11: A Provisional Outline for Basic Social Dignity
At the front of my mind everyday is the question of how to collectively resist the oppressive and ecocidal structures operating in transnational configurations while not creating a monolithic and totalizing sovereign power that homogenizes the plurality of world cultures. Of course this is somewhat laughable because I’m barely even able to answer, what am I going to eat for breakfast? A widely shared, collectivized form of politics seems essential to regulate the extrastate actors that are most responsible for the climate disaster, social misery and mass extinction event underway. And it seems too late in the day to continue dividing the social and ecological into separate sites of struggle.
The simple act of defining what should constitute a bare minimum of social dignity is actually a challenging exercise. I’ve gotten comfortable with critique, perhaps because it’s often self-appointed and assumes a perched and privileged juridical position. And sometimes it feels urgent in its aims. I also enjoy the deep attention and particular kind of poetics it occasions. In this regard, I’ve become perhaps too enamored with the aesthetic dimension. It has become an almost poetic fetish, or a cerebral stimulant. I feel like I need a 12-step program for critical cultural theory.
As writing becomes outmoded, it’s difficult to commit oneself to its practice, especially with the austere-feeling commitment to concision and accessibility. Since David Graeber passed I’ve been engaging his work with a renewed interest. He was part of my friend group and, regretfully, his thinking felt too close to give serious attention to while he was still alive. What I’ve come to really appreciate now is the clarity with which he delivers his generous thinking. The story of Bullshit Jobs is a fascinating contemporary study. What started as a casual opinion piece in a left journal https://www.strike.coop/bullshit-jobs/ turned into a viral phenomenon translated into many languages and then a subsequent book and series of talks, interviews and podcasts, which I think are the most enjoyable and effective mode for him. Like this one for the Hidden Brain:
If each age and culture has its foundational axioms that largely determine its constituents lives, perhaps our struggle, especially from a position which feels devoid of an meaningful political agency, is to shift the cultural imaginary. I’ve decided to commit to text what I think should be a model for a baseline, which is not to say my ideal society, but rather a pragmatic approach to creating more equitable conditions for a life with dignity.
A provisional outline for basic social dignity
Access to mobility; all persons can choose where to live or travel to search for a better life Access to hospitality; all persons can receive basic accommodations and healthy food Access to time; no-one should be coerced to give their life and labor in order to survive Access to health care; a basic form of health care is provided to whomever needs it Access to diversity of culture and ritual; as long as those cultures are not coercive Access to mutually sustaining ecosystems through the protection of biodiversity Access to education, libraries, and cooperative search and social platforms
A provisional outline of urban infrastructures
An immediate commitment and transition to renewable energy sources Cities dramatically reduce their accommodation of automobiles Cities designed to have more green space, parks and plazas Cities commit to well run public transportation
A provisional outline of rural infrastructures
An immediate commitment and transition to renewable energy sources Public transportation made available to access towns and urban areas Access to physical and digital goods and services like high speed internet Transition to more dispersed and diverse forms of sustainable agriculture
Notes on automation
As automation and other technical modes of production continue to make redundant many forms of social and animal labor, the soliciting of needed bio power will be on radically different terms than the exploitative models developed under industrial capitalism and state sponsored communist-capitalism. If human labor is required, the terms of its non-coerced agreement should look very different, with greater compensation and far less time commitments. If animal labor is required it should be in accordance with animal rights that treat all beings with compassion and dignity.
Notes on vocation
The end of coercive labor practices does not mean that people inclined to work on the projects they find meaningful will be limited. They will have their time back to decide how to use it. Be that pursuing the projects they find most significant, spending time with loved ones, educating themselves or otherwise contributing to the socioecological good.
This points towards something like a universal basic income and unrestrictive borders.
