What if Words speak louder than Action?
I think words have gotten a bad rap. Of course, being a writer it would serve to follow that I would be partial to words. I also have to be cognizant of the fact that not everyone is comfortable with writing or communications in general.
I suspect that it was someone just like that who once concocted the notion that "talk is cheap." In my experience, talk is absolutely necessary in a free society. The founding fathers thought highly enough of talk that they guaranteed it as an inalienable right. When you have warring factions that are killing people, how do they come to an agreement to stop the killing? They enter into talks! So in that regard, you could say that talking is more powerful than action, because only once people can agree to disagree and find a happy medium (through talks) can the hostilities end.
I tend to live with the notion that the pen is mightier than the sword. Why else would military dictatorships control speech? They know that ideas can be infectious and lead people to take action.
In that regard, you could say that talk and actions are actually partners - two sides of the same coin. First people arrive at a consensus and then they take action based upon their communicated objectives.
So perhaps the question ought not to be whether words are more powerful than actions, or vice versa. Perhaps the question should be asked what happens with either talk or actions take the upper hand?
Here's another thought on this question. People hate politicians because they make promises (talk) but fail to follow through on those promises (take action). In that regard, the issue isn't that talk is cheap. The issue is that they failed to follow through. Did they ever have an intention to follow through? Only the speaker (politician) knows for sure.
To be certain, talk is not enough. At some point, the people who do the talking need to take action (or find someone who is able to pick up their idea and run with it.) Here's an example. I love books, and I have a lot of them, some that I have read several times. I have been talking for sometime about opening an online book store to sell some of these written treasures. To date, I have not taken the action necessary to bring that idea to fruition, and until I do this idea of mine has no inherent value. Only through the action of actually setting my plans in motion will this idea have value.
So those are my words. If you agree with me, that's great! We've created consensus, you and I. If not, and you would like to take exception to something I've written, the action you can take is to write a comment below!
