Administering life
A good example of ‘administering life’ is when human beings link money with power. Wealth is seen as a source of power. Rich people in society are highly regarded as compared to poor ones. Society has a way of linking wealth with power; this is a belief that administers human life since rich people are treated with respect regardless of their academic level. Financial status has been used as a basis of ranking people in the society; it is common to find rich people living in big estates while the poor live in suburbs.
Without even asking, one can readily tell that region X is inhabited by the rich or the poor. When it comes to selecting a group or party leader, people prefer a rich person since they saw him or her as having the appropriate skills to lead. This belief administers life to the extent that people always want to associate themselves with the rich. It is common to find people desiring to be associated with a distance rich relative even though the relationship has to be traced from far.
This is one of the beliefs that are widespread in society on a global scale. The ‘best’ inventions in the world originate from developed countries. These countries are rich in resources, the less developed or developing countries look up to these countries for help. The idea of administering life has been upheld to the extent that innovations from the developing countries are disregarded. The more powerful countries are those that are rich in resources and have skilled manpower. The west way of life is admired by many since it is seen as a superpower whose way of life is perfect and stylish.
(Re) defining ‘normal’
The word ‘normal’ has been used to refer to the outcome following the transformation of human existence to objects of power. This means that some aspects of human life become governing forces of human behavior in society. Through this power, we can distinguish between good and bad. It, therefore, becomes easy to tell who is acting according to the set rules and who is not. When certain aspects of human existence become objects of power, the behavioral patterns of such people towards some phenomena can be accounted for concerning how individuals perceive different aspects of life.
This way, people in a given society may hold different beliefs concerning an issue even though their cultural backgrounds are the same. ‘Normal’ in our day-to-day life can be exemplified by the emergence of differing views concerning an issue, especially for politicians. The mode in which the politicians handle debates shows that human beings have their unique ways of looking into specific issues in life.
Acting upon the action of others
This refers to the act of judging whether something is wrong or right. By judging, the power attempts to correct us by discerning good from the bad. This means that actions are judged according to the set rules hence if they do not go according to the expectations, they are regarded as bad. The power also attempts to change our way of looking at certain things by changing our attitude. It makes it possible for one to decide between the possible and the impossible.
Works Cited
Foucault, Michael. The subject and power. New York: NYU Press, 2004. pp. 1-154.