What are the institutions and authorities that need to be made understand power of people? Aren’t they the same institutions that deny power from people, who make us feel we do not have the kind of power needed? Institutions that are and stay corrupt, make decisions from a delusional shell without having understanding or interest in what is going on outside that sheltered shield of bourgeoisie comfort, buddies who promote each other, support each other’s causes and think they are doing good because they are smiling. Especially important rebellion is when people themselves are made believe they do not have power, when they are scared and future seems endlessly horrible and hopeless. Every action that is out-of-order becomes meaningful when people are afraid to behave out-of-order manner, are afraid of being stigmatized and left outside. To be left outside can be devastating and it can be a relief. One can think one is left with nothing if one thinks one is nothing. It can be powerful experience itself to understand how that nothing becomes something. A place where one can learn to understand what power lies outside and inside oneself, within outsider position from where one can say the unsayable and do against freely, finding out what doing freely is. One stops being afraid of loneliness, hurt, cold and darkness, unlearning community pressure and lure of money, unlearning dictatorship of money. It is a place of innovation. We are so obedient that we stay silent when we should be shouting, we should be doing something instead of watching and standing by as destructive forces rule and do damage which is difficult or impossible to repair. There are people who have infinite belief in their power and correctness of their cause that they become blind to anything else.
Actually what Bush comments is pretty impressive.
Biggest issue of all in making change are people themselves, those people who get offended when their views are contradicted and questioned. The same people who think their power is in not changing, in believing the way of life they are grown into is holy, healthy and thereby correct. There are people who need to be made understand power of theirs and also powerlessness which lies in thinking we are made to live like our parents and follow the same path as consumers, workers and citizens. Power of consuming, moving, thinking, acting out, pretending, playing roles and power of working people is in thinking they do not have power other than that of an individual in ready-made society and playing it safe. How every decision we make have consequences is something we fail to believe as important. We are horrified by disasters but to acknowledge our culture as destructive on individual level is still slow and we are unwilling to see it, lazy to change our behavior. The consequences are severe and close by, they can be far away geographically so we do not sense them, they are not our concern as the smell is not in our noses. It is not irrelevant what we do and do not do. It is not meaningless we do not say and act against oppression, act against bad decision-making and think about our action in everyday life. Our comfort should be threatened because otherwise it will be too late to do anything.
What kind of power do people living in slums have? Is it the same kind of power than that of people who live in the suburbs have? Do we feel as powerless, unhappy and alone or are people in slums having advantages people who take care of their own businesses in suburb don’ t have? When people work together it is powerful and changes happen fast, issue is how people can be made to work together to benefit quality of life in general. Community has to want the same kind of change and believe it is possible. To organize such action needs an effort from above, by authority which is not corrupt and works for the people not for authority. Authority exists for community to work properly from below and on grassroot level. Meaning of administration and law is to make society just and orderly not corrupt and criminal.
People living in destitution without education without means to make their lives better maybe give up and wait other people to give a hand as those who have it better should. People who are weak because they are burdened by unnecessary every day struggle which could be easily helped, for people to feed themselves, find shelter and work can be tasks which take all energy. How can the poor better lives themselves when tools for climbing up are either taken away, non-existent, costly, when rest of the society does not care how they manage? When rest of the society is building fences and fancy apartment buildings for those who have money to pay. When money which is meant to help the poor flows into pockets of administrators and crooks? How do the impoverished feel year after year seeing the same shit happen and situation of theirs not changing for the better even though there are charities and Western helpers having their fancy projects? How should they feel is angry. How can they better lives behind fences when everything has a price tag and to live in a certain neighborhood is a stigma, a stench and a shadow, tourists wanting to take pictures. When owning stuff is your worth, when only when you can show off with luxury and look fly with possessions you are treated like a human being perspective into living and valuing life are greedy and an ongoing habit of mind. All that one has to get fast. What kind of values and deeds will make the poor rise up from their situation? As I understand crime is and has been the way up. Destitute areas are infested with crime and filth. We of course are worried how traumatised children will get, how early will they grow up, will they get their education and have dreams to reach out for.
Yes we are worried how things look and we have to do something. mostly we are patching up leaks giving instant relief. What does the surface of things look like, what is it and how we react to it? Lots of money flows, scandals are revealed. Money is what makes things happen in a certain way but we do not need a lot of cash to repair the broken core issues that need to be repaired and are necessary to live a dignified life, still there is a lot of money somewhere circulating. What does it do?
Majakollektiivi Timanttimetsä 