Consequence – conclusion derived through logic, inference, something produced by cause or necessarily following from a set of conditions.
When I teach consequences I remember a story told by one of my former colleagues. The story went something like this. You are going to drive across the desert or some isolated stretch of road and you ignore the low gas gage. You run out of gas. The car stops as a consequence of running out of gas.
You can get out and kick the car. You can curse. You can get down on your knees and pray that the car will miraculously run. You can say I cursed. My black cloud is above. Nothing you do will cause the car to run except put gas in the tank.
It is a logical conclusion that the engine runs on gas and therefore needs it to do its job.
If I say “Running out of gas has is consequences” what does it mean?
Does it mean “I have learned something” If SO WHAT?
Does it mean “I have learned something positive and will use that knowledge to prevent future occurrences?
He used the term with the plural, so there is more than one consequence. What are they? Are they positive or negative? Do they affect me alone or me and others or just others?
The implication of the statement is that I am logical and of course I learned something. It does not say anything about if the future behavior will change or if you even care.
In basic terms it simply means “I acknowledge I ran out of gas”. That is already obvious as the car has stopped and the fuel gage now reads empty.
So what does it mean to say “Elections have consequences.”
It is not only giving the word “consequences” new meanings for the future, it also is so vague today that it could means “I will now have to use different tactics and strategies to accomplish MY SAME GOALS ignoring the elections results AND I want all those listening or watching to believe something else”
You choose.
The purpose of this examination is for you to ask yourself, “Am I fooling myself.”