To @phoenixwren -- and her anarchist thoughts
So, today this one caught my eye -- and the answer just kind of came.
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What if we stopped letting others define us by arbitrary things?
Quite a revolutionary idea, but a good one. Many people (even most people?) don't stop very often in life to ask, "Who am I? Who am I really?"
That omission is some of what you're getting at here. Like it or not, recognize it or not, no one is the same person at 20 that he was at 9. And that person at 35 is different still. And at 53 -- he's evolved, morphed, "mellowed," matured ... changed again into yet another variation of his basic being. The process of life changes you. Experiences make a difference.
But to know who you are and be who you are, to me are the most fundamental rights of all. I wish more people questioned. I wish more people cared. Most of my life -- and my work -- have been devoted to finding answers to that preeminent question ... and to show others how to do the same. But that stretches far beyond the issue of geographical borders. Let's see if I can stick to the subject.
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I was born in the US, but I hate its culture.
I don't hate the culture that existed here for me when I was very young. But I was born white, Christian, privileged ... and yeah, what's to hate in that? But that culture included racism, segregation, discrimination along religious divisions (is there a word for that yet?), Ozzie-and-Harriet as the ideal, an unmistakable smug superiority in simply being American -- things I learned about as I got older.
I work hard not to let those define me today. A person's "vibe" tells me what I need to know about him. All the rest is just labels -- as important as you decide to let them be. For now, it's all very fluid.
But I hear what you're saying ... and I, too, do not like what American culture has turned into today. Although, if we get down to specifics, we may find we're sometimes talking about very different things.
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I think the entire concept of borders and nations and patriotism to be asinine and arbitrary, a make believe that enough people buy into to make it "real."
Ok. I agree with you. But that's kind of how society and group-think works. People at some point in time agree on certain ideas, standards, behaviors, concepts and label them "acceptable." Then they pass them along to their children ... and grandchildren ... and the generations beyond.
The problem here is, what isn't blessed with the "acceptable" label becomes anything from "frowned upon," to improper, objectionable, offensive, sinful, and eventually dangerous. When that happens, people stop being rational ... and that's scary.
If you think about it, a lot of what we live by from simple manners to the concept of money is simply an agreed-upon, artificial standard -- so what you're talking about goes far beyond mere national "borders."
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The border of a country doesn't mean anything more profound than the border of a state or of a city. Natural borders exist - a coastline, a mountain range, a river. But imaginary lines drawn up by white, moneyed, powerful men in the early 20th century aren't any more real than their belief in female hysteria or The White Man's Burden.
No argument here. And if and when enough people decide to change these arbitrary divisions, it will happen. It could be with a simple declaration that, "This is how it is now." Or it could get a lot uglier. The Civil War, you know, was basically fought over something like that.
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Why do we still give them credence?
Because for a lot of people this issue isn't important ... yet. And an awful lot of people aren't yet ready to take back their power. The issue of "borders" isn't nearly as urgent as a whole laundry list of other priorities in their lives. That statement isn't meant to be a judgment. It simply is what it is ... and someday that will change.
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I have far more in common with poor people, with Pagan people, with animists and environmentalists, with queers and artists and freaks, anarchists and activists, than any assembly of people who happen to live in my vicinity but may be wealthy, conservative, Christian, consumerist straight folk.
Me, too. That's why I hang out with them. Or keep to myself. Do I sometimes catch flack for that? Oh, you bet your life. Was it easy to make that decision? Yes, and no. It was a hell of a lot easier once I decided to "stop letting others define me by arbitrary things." (Which is how you started this rant.)
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Those people are not my tribe, even if they live down the block, while people who are my tribe may live thousands of miles away in any direction.
Absolutely true. That's the beauty (and awesome power) of the internet. Your tribe is a lot easier to find ... and you can "be with them" pretty much however and whenever you want. Borders in this case mean nothing. (Unless the various governments begin restricting internet access -- which is happening and could happen more. With the power of the internet, borders are blurring. And that's damn dangerous to those invested in maintaining the status quo -- because that status quo is mighty comfortable for them.)
The more this concept of borders (and you can define that term loosely) is threatened, the harder they will defend them -- with all the assets and power at their command. This can be formidable. But keep this in mind. Extremism exists just before disintegration. If you can stay calm and take the long view, what's happening now is actually a good sign.
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But I'm supposed to hold solidarity with the MAGA twatwaffle who wants to destroy my Earth for money and apocalypse, deny me rights, and use The Handmaid's Tale as an instruction manual, because ... I can walk to his house?
No, you're not. Some people may think so. Some may be so brazen as to tell you so. But, since I see you know the word, you can tell them to Fuck Off. (BTW, try walking to his house. See how far you get.)
What do borders mean in a world where values and beliefs and even truths are not agreed upon locally because we're not all meeting in the town square and reading the same news and hearing the same pastor pontificate on Sundays?
It means whatever it means in your mind. Period. And believe me, that's as far as it ever went. With anyone. Now or ever.
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What do they mean when our foods are imported from all over the world even when there's a farm that produces the exact same thing 30 miles away?
The "Buy Local" movement has power. It's important. Step up. Pay attention. Make your convictions count. Vote with your dollars.
What do they mean when our clothes all come from the same sweatshops and our music from the same producers and our books from the same publishers, translated into 30 languages? What do they mean when our jetlag includes lamenting about different international release dates for movies and TV shows?
These very things mean the world is becoming a global village. That is a good thing. It is. What you're so incensed about now (and I don't blame you) is part of the transition. You know that Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Well, this is what "interesting times" look like.
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What do they mean when a French TV channel makes a show in English (Versailles) about a French king to "gain a wider audience" because monolingual Americans can't be bothered to read subtitles and that makes a difference in FRANCE? It's the most arbitrary shit!
Actually, language is itself a "border" -- and an incredibly powerful one. Serious, serious troubles erupt over misunderstandings in translation. Clear communication between people is vital to any kind of workable consensus and lasting peace. To get along with you, I need to understand (on a running basis) where your mind's at ... and what you think. That's the very basis of cooperation and unity.
Now the production company that made this series may have been (probably were) primarily interested in profits. To aim for the American audience was just economically wise. But on another level, if they have a message to give -- or simply instruction on a part of their history -- making that more accessible to as wide an audience as possible also makes sense.
Full disclosure: I'm not likely to watch a subtitled series no matter how elegantly produced it is or how intriguing its subject. If I want to read, I'll pick up a book. If I want to watch television -- I want to concentrate on the nuances of facial expression, gestures, angle shots, etc., in other words the visual experience of it all. I don't want to have to be reading the script off the screen -- whose translation may not be accurate in the first place. Maybe that makes me a philistine, but it's me being me. Maybe someday, that will change, too.
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I am defined by who I am and what I believe, not where my mama was when she pushed me out of her vagina.
Ok. True up to a point. You have every right to claim your individuality -- and I sure encourage you to do that. But you are also (like it or not) defined in inescapable ways (for the moment) by the constraints and privileges that go along with your national origin. Some of those you clearly chafe against ... and some you may find pretty useful. That "individuality" thing helps you choose.
Fuck borders, and fuck nationalism, and fuck "American exceptionalism," and fuck taking pride in shit you didn't do ...
Oh, you're preaching to the choir here on this one.
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whether that's a nation or a sports team, none of whom are generally from where they play sports anyway. Why do people take pride in, for example, the Broncos, whilst bitching about non-native Denverites? How many Broncos were born in Colorado? I'mma guess not many. IT MEANS NOTHING.
I agree totally. I don't "get" people who identify themselves with a sports team. (I don't get "sports" period ... but that's another story.) I don't "get" why your team winning elevates you somehow as a fan ... and I sure don't get why your team winning a championship becomes an excuse to riot.
I also don't get how sane and sensible people can trample other people to death when Target opens their doors on Black Friday. But that happened a few years back.
Don't get me started.
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Place meant something when your ancestors had lived there for centuries or millennia; place meant something when your great, great grandfather built the farmhouse you live in and you only had to walk to the graveyard to pay homage to generations of your ancestors. Place meant something when your tribe lived there with you. But it doesn't now, for most of us.
True. And I think something precious has been lost in that. If I'd had my way, I'd still be living in the same town where I was born. And I would be a different person today if I had.
So why do we give a rat's ass what some dudes in suits a hundred years ago decided would be advantageous for their land grab?
I'm not saying it's right, but so far that's kind of how society works (because there's been no revolution to change it.) Even here on Steemit, power exists in the hands of those who mined, who bought in early, who did their version of a "land grab" at the right time. (Then the question becomes, why do the rest of us put up with it?)
What if the richest people on Steemit were the best content creators on Steemit? It would sure be a different place, wouldn't it?
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So my question is: how many of you have a sense of "place"? I doubt many Americans do - even if you are First Nations, the odds are pretty good the government stole your sacred places from you -- but thought maybe in other parts of the world, it still exists, where it wasn't destroyed by enclosure or industrial revolution, though I still think it's probably more rare than not.
Oh, I have a definite sense of "place." And it doesn't stem from being an American. I live in a place where I feel I belong -- like no other place I have found. There is no more apt word to describe how I feel. I belong here. I plan to haunt it when I die.
And if you have it, is it due to your ancestors' rank? Like, do you still live in the ancestral home because your predecessors were wealthy landowners, and didn't need to go to the city looking for work/didn't lose their land in enclosure/weren't starved out by famine or driven out by war?
No, it has nothing to do with that. My ancestors lived in Czechoslovakia, Illinois, Oregon, Arkansas and Texas. I live in the New Mexico desert ... and I belong here. I feel a similar emotional pull to Tennessee ... a state I have never set foot in. And to Scotland -- another place I have never been. But since my spiritual beliefs include the concept of reincarnation, I believe that explains those connections. But as far as "The United States?" ... no that's not part of it.
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I'm curious if anyone has it, what it feels like, and if you feel a greater tie to the idea of your "nation" (which also may be dependent on how old your nation is)?
The desert here embraces me -- with a feeling of family. I love it. (And there's a sense it also loves me.) I love its beauty. I love its wonders, its climate, its extraordinary sense of spiritual connection and solitude. In the way I love my pets and my partner, I love this place. Having found it, I'm not sure what would compel me to leave.
That feeling attaches to very specific regions of this place ... in the northern parts of the state. It has nothing to do with state boundaries. (Although I don't especially want this place to be annexed by Colorado or Texas. I've lived in both. Neither one of them "feels like" here.)
It's not in the south. It's not in the west. It's in the north. It doesn't define me politically or in the nationalistic way you've described. (I'm not a Northern New Mexican, don't-tread-on-me type.) I go back to the word "vibe" -- and that declaration that I simply belong here.
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So now that you've defined the problem about "borders," what do you plan to do about it? How will you live differently, how will you be different if you reject the idea of borders -- and the power that lies in that idea?
Those aren't smartass questions. Part of the answer has to do with changing your own mind (you're on the right track) ... and another part has to do with not re-electing the MAGA twatwaffle. (More disclosure. I worked hard to elect one of his rivals. And it wasn't the one whose major selling points were: I'm not Trump and I have a vagina. You can figure it out from there.)
has the world changed?
Although sometimes the background pictures in our visual essays support the topic and text, they don't always. Sometimes the connection is clear. Sometimes it's symbolic and subtle. Sometimes, there's no connection at all.
The scenes depict landscapes and natural features, buildings and wildlife. They were chosen because they show something lovely or interesting ... or simply because the photo appealed to me.
Our spectacular and remarkable planet is changing at astonishing speed. Rarely are these changes for the better. Few people seem to know ... or care ... or have the will and power to do anything about this. It may not be long before the world humans have known and lived in for centuries is forever lost. We certainly won't be able to make repairs as fast as we destroyed it.
So a few years ago I began collecting pictures of the way things were ... and still are for now, a record of the beauty we have while it is still ours to love and honor.
The photos here are part of that collection, with sincere thanks to the artists who saw these moments ... and with their cameras ... preserved them. All of us in our small section of the planet are profoundly grateful to them for their generosity and skill ... and for the added grace, depth and dimension their art brings to ours.
Original images used under this Creative Commons license or this Creative Commons license and modified by added text.
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