The power of manipulation
With manipulation occurs something similar to what happens with the betrayal: one always considers that it can only be on one side, that of the betrayed, or on the one who has tried to manipulate.
However, just as it is very likely that there is someone who has felt betrayed by us, there will also be some who believe that we have tried to manipulate him.
Because the truth is that everyone, who more than the least, we try to manipulate since all underlie the desire for others to adopt our positions. Thus, we could consider that manipulation is synonymous with injustice because it supposes a deprivation in the ability to make decisions, an attempt to diminish the free will enjoyed by the individual to make decisions or to adopt a concrete position in any matter of life. .
As important as being aware of the means used to manipulate us -press, television, institutions- is to be aware of what we use, usually unconsciously, to do the same with the people around us.
If we were to mention the most serious case of manipulation - the most painful against the individual - we will not go too far in pointing out the one that has been practiced by institutions whose purpose is to exert a control that is opposed both to individual freedom and to the common good, institutions that are circumscribed to these four areas: religion, politics, economy, science.
If our purpose is to reject manipulation, it is not only about avoiding manipulation, we must also reject manipulation when it is oneself who exercises it over others. In this way, we will be diminishing the power of institutions that use "those of always" to subject the individual to their interests.
Therefore, if you do not have to accept manipulation, the first step is not to exercise it.
The English writer Percy Bysshe Shelley is credited with the quote "the man of virtuous soul neither commands nor obeys."
If we adapt this verse to the purpose of this post, we can affirm that "the awakened man neither manipulates nor allows himself to be manipulated".