Sweep the Leg, Johnny

I haven't really put much thought into this overused word "bullying" until recently.  Maybe, it's because I perceive that word as some bullet proof vest people strap on when words, any words, are thrown in their direction. 

Maybe, I haven't taken bullying as seriously as some because it's become the crutch for the thin skinned; a new excuse to shield us from any negativity that may or may not reveal us for who we are. 

Maybe, I haven't taken the word "bullying" in the manner that I should because I've played the role of bully more often than I have the victim.

It's easy to be desensitized to awful things like war or rape or mere bullying when one's own experience in these things is limited to secondhand information.

Sometimes, a little reminder in these so-called awful things goes a long way in changing one's own perspective.

For me, that reminder was last week as I watched The Karate Kid for the estimated 50th time in my life

We all know the story:  An awkward young Italian kid with a New Jersey accent moves to California with his mother.   Suddenly, he finds himself to be slightly out of place in a high school filled with priveleged kids who view anyone outside of California as lower class citizens.

Over time, Daniel Larusso, becomes a target for abuse by a bunch of karate obsessed "cool" kids.  With the assistance of Mr. Miyagi, Daniel then learns the craft that is being used against him. 

Fast forward to the end of the movie and we have Daniel in a karate tournament against his tormentors.  From those final minutes, we learn the phrase "Sweep the Leg, Johnny"; which basically is an order from the "cool" kid's Sensai to follow his unconventional rule of "no mercy".

Then the movie ends in predictable fashion.  The bullies lose.  The "victim" earns his respect and is shown in a heroic light.



I suppose I could take the lessons from this formulaic movie and come to some conclusion that bullies suck and nobody should ever be picked on but I'm not quite ready to accept that notion.

I'm not prepared to come to terms with today's definition of bullying because the world is not as black and white or innocent as it once was.

We live in a world where bullying is the norm. 

We bully third world countries with drones.  We only choose to bully those countries unable to defend themselves against us.  Here we are with stockpiles of nuclear and chemical weapons yet we choose to attack those countries who may or may not have the same capabilities as us in the future.  Imagine if  the Karate Kid wasn't allowed to learn karate but instead had to take his daily beatings from the obsessed "cool" karate kids without the means to defend himself. 

It's the same principle.

Even our politicians bully us in order to bully those less fortunate countries.  They use unfair and excessive taxes to drain our paychecks to pay for the bullying they do onto those poor nations.

They bully us by trying to remove our right to bear arms while they themselves are arming other nations.  Why do the bullies in Washington want to keep her masses from being able to defend themselves? 

We live in a world where we bully the unborn.  Regardless if you recognize an unborn baby as viable life, we have built a culture where we deem some lives more valuable than others.

Hell, we even bully our own Creator by kicking him out of the classroom and now under this current administration, we are bullying Him out of the military.  Godless bullies in Washington are bullying our first amendment rights to bully the Creator many of us believe in.

Walmart and other big businesses have bullied small business into extinction so much so that the new internet tax that is being considered by the Washington bullies will but certainly expand that bullying into a permanent monopoly.

Who do you think is lobbying for an internet tax?  Its the big business bullies.

We bully the environment.  Overfishing, the polluting of our skies, the needless slaughter of certain species; all in the name of our own insatiable appetites.  We are bullying the planet.

Each of us are bullies regardless if we admit it. 

The left bullies the right.  The right bullies the left. 

We are bullies on the freeway when we weave in and out of traffic; cutting people off just because we want to make it to work two minutes sooner.  

We bully telemarketers when they call us at dinner time even though they are simply doing their job and trying to put food on their own tables.

When Facebook deletes an account for bullying, they turn around and bully us back.  They demand photo ID for the simple reactivation of our own accounts.  We place our trust in this social network machine and they turn around and sell our information to the big business bullies so those bullies can punch us in the gut with excessive advertising and the theft of our own personal information.

All this talk about bullying and people using that word as a shield is nothing short of hypocritical. 

My favorite scene in The Karate Kid is at the very end after Johnny Lawrence sweeps Daniel's leg and Daniel is declared the winner.  It's the snapshot of Johnny wearing a remorseful expression on his face and empathy over rides his conditioned cruelty.

I wish the world worked that way.

I wish bullying was a rare occurrence where at the end of the day, being victimized is short lived and everyone gets along. 

I also wish people would stop crying bully every time they feel cornered because all it does is desensitize us to those people, born and unborn, those countries, those citizens and those who are no longer living who have been genuinely bullied.

Bullying has always been around.  It's as American as apple pie.

It's as American as The Karate Kid.