So what is it when you see society as a series of interlocking systems and institutions whose primary mission is to perpetuate those systems and institutions, often in cruel and inhuman ways, but almost always subtly, barely perceivable by those who are enslaved by the ideology of those systems? (Edit: I’m not entirely totalatarian/bleak about this; there is room for human connection even in a gulag.)
I think it starts with birth, when our parents decide to have children for their own ends. Then we are assigned a role inside that family system–savior, scapegoat, healer, mediator, surrogate parent, etc. We are taught how to see the world, to see relationships, in ways that benefit the family system. It’s not abuse, it’s love. We are taught to shut down, to not listen to our own voices, because to be independent, to see that the family system is there to serve itself and not you, the child, is emotionally- and maybe life-threatening.
Then it continues in school. In the most pessimistic systems, teachers–whatever there original desires to teach were–are there to fulfill metrics, and those that meet metrics are rewarded, and those that do not are punished. Your role isn´t to learn about who you are, or to develop as a human, but to fulfill the metrics the teachers have. Teachers who take time to learn about you or foster your growth as an individual are eventually weeded out.
Then maybe you go to work, maybe professional work. Your first job is to make your employer feel good about themselves and make them look good to THEIR superiors. If you are in a profession, your other role is to affirm the legitimacy of the profession. You are never to acknowledge that the system is corrupt, that the institution is there primarily to serve itself.
Then in our personal lives, in need of companionship, we make an arrangement with someone else: “I’ll be who you want me to be if you be who I want you to be.” And when this fails to satisfy us, we decide to have children, and the process continues.
I don’t have much hope. Yes, I do think a French-style revolution will somewhat reset the clock on capitalist exploitation, but ultimately, this is just HUMAN behavior. As long as we live in a society, we will create systems and institutions, and we will sacrifice our individuality to gain the protection of those systems and institutions. It is a cycle only escapable only by a few individuals, and at great cost.
So what is this called?
I’ll drop my personal experiences in a comment below because I’ve already shared the highlights before.
There surely must be a BEST way to care for each other, though? I think my way of caring about other is clearly superior to your way. /s
I’m not a my-team/your-team type person, or, at least, I want the broadest “team” possible, starkly contrasted. For instance, I used to go to an open mic at an LGBTQ coffee house. I thought being a leftist minority with an interesting personal history would be enough to get me “in”, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t be accepted, probaby because I was too old for most of the 20-somethings. I personally feel a kinship with anyone who has been excluded, but it seems like most people don’t identify with anyone who hasn’t been excluded for the same reason. “What we learn from being excluded by others for who we are is to form our own group to exclude others for not being exactly like us.” I think I’ve shared that with you before (?) but I low-key hate humanity now.
I used to be very defensive about criticism, but now I crave it; largely because I can (better) consider criticism without taking it to be devaluing my humanity. I’m playing some songs tonight, and I’m curious what other musicians think, but I’m very happy with what I’ve done, so I would be looking at their criticisms as, “What could I do to improve this?” and not “I suck and everyone hates me.”
But, and again I’m sorry to retread things with you if we’ve already discussed it before, but my willingness to critique was a fatal liability in my last job.
Your lumpenprole-believer is a bit of a funny example; I’m sure those guys are out there. Terry Pratchett has a delightlful takedown of a certain brand of communist revolutionary who has absolute contempt for the people they are trying to “liberate.” I think maybe a more interesting example would be the type of person that thinks killing villagers to terrorize them into supporting the revolution would be a more apt test of your tolerance.
I think the problem with V is that what he really is a combination of Nietzschean Superman and avenging spirit, and the anarchy is just sort of tacked on… But there doesn’t seem to be very many good guides to Anarchism–maybe because it’s more of an approach than a program? I’ll have a look at your book. But I do remember the anarchists at the turn of the century, I learned about them in highschool, but they never really taught us what they believed–which is a curious oversight, no?
Re: Mutual aid. I know what it is, and I also social welfare agencies love to get on bandwagons, so they’ll reframe a clothing drive as “mutual aid” when there’s really nothing mutual about it.
I’m going to dig around to see if I can find that podcast I was listening to. Check for edits.
Edit: Check out this podcast: Understanding Homelessness Podcast https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/understanding-homelessness-podcast/6502775 via @PodcastAddict
Episode 6, I think, is the one that talks about organizing groups for self determination.