Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Remembering

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, December 3, 2018

Remembering

Click here to access article by Ghada Chehade from her website Ghada's SoapBox.

I can only read and understand her poems when I am not bothered by all the distractions that direct our attention elsewhere ranging from the maintenance of our personal lives to the more insidious and ubiquitous distractions of our capitalist world. I must be still and isolated from all these distractions, and I frequently find that it is quite a challenge.

I've long tried to listen to my inner voice in spite of all the pressures to conform to the norms of behavior and thought that growing up in a capitalist world entails. Such an orientation is not recommended if you "want to get ahead" in what Chehade and others refer to as a "rat race". However, it is recommended to those who struggle to live their own lives freely. What do I mean by this last statement?

Well, I think Chehade focuses on that in her poem. She finds it a struggle to listen to her own inner voice while living in a capitalist world in which so many powerful voices demand our attention. Most of us are overwhelmed by these latter voices which smother our inner voices to the extent that we lose ourselves in the melee. We often become like automatons which are programmed by our masters to think and act in certain ways. Jay Dyer has studied this phenomenon and has some interesting and helpful insights regarding this dilemma which Chehade expresses existentially in her poem.