Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Sustainability as Resistance to Oppression and Exploitation



I was reading Henry Giroux's latest essay: "Neoliberalism in the Age of Pedagogical Terrorism" Counterpunch https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/22/neoliberalism-in-the-age-of-pedagogical-fascism/ where he describes the challenge of launching an informed energized vision of the world for which we want to struggle, as he explains in the excerpt below:
.... the lack of mass resistance to oppression signals more than apathy or indifference, it also suggests that we don’t have an informed and energizing vision of the world for which we want to struggle.[2] 
Political struggle is dependent on the political will to change, which is central to any notion of informed agency willing to address the radical and pragmatic issues of our time. 
In addition to understanding the world, an informed public must connect what they know and learn to the central task of bringing their ideas to bear on society as a whole. 
This means that a critical consciousness must be matched by a fervent willingness to take risks, and challenge the destructive narratives that are seeping into the public realm and becoming normalized.
I am always moved by Giroux's observations and advocacy.

I propose the "sustainability" narrative as the "Informed and Energizing vision of the world" that we must be willing to take risks toward. 

I like that sustainability is broad enough to include both our own and other life forms. I like the systemic level of analysis and I like the way it can inflect the macro and the micro, the structure and the psyche as in sustainable international and interpersonal relations.

See my introduction to sustainability available at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6fuvbeihdrur5z/Sustainability%20Workshop.pdf?dl=1

Unfortunately, the effort to re-consolidate mass media control occurring now with new search algorithms and de-ranking of "polarizing" ideas will squash efforts to disseminate alternatives to consumerism, fetishized violence, and jingoism....


A World Worth Preserving....



12 comments:

  1. I used to read Counterpunch until I found that most of the articles were indigestible without going to a lot of trouble. Things haven't improved.

    I imagine there are a vast number of people that wish Marx had never been born including the maid he impregnated and then kicked out of his home. Of course many of his detractors are dead as a result of people who like Marx himself did not understand the world but decided to change it.

    To understand the world is a great challenge and likely to keep one busy through a whole life time. The more one understands the less one is inclinded to make changes. It is a humbling experience. So it is usually youth or immature adults who rush to make radical changes.

    Mr Giroux could use a bit more pedagogical as there was no violation of the Constitution either in Kavanaugh's nomination or confirmation. I guess he just threw that out to sound mysterious and erudite. And of course Trump is the heart of darkness. While he may have accumulated a decent amount of intellect in some area Henry is emotionally pretty immature.

    Proto-fascist? Why not just say I do not like the man. Did Hitler start out as a proto-fascist and then develop into a full grown one? Maybe an Ur-fascist?

    The people who like Henry Giroux write for Counterpuch used to pop up in the novels of Graham Greene. Interesting.

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    1. Ad hominem attacks and baiting do not mean much. Today and yesterday, there were bombs being sent to many people in the country from rightwing nuts and possibly the Trump group itself. Girouxs article nails it but, does not go far enough. Israel is openly bombing Palestine. Trump is backing out of the intermediate range missile treaty to make smaller smaller and more usable nuclear weapons. It will also set off an arms race. This is just madness.

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    2. Giroux is just not very bright or well informed. If a Democrat wanted to make the Republicans look bad (like sending bombs to Democrats), then people like you would buy in immediately.

      I just do not know where these people like Giroux get their education or their training in writing which is poor. Reading Counterpunch over a period of time, say a year, will definitely cause some brain damage which would show up on a decent brain scan. Maybe Dr Daniel Adams will consider doing this as he did for the pro football players. He suggest various things to overcome the damage. You might want to check it out. Actually today's conventional education does create serious brain damage which is very noticeable to older people who avoided this mental violence.

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    3. Trump Picks Former Monsanto Executive to Lead US Fish and Wildlife Service
      By Mark Hand, ThinkProgress
      24 October 18

      Conservation groups describe Aurelia Skipwith's nomination as "business as usual" for Trump administration.

      resident Donald Trump announced late Monday that he intends to nominate a former agrochemical industry official to lead the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

      The selection of Aurelia Skipwith, who worked at Monsanto for six years, to head FWS carries on a Trump administration trend of filling top environmental regulatory positions with officials from companies regulated by the agency. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Skipwith’s duties will include enforcing federal wildlife laws, protecting endangered species, managing migratory birds, and conserving and restoring wildlife habitat.

      Environmental and conservation groups largely condemned Skipwith’s nomination, noting that she spent the past year and a half at the Interior Department helping to oversee the administration’s dismantling of wildlife and national monument protections.

      Skipwith worked for seed and pesticide giant Monsanto from 2006 to 2012, finishing her time at the company in its corporate affairs department. Skipwith currently serves as deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks at the Interior Department, where she is responsible for the protection of lands and water in national parks and the wildlife refuge system.

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  2. How those pushing nuclear power (e.g. Sweden in the 1980's) latched onto CO2 as the enemy. Professor Richard Lindzen Climate Lecture 8th Oct 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YChDGFC1xKs

    Nicely scientific.

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    1. The world pushes tons of Radium , Polonium, Radon, Uranium into the environment every year. That is from fracking . That is from refining petrochemicals and fossil fuel. That is from burning coal and fossil fuel. There are alternatives. Recent titanium battery technology, makes it possible to run grids, on renewables. Much cheaper than burning things for energy.

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    2. Can we assume you scrupulously avoid using coal, gasoline, natural gas, etc. That when electricity is needed you use batteries, How do you power your computer? I imagine making titanium batteries involves some carbon based fuel?

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    3. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/us/fbi-white-nationalist-robert-paul-rundo-rise-above.html#click=https://t.co/egQp81TysX

      So funny . white nationalist flees to the people he hates in central america

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    4. They say there are 120,000 homeless children in the NYC area. That means there are 4 times that many.

      Millions homeless in America 10 million or more.

      Rent is unaffordable for most from jacked rent . That's from the housing crisis of 2008. It was never really resolved. There is still economic hardship. Wages low. Rent and houses high.

      If they cut Medicare 70 million will have no healthcare. Many of those will go bankrupt or die.

      They are throwing people out of subsidized housing, in places where it is needed most. They willcut social security. t here will be tens of millions homeless and unemployed from that.

      Those people will Be thrown into the streets to compete for jobs or starve. 50 million or more.

      The true unemployment in many places is 15% because, so many quit looking for jobs since 2008. Those people's over- stressed families will bear a lot of burden if they can.

      They say the poverty level is 50% for children in America now. When the fascist republicans are through:unemployment will be 50%. Homelessness will be 30 % or more and 75% of the kids in America will be under the poverty level.

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    5. Here is something to watch which will make things here seem almost paradisiacal: People's Century Part 10 1939 Total War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVRoHKG5UI

      These were done in the 1990's and done very well.

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  3. "People's Century Part 11 1945 Fallout"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBr3fWDtzPY

    This is a very rewarding look at the early years of the Nuclear. Like welcombing the Black Death without knowing it.

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  4. Thank you all for your comments. I've never seen the People's Century but will be watching it for sure!

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