UNDER THE BUS: a place of betrayal

The first time I heard the phrase "thrown under the bus" I knew immediately what it meant. It's one of those phrases that doesn't need a lot of explanation.

The dictionary definitions for this term stress that a person is thrown under the bus because she or he is being sacrificed to benefit someone else. In other words, a vulnerable person is being destroyed or rejected in order for someone with authority over them to gain somehow. Just speaking the phrase makes me cringe.

Power is a commodity that has the capability of being valuable to society...or it has the capability of being destructive. How persons choose to use power determines its value. When people come to a point in their lives that they have ascended to a point of having power over others, it becomes a necessity to stand back, recognize that moment, and do some assessment about how to proceed forward.

The attainment of power is not always bad. In fact, in most organizational systems it is a necessity if anything is going to be accomplished. So just having power over others is, in itself, neutral. The way in which one uses that power is the determinant of value.

When an individual intentionally chooses to sacrifice someone over whom he or she has power by throwing them under the bus it is seldom an accidental or unconscious act. It is clear to the person in power that there is some value to be attained by sacrificing the other person and they are expendable. That, in itself, is evil. It is comparable to playing God.

There is a sense of having deemed the victim to have been of no value...a piece of trash. That is unacceptable. Every living person has value. Sometimes individuals are twisted or sick and are in need of having control imposed upon them. But simply trashing them...throwing them under the bus...is something else.

The term is used in a variety of scenarios ranging from the business world to the world of politics. People within families or organizations are sacrificed frequently to benefit someone else. In sports, the arts, academia, and even religious communities one can find examples of someone climbing the ladder to success, clambering over the wasted bodies of those who have been thrown under the bus. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot the violation. And the first persons to recognize it are the victims who know what it feels like to be betrayed at the hands of someone in power over them.

Among the cliches to have found their way into the American English language over the past few years, this one deserves a special recognition. It is exceptionally effective in describing a despicable act.

Photo Credit: http://philsbackupsite.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/