George Yancy: "As a philosopher, I find myself struggling to find the words to communicate moments like these, moments when the world is filled with so much violence, suffering, dread and injustice. As philosophers, we are taught to think with clarity, to reason, to be philosophical — that is, to remain calm in the face of great difficulty. I’m not always convinced that the academic study of philosophy has what it takes to tarry with the burden of human suffering, to face it, to describe its horror..."
"Think of the horrors that are encircling us: wars, genocide, xenophobia, femicide, anti-Black racism, mass incarceration, the rise of unabashed white nationalism within the U.S. and the spread of far right populism globally, the breakdown of democracy, climate crisis. Add to this the killing of over 1,200 people in Israel and the over 22,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza. Over 5,000 Palestinian children have been wiped from the face of the Earth by Israel’s continued genocidal war." https://truthout.org/articles/how-can-philosophy-speak-to-a-world-in-crisis-the-answer-may-lie-in-our-bodies/?utm
I am not trained as a psychologist or sociologist but I have thoughts about how to respond. That's all I have. I have read news articles, listened to radio programs on current events, thought about them at church.
So here is this old nobody tackling this thought and the first response I expect is -- there's nothing you can do so just get on with your own life.
My life is filled with family and friends who care about what happens to me and others. We are humbled because evil is so easy and morality is so hard.
Today at Church we were given permission to take this weight from our minds and our bones. But this doesn't mean we do nothing. This doesn't mean forget it. It means finding a way to connect to our humanity.
To believe we are isolated units with no connection to the world we live in is a lie, and I suspect it is a lie on purpose.
What is the purpose? What can the purpose be? It's nurturing, taking care of the world, much like housecleaning, repairing.
The world is not just roads and buildings. It is our relationship to it. Would I be on the right path to say we have been raised to believe we don't have the power, we have been lead to believe through media and finance, we should let the big boys deal with it and just get on with our lives, then every four years go out an vote?
Worrying thoughts that come from those who are not famous don't count.
Thousands of writers, scientists, poets and doctors have written about this yet the world is still in danger. But don't give up yet, don't sell yourself short. There are clues in our questions even as our friends and family no longer invite us to dinner parties because we annoy everyone who simply want to get together to enjoy a meal.
But here are questions that need, that bleed for our attention, our tears, our sleepless nights until we can agree on changing course.
1. Liberal Capitalism favours power over integrity. If money has a louder voice than your grandmother settle for a society where a few have power over the majority. Power that's unexamined dismisses life as a means to an end but not a reason for survival.
2. Those who give birth, care and feed humanity are required to fit in, not create sustainable practices. The market is to serve the life it protects and engages, not the other way around. The economy must serve the world it lives in.
3. Being tough includes accepting truths that make us uncomfortable, not dismissing them. Truth is truth whether we accept it or not.
4. Violence never settles differences, it attempts to squash those who try to reach out to settle.
5. War gives up on life. War says death is good, life is unmanageable. Death creates a scorched earth without flags or flowers. War supports the arms industry not women, men, dogs and cats. War destroys houses, schools and shopping malls.
6. When people decide to fight we must fight injustice, hate and violence.
7. Yes there are people who do not care about life, they care about winning, which never lasts for long if the party that lost must starve, freeze, be enslaved and tortured. We cannot kill them all without putting ourselves in the conflict.
8. Societies have found ways to elevate themselves by promoting hate, but their solution only lasts as long as the defeated are imprisoned.
9. Hearts that don't bleed are dead. Bodies with dead hearts are dead within a few minutes.
10. Life and its survival is based on feminine and masculine principles. The reason we are in so much trouble is because hierarchies rarely valued both genders equally. This is a teachable moment.
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