Mmm, natacha, I wasn't trying to suggest that 'be spiritual' is the only answer
or that spirituality is about anything but one dimension of an (some)
individual's worldview.

And also, I stopped working for Big Oil in 1985, partly because I saw directly
what their role was in the greater Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) in the
developed world, and being on the ground in several places in the Global South
to see the brutal effects of extractive exploitation. When that MIC is literally
the water I swam in as a small fish, growing up in the US, it takes time to
begin to see that water and see it's global and local effects. My understanding
of my privilege has grown, perhaps too slowly in some eyes, but it is both a
sliding scale: there is always someone with more privilege, and always someone
with less. I personally see no solution to this problem except in a
personal/community/global process of education, honest sharing of worldviews,
open human encounter, and dialogue. I have no more interest in setting morality
standards for anyone than I have to set technological standards for global
technological propagation.

The US has always been an insanely violent society and continues to be, with
much of that violence hidden or occurring remotely through military projection
and extractives processes outside the country. Very few Amurikans are fully
aware of this (the water they/we swim in), as you can see in the current
manifestation of that violence against the Other. But that violence permeates
the entire society and every body in that community. As I have frequently
expressed in a generality about the US: There are three freedoms in this
society: Freedom to shop; Freedom to be gunned down in the street, and Freedom
to be lonely.

As for threats to community, yes, a mining prospect *anywhere* does that quite
dramatically. It is an intractable problem—also of that same violence. This is
occurring around the globe even more than in the past, given human consumption
levels. What about threats to water? Air? Yes, these also are direct threats to
community. To suggest that I am somehow blessedly free of such threats because
of privilege is not so nice. As a co-author on a state-wide science research,
"the Colorado Groundwater Atlas" I helped educate people and extend a warning to
all the community members here that the groundwater situation is extremely bad
across this entire state (as it is globally also). That care for water is
desperately needed.

I also realize that, as someone trained in science and analysis, that my
language may be off-putting. I do try to moderate that, and I am sorry that I
did not do that enough in my previous note. It does cause some friction with my
partner as well :-( If it seems too disruptive in the context of this mailing
list, please let me know off-list, and I will drop away ...

and if anyone has an interest, I have been participating in portraits of
thousands of people encountered over the years, including one of the last(?)
gatherings of bricoleurs in Helsinki in 2013 ...

portraits: https://neoscenes.net/blog/category/images/portrait
and
bricos: https://neoscenes.net/blog/?s=brico -- some portraits and some test and
audio fragments from that gathering ...

And about the apocalypse: I recently got attacked by all-knowing Ted B. on
nettime for mentioning a personal view on the concept of 'apokalypse' which I
have explored in my art work -- that the word is a compound of 'apo' (to remove,
uncover) and 'kalupis' (a covering, the veil over a bride's eyes). An apocalypse
is an instance where the world or reality is seen in its primary essence --
beyond 'normal' vision. I particularly like this definition as it seems to be
extremely positive, active, and personally transformational (as opposed to the
Christian Right's view of it making everyone subject to their catastrophic
worldview). It also fits my experience with care-full encounters with
hallucinogenics (maybe I shouldn't mention that as another manifestation of my
ignorance of privilege).

back outside to move some of my compost system before the ground freezes.



On 11/18/24 5:50 AM, marija nikolic wrote:
> Even as the apocalypse looms, we must remain anti-apocalyptic: resilient and
> action-oriented. By renouncing at least some of our privilege—whether by
> exposing injustice or resisting imperialism with collective altruism rather than
> mere individualism—we affirm what it truly means to be human
>
> We’ve done it before.
>
> @Rob, I'm in for joking at the bricolab workshop :)
> A guide to anti-apocalyptic dialogue? or
> An anti-apocalyptic memo?
>

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