Stopping Communication Does Not Work

Maybe I am the oddball, but in this case I do not think so. Have you ever noticed that when someone says, "Don't do that!", the immediate reaction or thought of the person to whom they are speaking is to do "that?" I wish I knew why that is the case. Perhaps it is the sliver of independence within us that we are going to do what we damn well please and that is all there is to it. Look at how often all of us have been told not to smoke because of its well-documented danger to health. Now look at how many folks continue to puff away. Why would any one knowingly pay money to put themselves at risk in this manner? Yet we do.   

A few days ago, employees within the federal government's Environmental Protection Agency were told that they may no longer be able to speak to the public. In essence, a gag rule may be placed on them. I will leave it to others to examine the reasons for this. My purpose here is to focus on the possible directive itself: do not speak. If this order happens, then my guess - slowly at first - more and more persons within the EPA will seek out ways to circumvent or disobey this new rule. Orders to not-speak never go well. At some point, a breakdown occurs that compromises the directive along with the person or persons who handed it down in the first place.

Communication is not about the stifling of others to be heard or have input. It revolves around seeking ways to enhance the effectiveness of interaction. In the case of the EPA, telling professional men and women to not do what they are hired to do - share information and work with an array of entities in the public - runs counter to their innate need to communicate. This proposed gag order, as it currently stands, is not about controlling communication. Rather it is geared to stop it. Big difference. Not only will such an order not work, but its mere existence will ignite resentment and ill-will. May its reversal happen soon.