How leftist are those in the academia or in the arts?

27 tammikuun, 2019 | Henna Timanttimetsä

My question rises from the strange continuous experience of hearing there are leftist professors who practice leftist ideology in universities and leftist theories are taught more than the conservative ones and that leftist politics is in use in universities. My experience does not back this claim: when system favours conservative mannerisms and silence, I am too radical and annoying, leftism is a lovely flower to look at, if you know what I mean. Marx obviously being one of the most interesting theorists there is what comes to labour rights, so it is only just and right that his theories are known to avoid situation which is present today, where him and his thinking is painted completely malaise, destructive, false and inaccurate. Propaganda is hurtful, disinformation, not trying to understand how better the living and working conditions of the working class. It is more than understandable to learn to know how theory has affected our culture and thinking especially through economics, which is fascinating. How the division is made between the two, left and right, often seems to happen by what and whom is assumed is leftist and heard to be leftist or thinks is leftist. What comes to being conservative, do your clothes tell as it is often times assumed by clothing to which camp you belong?

Art is thought to be occupied by leftists and feminists who look forward, are experimental, openminded and are open to ideas and new people, which strikes me as I should be popular in such an environment. I argue and question too much to be likeable and that is something to me which is characteristic to being politically and intellectually aware and functioning. Such questioning types are met with anger and critique is rendered as annoying complaining. To not question the education system in use, methods, theories etc. is not leftist, it is accepting the current situation of higher education, protecting careers and positions, which to me seemed to be more important than the quality of education provided. It is difficult to be the person who doesn’t go with the flow and like everything, put one’s own financial interests first as is common in the arts and think of people: what a good contact or whom to avoid. All these accusations of leftism ring odd as there is a true and wide gap there between the working class and the middle class and as all know it is still today not that common for someone from working class to enter university or the arts. My family still has hard time accepting my profession which to them is not a profession: how do you make money, your art is not art etc. There is a huge difference between the working class people and people from the middle class and for people not to think it is odd is odd and someone with working class background such as me, I am odd everywhere, because what is art and there are lot of people who have never met an artist and don’t even want to. This goes on and on. What has middle class contributed to leftism other than theory? Sympathy for the cleaning ladies and welders? That’s funny.

When I go to the environment where I as an artist am supposed to work at, it is not news I do not feel comfortable, welcomed, fit in etc. It is a strange situation and place, which conflict has led me do art that critiques the places of art, education of art, profession of the artist and I write about the paradoxes and clear flaws, intellectual and structural, there are in this field. Situation is stagnant and people like to follow the good old routes to success. Kissing ass? All the beautiful talks and looking like leftists, I am sure you are a very likeable person and will get lots of opportunities…why the working class people avoid and have disinterest towards contemporary art and distrust towards people with higher education? How many working class people do you know Mrs./Mister leftist professor and what are your leftist thoughts on how higher education could be valuable in other ways than just landing a high paying job? What I have witnessed is a mutual contempt and ignorance. For example telling what kind of professions I have done for a living, it is as if I had fell from outer space, poor you, or why don’t you apply for grants. Grants being, taught in university, the number one source of income for an artist, which also sounds very middle class. Are you sure it is good for the art and where does the money come from, who supports the arts the most? How to monetise art has not been ever an issue at any art school only in passing, maybe that is the leftist angle. It is a difficult thing to do, monetise one’s art, when most of the energy goes to realising newly invented ideas that hang in the air and mean nothing to anybody and to me they mean everything. How to monetise something that is your all? It takes character.

To place feminist critique upon feminism itself is very appropriate and needed. How to do it is another matter.

16 kesäkuun, 201613 heinäkuun, 2022 | Henna Timanttimetsä

The bashing of contemporary feminism gets nowadays an unchangeable tone or should I say what else is new. It is desperate yet in its despair forceful as it is surreal. For many feminism today is useless. Its points of views illogical, old-fashioned and untrue. It is to tear down institution of family, which as it is now, is a true comfort zone (see the sarcasm). Who would not want children, lawn and. According to men’s rights activists and fascists, to mention just a few, feminists hate men and boys, yes feminists are true haters, they disregard welfare of men and boys considering themselves only, feminism has no base in reality, their goals are unrealistic and disastrous and it, feminism, is an invention of hateful bitches who think they are better than, just to mention few juicy topics and ideas about feminism on Finnish social media.

When feminists start to speak they prove to all how useless and stupid the whole ideology is, they are irrational. What are these women talking about equality, rights and emancipation. All is well, or was before. Women who work for equality and for sexual rights again destroy something meaningful, solid and effort to change this godly state of ours is ruining the perfect welfare state, a nation and heritage, order of things as well as unity in our country. What unity? Country is getting more and more divided, of course, feminists are to blame. Noteworthy is how there must be a group of people to blame for all corruption and decline which would not exist and happen if there were not feminists and the left, women should stay quiet and at home. Let men do what men do without interruptions. What do men do? They are a pretty active lot. All blame falls upon those terrible feminists who destroy the good there is in tradition based patriarchal society, which can solve issues there may be in its own way, which issues are those? Immigrants, intellectuals, critics? We don’t have any issues other than unwanted people. Everything is fine, or was until feminists came. Men’s rights activists can talk about difficult psychological problems like alcoholism, depression, mental abuse and physical violence, bullying, loneliness, unemployment without women’s rights activists meddling in. Feminism causes disturbance and brokenness. Men truly dislike being underdogs, till the end the fight is against the left. Anybody who is against male dominance is a communist which is bad. It is bad to be a communist. (Yes this is a very rational argument.)

There is a lot of nerve to blame feminists for doing the dissolving of values our country builds on when women’s rights movement has played a huge part in building this country as it is now. Home, religion and Fatherland stay solid, how else, and for some they should stay unchanged and we rooted to them no matter what. It is men who have done all the building. There must be some pussy to bang though.

To tell you that home, religion and Fatherland so far have not been all about equality, creating well-being and prosperity for all and those holy units will change whether you like it or not, they already have. I can say I come from a very sexist culture where men set the boundaries, where femininity is weakness, women aren’t rational but emotional, where gay is a swear word, men are more often listened to over everybody else, they get promoted, their authority and expertise is relied on no matter how poor it is. I have been told how I should dress, have my hair, when to get pregnant, that it is men’s world where I as a woman enter, that I will never make it as an artist, I should choose the easy way, I should not say what I think, I should not object my given role as a woman, my place, I should not think for myself, be critical and I should smile more, my body is constantly under scrutiny, so is my clothing, what I do for a living and will I make a living, to be loud is very unfeminine, so is swearing, still there are jobs that are for men only, odd is to draw porn, my intellect, professional knowledge and abilities are always suspected and undervalued, the ones I must constantly prove and still since I am so difficult and almost non-existent I must be stupid. I am a body without a mind, any demand is whining and complaining, all the wrong I do is many times bigger than when man does the same, men can do whatever because they are men, I must do many times better if I should overcome a man and show I actually can do something well. Culture that does not evolve is a dead culture.

Feminists do this and feminists say that, mostly arguments are based on assumptions, hearsay, bias and worn out repetition which seems to be the old record people are afraid to discard and through away. Need a thumb to suck? To see feminists in bad light is a default deeply rooted in misogyny which hateful look on women pushes aside issues that are important for women. Things that are important to feminists like equal opportunity to healthcare, education, possibilities to use one’s abilities and be good at what one wants, human rights, abolition of child labor, justice, right to seek justice and defend oneself, freedom of speech, possibility to live free and in peace without threat. Constant sexism is a threat, constant suspicion and ridicule are threats and deny dignity and human worth.

Feminists make everything difficult when it could be so easy. It is too easy to kill, bully and torture. What about men then? Do feminists advocate men’s rights, is feminism doing anything for men? What a question one has to answer all the time. Men have been boys. Having been able to attend day care, school, to have balanced life at home, see that mother is well and able to take care of children as well as go to work has been the very result of women’s movement and feminism. Yes women can work elsewhere than at home and aspire careers. People, women and men, have ambitions, talents, dreams, future that hopefully is full of challenging and inspiring work. Especially children, boys and girls, benefit from feminism a great deal. It gives hope that to pursue one’s goals is possible. Well-being of mothers results well-being of children. Can men’s rights movement say having done the same? It is time for a deep sigh on a good day and on a bad one to shoot every one who puts feminism to dirt just because they don’t like it. Yes it opposes to machismo attitude which has caused trauma and damage to men, women and children, which is almost impossible to escape. Macho is to lock in and keep in captive, incapable to show vulnerability. Still to like feminism sounds like liking a dog, a good dog that wags its tail when you tap its head. Criticism is welcome, for most part it just is not very constructive. To play nice is not how it works or how results have been accomplished. To dislike feminism because of multiple reasons you have invented and believe are true is kind of childish and thinking hitting is what makes it all go away, because feminism and women’s rights movement just is unpleasant, unnecessary and annoying. To hate feminists is to hate progress and human rights. Feminism is raising strong opposition and the threatening atmosphere builds up quite easily between leagues and camps. There is no unison in sight.

What does it mean to be leftist? Calling of names or values?

4 huhtikuun, 201628 helmikuun, 2018 | Henna Timanttimetsä

What does it mean when somebody calls you a cultural Marxist in the meaning of you are an enemy of your people and common good? It is devastating and incorrect. To be leftist is never against people nor common good. If that is what leftists do, they are doing wrong. To be called an enemy is something communists, Marxists and all defined on the left more or less usually encounter. It is no surprise since deep division between political parties and views grows the more unstable world becomes, the more violent the world gets. To set an enemy for yourself, to those whom you represent with your world view and values in real life or only in your imagination seems to be a basic method of choosing sides which method is to create imbalance, argument, reality and more division there already is. Who is against you, against your political views, plans, what there is to get, your values, your safety and position is your enemy in this conversation and game, real and virtual, where winners are the most loudest bullies who have the nerve and attitude to crush anyone who is in their way. To be leftist artist can mean that to work in the industry successfully one has to bend one’s principles and values, professional field which is politically on the right which people working in arts do not like to admit, may even deny any political inclinations and sympathy. It is so that many philosophers discussed within arts heavily question fascist ideas and way of life, what is right and where to stand. You can be in the mist and not know what is what, think and say the other, do completely different. It is confusing, as it seems. Can business ever be leftist? If one is willing to compromise in a field where pretending is a rule and setting the mood and image right are more important than what lies behind, more important than standing behind values such as human rights, worker rights and intellectual progress, intellectual integrity, one can succeed especially financially. To be leftist who stands behind what is right it means one has to be vocal about issues, give straightforward criticism to those who may not want it but desperately need it and object to fascist progress of thinking and rock the fascist state of things which is manipulative, conservative, greedy, hindering progress rather than supporting it, exclusive, arrogant and hierarchical. Left means all what is said and done must stand the light of day and all things said and done are done within the frame of good for all, for all people. Everything is political whether you deny it or not, despite of you.

To me leftist is uncompromising when truth must be found. Left is against fascism. It is never fascist. It is against exploitation, abuse, manipulation, oppression and rule of money. It does not get intoxicated by power. Being visibly leftist on social media has appeared to be similar as being feminist. One is immediately labelled difficult and against something that left is not against in the first place. There are strict pools for right and left and far-right is a clear bully who likes to label those it calls enemies. To be leftist means sticking to one’s ideals and speaking out despite bullies, trolls, haters and gamers who throw dirt, threaten and shame without second thought because there is this enemy side to which all human right activists for some reason belong. There is strict division between those who seek common good and peace and those who look for causing harm and gaining benefit for themselves, self-interest and loathing belong together.

It is a strange battle in which knowing definitions most strongly defend radical change despite the thrashing of the name Marx and all of the left. From where things originate is essential to learn. Names and definitions are the ones that get thrown at you mostly by people who do not know better. Marxist is the swear word to many. Marxism an ideology a curse to be abolished. Maybe it is enough a reason to be a Marxist. Misunderstanding, that happened in the past, still defines Marxism which is as it happened more against the people and justice having created inequality that it was not to do. Was Marxism invented by Marx himself? By the outcome definitely not. What does Marxism mean, when it can be manipulated to be fascist? Merely that there are flaws in the philosophy or how it is understood poorly or not at all, definitely there have been and are flaws in the conventions of governing and implementing ideas as they are without manipulating them. Origins of hate, names, ideas and wars win and spin, what and who wins? When rulers get rich but people do not the state of things is not on the left, maybe looking in the direction of the left as it is deported to concentration camps and prisons silenced and bullied. To be leftist means knowing the roots and meanings of terms and ideas used. Terminology is a battle field, ammunition, accusation and fault as is history. History is a sledgehammer but we do not learn from it. To know who stands on the right and defends right causes one has to listen what people talk, also listen to those with whom you do not agree. Marxism and communism having had the heavy load of atrocities, misuse and abuse, massacres, lies, exploitation of philosophy and ideas invented to make revolution of labor, of working people and human rights does not mean the essential ideas are useless, they have been implemented in wrong ways. Why are thoughts that were made to give power to those who do not have power, to those who are powerless without means to rise up, deemed bad and corrupt?

Crowds will have power when they learn to know how to use power of theirs collectively and correctly for good building peaceful society. What are those teachings and how does learning happen collectively? What is the corrupt part, I wonder. Where does it, a movement, a revolution, go corrupt and why working class should not have similar rights as the bourgeoisie, depending what those rights are? Enemy today is the venomous history remembered as a heavy book, a burden which it is. History which easily repeats the fire and force of Marxism used poorly and violently against those whom it is supposed to help. The heavy book forgotten because it is too long to study. Socialism and communism do appeal to those who are the most oppressed and may look for vengeance seeking their power which has been lost. To be wise with the power of working class can be found, reason is there when one does not give power to hate. Change can be hopelessly total destruction even compared to reality experienced and escaped, complete turnover is lethal when there is lack of compassion and knowledge. Subtle voluntary change exercised by all willingly sounds like a dream. It means there shall not be any politicians who would seek absolute power. Social reform does not happen quickly in places where there is no history of power of the working people used for them and by them.

Where rulers slaughter people of their own and are intoxicated by power philosophers are merely hammers in use to justify deeds done in the name of working people and freedom. It is a complicated question what left is today because it is without teeth in front of unemployment, corruption, chaos in the Middle East and future looking somewhat threatening.

Political left is seeking profound change in Europe as it is broken and divided instead of being united. Prejudice and stigma that there hovers above seems propaganda and something people who still think like it is the 1990s like to keep alive. The very basis of left still remains for those who stand on the side of protecting instead of destroying: human value exists without ownership, without money, money is not the ultimate measure of life, possession does not tell of human value, people live and must be allowed to live free and in peace regardless of the circumstances they come from and their background, regardless of status, wealth, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, political views and occupation. It is at its core an aim to provide good living for all, a political ideology about sharing wealth in a way that there would not be handful of people who are enormously rich and there would not be a mass of poor people who cannot rise up because they are so poor and would be slaves to those who own the most of wealth and means to produce basic products, means to provide work, means to influence in politics and have power in decision-making. That there would not be poverty where there are no means to help oneself to rise up the ladder. Society cannot be set sustainably in a way that those who are the most well-off will survive and flourish because of their gained wealth and only those would prosper. If to make it would be and is so difficult in most of the world leftism has got work to do. When the only way to get ahead is that one should be equipped to fit and have wealth world will not be stable, people will not have stable healthy views on society and what being a human today is. Society that expects certain things of success, those who succeed have succeeded in advance, loses something important something that we cannot anticipate but will regret. It is variety, surprise and innovation that does not appear because of wealth but despite it. For all there must be tools to reach out for their dreams and succeed in life.