One of the many reasons I have grown to appreciate interviews with Arundhati Roy over the last year of what I'm calling her book tour is that, in contrast with many speakers at conferences and interviewees, I never have the feeling she is trying to sell me something. She speaks in a calm, collected voice, full of knowledge, experience and occasional wisdom, without being desperately full of herself. One of my favourite sayings is, so far, goes something like "The most successful revolution was the secession of the rich onto a global planet, wherefrom they cannot see the poor. There is no more India, no more USA, no more Europe- there is planet Rich, then there is planet Poor, and both are global."*
A month or so into what may be a new normal, my life is still pleasant- with some adjustment, I am, so far, privileged in this absence of change and an ability to follow the crisis as I would follow any news story of global impact. Except for the nagging in the back of my head telling me that people are contagious. I feel like asking it "so what else is new?" by now- people have always had the side effect of rubbing off on you. There is something new to be careful about, but, so far little else has changed.
On Twitter, which I have returned to using, I keep reading** calls for an ahistorical approach*** to the COVID-19 event, which I find surprising. If this is as historic an event as it is being made out to be, surely it is worth exploring in the unfolding and aftermath- no matter how much rubbish "art" and entertainment it will inspire. To ask for it not to be dealt with in such a fashion is, in a way, to pronounce your complicity in the master narrative, which may not be questioned. It is to say: I do not want to bother to be reminded where I was at that time, how my experience differed, how my privilege allowed me to navigate this event largely unaffected, my future secure, my position in society unchanged, even enhanced. I did not have to deal with the troubles of the people who had to continue working in public, who risked their lives caring for the sick, the infected, those who were called "essential"- it is to admit you do not want to be reminded that, while a good part of humanity worried about their future, you were able to ride it out with little or no inconvenience and food delivered to your doorstep, secure that a respirator would be waiting for you in case of emergency. In short, it is to admit that you have enough capital not to need to concern yourself with such paltry pandemics and their effect on most people.
This very compressed time should be examined from a number of angles in the aftermath, beginning with legal and executive decisions made by governments, corporate entities and the lacuna between the two that is ideally unseen. I am interested in expressions surrounding expectations toward the future, experiences in what is currently the present, an intersectional documentation from many points of view- if the future is upon us, we should understand how it came to be, and which steps led us there. We deserve to understand which decisions were made by those in power, who protested them, which friend we lost either to the virus, or to the idea of social distancing. An ahistorical approach to this kind of monumental event forgets and forgives, or pretends to, but does not allow for retrospective analysis.
Beyond the silly demonstration to reopen hairdressers so that "Karen"**** can get a much-desired haircut, beyond explorations of a plethora of accompanying facts, beyond early calls to maintain democracy, questions about reporting- there are many questions to be asked here. One of the first is: how much of what is going on is actually COVID-19 and how much of it is people of all walks of life spinning their own version of a narrative around it? Excuses are always welcome- no matter where you are in life.
Planet Rich is being launched into space, disconnected from the worries and troubles of Planet Poor- most of their uses will be taken over by robots soon enough, anyway. We can do most of the work we do from home, anyway, and our homes are big. A few will be kept around for decorative or shopkeeping reasons, and reasons of personal grooming.
Meanwhile, Planet Poor is left to fend for itself in a new world in which resources are even more constrained than they were Before, in which labour is a risk you have to take, more so than Before, and the only common languages are currency and various forms of violence.
The sad thing is that this is not dystopian sci-fi*****- it is, in many parts of the world already the reality of gated communities, withholding papers from house servants, a reverse view of systemic failings, and importing 40000 workers to harvest Aspargus to sell at €17 a bunch******. It is apparent in money governing politics and elections being reduced to a hopeful (or deeply ironic) ritual, in decisions made to move public money into private hands, in national programmes designed to benefit those who have a lot at the expense of those who, mostly, have much less.
The power that comes with wealth is more noticeable in "developing" countries (I have to include the US in this category), than it is in the home countries of their former geographic and current economic colonisers. I don't understand Asian economies well enough to comment, but I imagine things are similar there- we are, after all talking of Planet Rich. The wealth gap becomes more visible and invisible at the same time, as urban centers become spaces of lucrative business contrasted with the poverty of those who are condemned to walk the streets, absent the economic power to partake in the wealth that blatantly surrounds them. There is such a thing as a shithole county, but if you can afford it, the country clubs are nice.
Without getting into human rights and numbers, police violence is more prevalent, incarceration much more frequent, laws are different- the violence that power exerts is more visible in those countries. This does not take into account private security forces, or terrorist attacks, or higher crime rates. People get paid less, generally- ideas of minimum wage, or universal basic income are far removed from the realities of day labour, beggary and informal work. If we consider ourselves wage slaves in the West, how must labour and work feel to someone whose work contract, if available, is much closer to actual slavery?*******
Centuries of extractive colonialism have their benefits- hundreds of years of wealth accumulation enable some countries to offer their national******** populations more economic support, allow them more freedoms- of expression, movement, demonstration, and decent health care, generally. This ability is being eroded quickly by the current mode of economy practiced, as nations focus once again exclusively on their economic interests to the detriment of the populations they are currently generously supporting. It remains to be seen what is left of such support after the first wave of the current viral crisis passes.
Like most things of such scope, the crisis we are dealing with is primarily a socio-economic crisis, before taking into account culture, race, genders and any other intersections- it is a macro crisis. As we see in the politics of the day, many questions that are of concern in the short term- maybe to the point of overshadowing the importance of day-to-day life with other humans- have made way to further-reaching, more existential questions. The main one, as yet, seems to be where to go from here.
Planet Rich may have just lifted off. You may not have heard it from where you are.
Part VIII of the current IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs
Part VII of the Current IGAF: A Narrative of Healing. Questions
Part VI of the current IGAF:Disappearing the inconvenient.
Part V of the current IGAF: Money, Politics and People- Distributing Profit a bit more fairly
Part IV of the current IGAF: Dystopia
Part III of the current IGAF: Keeping a shop open
Part II of the current IGAF: How are we going to pay for THAT?
Pic Source: The streets via https://wasistklassismus.blackblogs.org
* I am probably misquoting slightly.
** Reading in a philological sense- I have my biases, but am aware that things can be taken out of context.
*** For fairness' sake, I may be misreading this exchange slightly. But the point stands- we need to talk about this, and deal with how we dealt with it individually and collectively. And yes, at first it will be a nightmare, but this is the one crises in which as many voices as possible should be heard. And again, the reminder that cultural participation is not economic participation.
**** I feel very sorry for all the women actually called Karen.
***** It has been the subject matter of dystopian sci-fi since its inception, though.
****** Reportedly. I'm boycotting the damn stuff.
****** One of the stories that shocked me in 2020 was the use of inmate labour to combat forest fires. In New York 2020, prison inmates, paid 65 cents an hour, produced "New York State Clean", a hand sanitiser they probably never got to use themselves.
******* In this particular case: card-holding, bona-fide members of the state- this excludes refugees in homes, homeless people, and those already on social welfare.
******** A random note on colonialism: as resources shift and are occasionally created, the focus of colonial extraction changes. This does not erase its history, rather, it continues it.
******** I really should start using superscript numbers again. Asterisks are fun and quick, but cumbersome to read.
I'm going to put this here, as it's a good, somewhat related, read- Filthy Lucre
 |
| Carers at their limits- now more than ever. For €2400 and some chocolates? |
On Twitter, which I have returned to using, I keep reading** calls for an ahistorical approach*** to the COVID-19 event, which I find surprising. If this is as historic an event as it is being made out to be, surely it is worth exploring in the unfolding and aftermath- no matter how much rubbish "art" and entertainment it will inspire. To ask for it not to be dealt with in such a fashion is, in a way, to pronounce your complicity in the master narrative, which may not be questioned. It is to say: I do not want to bother to be reminded where I was at that time, how my experience differed, how my privilege allowed me to navigate this event largely unaffected, my future secure, my position in society unchanged, even enhanced. I did not have to deal with the troubles of the people who had to continue working in public, who risked their lives caring for the sick, the infected, those who were called "essential"- it is to admit you do not want to be reminded that, while a good part of humanity worried about their future, you were able to ride it out with little or no inconvenience and food delivered to your doorstep, secure that a respirator would be waiting for you in case of emergency. In short, it is to admit that you have enough capital not to need to concern yourself with such paltry pandemics and their effect on most people.
 |
| Homeschooling on your Mom's Macbook? Or between your complaining siblings? Home school is not the same for everyone. |
Beyond the silly demonstration to reopen hairdressers so that "Karen"**** can get a much-desired haircut, beyond explorations of a plethora of accompanying facts, beyond early calls to maintain democracy, questions about reporting- there are many questions to be asked here. One of the first is: how much of what is going on is actually COVID-19 and how much of it is people of all walks of life spinning their own version of a narrative around it? Excuses are always welcome- no matter where you are in life.
 |
| Property is safe in a crisis- Jobs and salaries are not. Landlords continue earning while many can't afford to pay rent. Rent Strike now! |
Meanwhile, Planet Poor is left to fend for itself in a new world in which resources are even more constrained than they were Before, in which labour is a risk you have to take, more so than Before, and the only common languages are currency and various forms of violence.
The sad thing is that this is not dystopian sci-fi*****- it is, in many parts of the world already the reality of gated communities, withholding papers from house servants, a reverse view of systemic failings, and importing 40000 workers to harvest Aspargus to sell at €17 a bunch******. It is apparent in money governing politics and elections being reduced to a hopeful (or deeply ironic) ritual, in decisions made to move public money into private hands, in national programmes designed to benefit those who have a lot at the expense of those who, mostly, have much less.
The power that comes with wealth is more noticeable in "developing" countries (I have to include the US in this category), than it is in the home countries of their former geographic and current economic colonisers. I don't understand Asian economies well enough to comment, but I imagine things are similar there- we are, after all talking of Planet Rich. The wealth gap becomes more visible and invisible at the same time, as urban centers become spaces of lucrative business contrasted with the poverty of those who are condemned to walk the streets, absent the economic power to partake in the wealth that blatantly surrounds them. There is such a thing as a shithole county, but if you can afford it, the country clubs are nice.
 |
| The Economic crisis leads people into the trap of HarzIV. Those on social support are scorned by society. |
Centuries of extractive colonialism have their benefits- hundreds of years of wealth accumulation enable some countries to offer their national******** populations more economic support, allow them more freedoms- of expression, movement, demonstration, and decent health care, generally. This ability is being eroded quickly by the current mode of economy practiced, as nations focus once again exclusively on their economic interests to the detriment of the populations they are currently generously supporting. It remains to be seen what is left of such support after the first wave of the current viral crisis passes.
Like most things of such scope, the crisis we are dealing with is primarily a socio-economic crisis, before taking into account culture, race, genders and any other intersections- it is a macro crisis. As we see in the politics of the day, many questions that are of concern in the short term- maybe to the point of overshadowing the importance of day-to-day life with other humans- have made way to further-reaching, more existential questions. The main one, as yet, seems to be where to go from here.
Planet Rich may have just lifted off. You may not have heard it from where you are.
Part VIII of the current IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs
Part VII of the Current IGAF: A Narrative of Healing. Questions
Part VI of the current IGAF:Disappearing the inconvenient.
Part V of the current IGAF: Money, Politics and People- Distributing Profit a bit more fairly
Part IV of the current IGAF: Dystopia
Part III of the current IGAF: Keeping a shop open
Part II of the current IGAF: How are we going to pay for THAT?
Pic Source: The streets via https://wasistklassismus.blackblogs.org
* I am probably misquoting slightly.
** Reading in a philological sense- I have my biases, but am aware that things can be taken out of context.
*** For fairness' sake, I may be misreading this exchange slightly. But the point stands- we need to talk about this, and deal with how we dealt with it individually and collectively. And yes, at first it will be a nightmare, but this is the one crises in which as many voices as possible should be heard. And again, the reminder that cultural participation is not economic participation.
**** I feel very sorry for all the women actually called Karen.
***** It has been the subject matter of dystopian sci-fi since its inception, though.
****** Reportedly. I'm boycotting the damn stuff.
****** One of the stories that shocked me in 2020 was the use of inmate labour to combat forest fires. In New York 2020, prison inmates, paid 65 cents an hour, produced "New York State Clean", a hand sanitiser they probably never got to use themselves.
******* In this particular case: card-holding, bona-fide members of the state- this excludes refugees in homes, homeless people, and those already on social welfare.
******** A random note on colonialism: as resources shift and are occasionally created, the focus of colonial extraction changes. This does not erase its history, rather, it continues it.
******** I really should start using superscript numbers again. Asterisks are fun and quick, but cumbersome to read.
I'm going to put this here, as it's a good, somewhat related, read- Filthy Lucre
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