I’ve talked about sloth, gluttony, envy and pride this week; proscriptions to work instead of play, accept a sparsely filled larder, resist comparisons to others and do all this meekly, were, I believe, given in one form or another during tribal, feudal, or modern historical times (capitalism and socialism, as enacted, alike.) They all came with the promise of some better life at some future point (and in some future realm if you believe in heaven.) Clearly something is needed to regulate human interaction before all hell breaks lose when competing for limited resources. Or resources that someone does not want to share, even if there was enough for all, in principle.

So if a world is structured by inequality, exploitation and effacement, how do you live a right (a good) life? I am picking up here on Judith Butler’s writings who, in turn, works on this very question originally posed in Adorno’s Minima Moralia. Perhaps you know her as one of the most famous American scholars of feminism. She has since turned to thoughts on how we can live with each other, in a world divided by nationalism, resentment and hatred, a fear of change and a return to autocratic longings.

Reading her texts is rough going, I admit, (the title of one of her recent books alone speaks of that….Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly) but the link below outlines an interview that I found clear and thought provoking, particular in light of our selective attention. Just think about two concurrent disasters – the rains in Texas and in SouthAsia. Close to 2000 people have died over there, rarely do we notice while discussing the plight of Houston.

https://theotherjournal.com/2017/06/26/worldless-without-one-another-interview-judith-butler/

Butler claims that we need to acknowledge our interdependence and our vulnerabilities in our interactions with those who are different from us; however, we have the opportunity at this historical moment, to seek change towards a less hierarchical and discriminating world by allying with those we traditionally shunned. In a world sliding into ever more precarious circumstances for an ever increasing number of people we can engage in a politics of alliance and make progress by living with each other, together, performing resistance not for personal liberty but for collective change.

My take-away, then, is that rather than worrying about the deadly sins, I should pour my energy into being part of a movement that is accepting, inclusive and hell bent on making this world more just. First step in that direction today: make my voice heard about the nixing of DACA. It might put my soul in limbo, but my conscience in just the right place.

Photographs are work in progress on the Refugee/Mobility series, showing (mostly) isolated figures in transit.

PS: Between Labor Day and travel next week blog will be catch-as-catch can.