[MD] Keep on Truckin'

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Marsha]
Would you please define 'agency' as you are using it so there is no 
quibbling about the term.

[Arlo]
Has there been quibbling? Broadly, "agency" refers to capacity to 
act, it is defined by range of possibility an actor has at any given 
point in time. I use the term because "freedom" and (as Mark puts it) 
"bondage" have too many erroneous connotations in our language.

In the book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of 
Work, Matthew Crawford touches upon this distinction saying, "The 
errors of freedomism may be illuminated by thinking about music. One 
can't be a musician without learning to play a particular instrument, 
subjecting one's fingers to the discipline of frets or keys. The 
musician's power of expression is founded upon a prior obedience; her 
musical agency is built up from an ongoing submission."

I suppose "power to act" is about as simple, and broad, a definition 
of "agency" I can give.

But you know there will always be quibbling, right?