Naming the Disease - Social Atomization

Henry Giroux writes in his recent Truthout article titled "Donald Trump and the Plague of Atomization in a Neoliberal Age" of Leo Lowenthal who warned back in the forties about the atomization of human beings under a state of fear. "What he understood with great insight, even in 1946, is that democracy cannot exist without the educational political and formative cultures and institutions that make it possible."

This confirms my sense that we are trying to fight a social disease with rational arguments while the supporters of fascist movements just want a messiah who will deal with the big problems so we don't have to, but who have no idea of the danger in giving unconditional power to a single ego. A functioning democratic society can be annoying and tiresome but it has many conditions that challenge power.

In a free and democratic society that pays taxes for education, justice, and social protections for the most vulnerable - we are continually being updated with facts that challenge assumptions of how we can instinctively know the leaders we pick will protect us. That we have social standards that can't be broken. Or that we will be okay as long as the economy is okay. Or, even that we have progressed and would never push a woman in front of a train because she was wearing a headscarf.

In the fifties and sixties I was given an education based on social justice. It wasn't in headlines but it underscored all that I learned. It didn't guarantee fairness or security but assumed we had a responsibility to care about one another. We didn't read Giroux, Lowenthal or Arendt, but we knew of Socrates and Orwell.

Yet many who graduated from this era were quite happy to throw it away because it wasn't perfect.

Now we are at such a stage of civil entropy we shrug while finance capital rules and public benefits are eroded. Those at the bottom are left without a means of earning a living wage, without hope, continually ground down by endless poverty and denied human dignity.

"Mass fear is normalized as violence increasingly becomes the default logic for handling social problems." Giroux writes.

If we stop to read this age and condense all the hostility around us, we will see that life itself is the enemy of fascism. Fascism silences conversation, it wants unquestioned obedience, human sacrifices, the glorious sunset, robotic armies.

Totalitarianism wants power without the human stain, without competing organisms, without reflection or question or thought. It is the muscle without a brain, The sperm without the egg. The knife without flesh. The future without compassion. The masculine without the feminine.

The corporate media keeps telling us this over and over again, in a thousand different scenes and sound bites.

If I Can't Rule the World I Shall Destroy It

This is the cry of the authoritarian narcissist, and those who support him or her. It's a cry of despair from the minds of those who believed that reason and justice ruled the world and now realizing it's the opposite, feel betrayed but cannot see their part in it. In denial and without humility they sink into the dark hole of revenge. 

The trouble is we confuse ideology or the power of ideology with right and wrong. "Ideologies may be viewed as societally defined ideational structures that exist in order to permit latent dimensions of the psyche to become manifest in the external world." says, Richard Koenigsberg in his essay "Why do Ideologies exist".

When someone says "the real world" what they mean is the "ideational structures" that we have taken for granted as "truth". What we often call human nature is the "psychic functions" that permit certain desires and fantasies to be projected onto "reality".

The ideational structure I am most affected by is the notion of control. Raised in a nation who preached progress and who embarked on racist, colonial brutality, we argued about how to rule the world but not how to care for it. 

The male head of the household made decisions for members of his family whom he viewed as weak and childlike, who needed his strength and protection.  When things didn't go as planned the ones who failed were those who could not live "up to" the patriarch's laws.  

In authoritarian cultures, the sons learned to shut down their emotions and daughters learned how to keep silent.  Love became duty. Empathy and compassion died. 

We are born into a set of beliefs that our parents and teachers assume are right, and since we need approval from our society to survive, we learn how to adjust ourselves to an external view. It works to oppress and make obedient the people who live under its power.

I grew up believing I was good and those who behaved and thought like me were also good, and if we all thought the same there would be peace. Prejudiced and privileged, I must now swallow how wrong I was. Thanks to the Republican party in the US, I see how corrupted the white colonialist is capable of becoming. I see the harm I have caused by believing I must be in control, by holding on to control and blinding myself to the effect it has on those who have less.

The more I age, the more I lack confidence in talking about big issues. How to create or be part of an inclusive and just society is beyond my control. Things are changing. There is so much I cannot know - even on my own street. I am a stakeholder in this thing called humanity but not its ruler.

When despotic opportunists threaten what little bit of civil society remains, I feel absolutely lost. Outraged that we vote for hate rather than deal with our own discomfort because we are not in control.  You and I can't rule the world. Yet we commit endless acts of violence to support the delusion that we can. Nations are not great. And we are destroying the world because we can't rule it.

Fascist and communist movements in Europe in the 1930's, according to Hannah Arendt, recruited support from the masses dismissed as being too stupid for the other parties.

Chris Hedges, in his article The Revenge of the Lower Classes and the Rise of American Fascism. writes there is only "one way left to blunt the yearning for fascism coalescing around (Donald) Trump. It is to build, as fast as possible, movements or parties that declare war on corporate power, engage in sustained acts of civil disobedience and seek to reintegrate the disenfranchised—the “losers”—back into the economy and political life of the country." 

In short,  we must declare war on our addiction to power-over and use our power to care for and heal our world in any way we can.  

Humanity - a Post Mortem Audit?

"The immersive and inescapable way children and teens are exposed to violence in their "media diet" on social media apps, video games and movies can make them more aggressive and fearful, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement." CBC.CA 

There is no doubt in my mind that a diet of violent entertainment disturbs my equilibrium. Even though I am a senior and have many years experience of living in a reciprocal community, TV dramas make me feel insecure on a vague, semi-conscious level. 

Children and teens have not yet developed their own survival skills and independence, so they are vulnerable to  messages wherever they come from.  

Also there is very little in the media that doesn't "bleed" and there are very few examples of people solving real problems. 

Have we become unconscious of how we internalize the messages that we know intellectually are fiction? The fast moving narrative of violence everywhere? After the music, images and high drama does it make hope of any kind seem naive?

I have just watched a brief interview of a gun toting white man (CBC.ca) who will vote for Donald Trump because he believes the government is corrupt.  He sees his role as protecting the innocent. Has he got his worldview from television where the dots are rarely connected, and facts don't count?  

How will Trump make things better? What would he contribute to society? According to reports, he prides himself on not paying taxes because he feels that government is a waste of money. He has power and influence because his father had good connections, lots of money and was able to influence officials.  He has the key of wealth and celebrity, and that's where (we have been lead to believe) power lies.  

The first and most dangerous violence is the notion we are isolated egos, which means we have no agency within a conscious society and makes us slaves to whatever ideology has the most funding. 

We have elected through cynicism and intellectual laziness to let the chips fall where they may.  We are losing our sanity, our integrity and our civil society. What creature will outlive us if we forget what it means to be human?

After the Wedding

For the last two weeks my environment has been full of celebration, games, talk, food, wine and catching up with family. Listening for the urgent needs of babes and young ones. Endless used cups, plates and utensils covering every available surface. Used tissues discarded in every room. Stacks of dirty washing, leftover food, crowded fridge. Trying to remember all the things we hope to do during the day,realizing by nightfall most did not get done.

Sleeping bodies strewn across passageways, couches and mattresses at night. Stepping cautiously over toys, boxes and feet, during the day.

Now the wedding is over, time to think about what it all means. The deeds are done. The youngest daughter and son-in-law are married.  The cousins have met, brothers and sisters from three continents have reconnected.

So how do I feel now?  Gratitude for the gathering, the good weather, the rain, meeting in-laws, friends, eating and drinking. The image of the beautiful bride, the handsome groom, and attendants - in white, yellow, pink and green. So many beautiful dresses and smiling faces.  The very natural "sanctuary" on the beach, carefully decorated with driftwood.

We are up for this except when I fall down from poor balance due to a bad cold. The cold got in the way of my best self as I slink away to the bed to sleep. Once upon a time a cold was just a cold, but now my immune system just breaks down, and I couldn't find the energy to rise above the symptoms.

The good news is most people had a really good time and I am thankful that everything went off well. I return home a changed person from all I have met and all whom I love. I just hope that my weariness did not spoil anyone's holiday.

Big occasions I can remember but not all the elements. They pass like foggy apparitions I cannot hold onto. My wedding 46 years ago, my son's wedding 13 years ago and my daughter's wedding two weeks ago. I cannot say with confidence that I was 100% available at all times although that was the plan. But I do feel really blessed for all these people in my life. I feel rich, very rich. There is no million dollar lottery that can match the beauty of family and friends who are healthy, capable, gifted and loving.

Thank you all - you may never know just how beautiful you are.

Dear Trump Supporters

I love you. I do. I'm not joking. I get your pain. I feel it. You're trapped by corruption. That's it. No way out. Every day talking heads tell you. Every day you're told you're nothing. You don't count.

You worked fingers to the bone. You did everything you were told. But they took your job. Took your house. Split your family.

You're a loser. Everything tells you this. No-one looks in your eyes, calls you sir or ma'am. You've been trashed. Except in the bar. Running up a tab on the credit card you can't pay. Every month you need more booze, more drugs to numb the pain. You have no choice. By next year you'll either be dead or deeper in debt.

At school they told you, study, work hard, and you'll be rich. On the way up, take the punches, you'll win in the end. Keep fighting. Men will fear you, and babes will line up to get into your bed.

They lied. They all lied. They made a fool of you. You can't win. They can't lose. You're blood boils and somebody's gotta pay.

Who is gonna pay? Not the ones who set this up, right? You don't even know their names. I don't know their names.

This much I know.  There's more inside you that no-one sees, no-one knows. But I gotta say this.   I don't love your hate.

Hate won't get you to the top. Won't put it right.  We have to work together to put it right. We have no choice. We have to go back to when things were alright. You had a job, a home, a community.  You had respect.

You have to build a community. Minute by minute, word by word. You have no choice.

 I'm talking about basic civil society, services that allow you to live without fear. Education, health and living wages. Hope for your kids future. Justice. I'm talking about walking down the street with confidence.

Respect can't be bought. Belonging can't be bought. Security can't be bought. You have to give respect. You have it to give and you deserve it to get it back. That's why I love you. Respect. My life, your life depends on it.

The only thing hate will bring is death. Tormented souls with nothing left but clenched fists and high blood pressure.

We have to keep trying to build together. They are not in control. You are not in control. We are not in control. It's tense. It's tiring. Sometimes it seems hopeless. But we have to keep listening. Keep talking.

It's not what they should do or what  I should do? It's what CAN I do?

All we got is the rest of our lives. We have no choice.

Infinite Power - a book of poems

Image: Heroic Journey by Paul Grignon Infinite Power, in Vickers eyes “is not a zero sum game  but a journey / a stone thrown in a lake / circular ripples emanating outward” and the danger of our age is that we have lost contact with that power, made it something to possess  like a personal bank account. In writing these poems she  hopes for a reconnection to that sacred universal relationship. Janet Vickers’s book of poetry, entitled Infinite Power,  has such an accurate title for this is an important, brave and,  indeed, powerful gathering of poems. She is on a search, a  compelling search, that draws the reader along with her as  she questions accepted concepts, ploughs through mankind’s  inhumanity and even tears nature apart in her quest for a core of hope amidst despair. “The distant bird singing,” as she puts it. This need to give reason for continuance is evidenced in  Vickers startling fresh and demanding metaphors and her  piercing questions. Hope comes in the last few words—“love  everyone, hate no-one, move to the edge.” It takes profound insight to come to such a seemingly innocent answer. ~ Naomi Beth Wakan, inaugural Poet Laureate of Nanaimo These poems are at turns thought-provoking, accusatory, or playful in their exploration of topics such as climate change, extinctions, greed or incidents from her own past. The thread always running throughout Janet's work is her commitment to honouring all that’s sacred, whether that might be in the world of nature or in the realm of the human heart.

~ Heidi Greco

This is Janet Vickers’s second trade book of poems. Her first book, Impermanence was published in 2012, also by Ekstasis. Her poems have appeared in anthologies in Canada (Down in the Valley, Ekstasis 2004) and the UK (Refugees Welcome and The Poet’s Quest for God, Eyewear 2016), in literary journals and online magazines. Janet is active in the community on Gabriola Island where she lives with Tony, her husband of 46 years.

To order go to Ekstasis Editions

Consolidating Power through Ritual Contempt For Life

"Well over 250 million people died in the 20th Century as a result of political violence. This includes an estimated 200 million deaths that were the result of people killed intentionally by governments, and perhaps fifty million deaths as the result of warfare. Among governments that were the most prolific in murdering people were the communist USSR, China and the Mao Guerillas, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, and of course Nazi Germany." Hitler, War - and the Holocaust. Richard Koenigsberg.

The complete essay needs to be read as Koenigsberg reveals how violence breeds violence.  It appears to arrive from the idea that young men are born to experience the glory of running out on the battlefield to be gunned down.

Dying on the battlefield has mostly been portrayed as sudden death but that's not how it happens all the time or most of the time.  Sometimes they lie on the field in excruciating pain - intestines falling from a gaping wound, arms and legs blown off, eyes ripped out, faces blown away, cold icy rain on frozen mud.  Or prisoners transported in cattle cars without food or water, the stench of urine, pus, for days, weeks or more, knowing that wherever they arrive it will not be good.

Megaphones spouting the glory of giving your life to war, worshiping the men who designed the battles - Kemal, Ludendorff, Hindenburg, Hitler, who told the people in various words - we do not ask you to fight but to die for your nation.

Now I am thinking of ideologies preached by a few candidates of the Republican Party that are clearly destructive to those who have had the privilege of living in a peaceful, almost democratic nation.  Their policies are not about running a nation but about preparing people for war through hatred and division. Fascist parties in Europe and America are not interested in governing a nation  - they are looking to centralize power.

Why do they focus on hate? Is it because they/we are seeking revenge? Is it because we cannot imagine a world that is just and so we think it useless to work towards a better world? Has the system created the means to destroy us as soon as we enter school through ritual humiliation and competition, so we grow up valuing things more than ourselves? 

Would it be that education, compassion, social justice, cooperation, wisdom and social responsibility would take back the power from those who preach that our worth, our only worth, is when we become the means of aggrandizing the emperor?

Would you like to die on a bloody field or coffee shop with your limbs blown out of reach, or in a cattle car with the stench of pus and urine, or a slow and painful death as a refugee carrying your infant to nowhere? 

Who benefits from this global contempt for life?