eventually trump confrontation, but it could take a while—Neanderthals and Humans co-existed several thousand years before Humans won out.

Conclusion

A wide range of possible consequences were listed for people and organizations who fail CAWTBER, some of which consequences are up to the victim/s, society, and spirituality.  Realizing these possibilities indicates the importance of identifying CAWTBER failures.

Living by the sword,
Actions have consequences;

Some are indirect.

Suggested Comments:

What other penalties for CAWTBER fails might there be?