 Episode One: “Can’t We Just Tweak Things a Little?”by Kerri Coombs Jan 10 2020Is capitalism a holarchy or a hierarchy, what’s the difference, and who cares?I can’t begin this series without a quick overview of holarchy. The building block of a holarchy, a “holon”, describes a complete entity that is also part of a greater whole, which is also a complete entity. For example, you’re an individual, but you're also part of a family, a community, and a nation. Each of those entities is a holon in its own right. A set of holons is called a holarchy.
Holarchic theory is what you might expect if a batch of Russian nesting dolls spawned a love child with a Venn diagram. Capitalism is not designed to respect the integrity or nourish the wellbeing of all the different holons impacting your experience of life. It more closely resembles a system designed by male chimpanzees to establish mating and foraging rights—male apes kowtow to stronger males and thump on the weaker ones to protect their position in the pecking order. It’s no coincidence that capitalism is starting to crack now that people other than violent men have a say in how our society should be organized. After winning a century of battles for representation and inclusion, it turns out non-aggressive people don’t feel super comfortable with cultural norms that were established tens of thousands of years ago to broker social cohesion between males through the medium of violence and intimidation. For most of recorded history, coercion and violence has been the norm, manifesting many different toxic holons rooted in male primate aggression and sexual competition—holons like feudalism, colonialism, neoliberalism, monopoly, financialization and oligarchy. With such a track record, it’s hard to even imagine what a social system deliberately designed to nurture whole people, whole families, whole communities and healthy nations might look like—the social contract female primates might write, if they could. Nevertheless, since the spring of 2020, that’s what I’ve been up to, and I have a laptop.
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 If you have existential late stage capitalism ennui you need help to work out, @ me at any of the social media links below and I'll be more than happy to opine. ~ Kerri Coombs Brett Asks:"I've been really struggling to find someone to explain the evils of identity politics to me." Kerri Answers: Is it reasonable to believe that human selfishness is and will always be the inescapable foundation of our social contract?As much as I love David McRaney for the challenge his blog poses to many of my misconceptions, one of his archived posts touches on a subject that winds me up.
It seems to be a cherished myth for those who would prefer not to reflect on the social and ecological cost of their lifestyle choices that there is no escape from the relentless onward march of global capitalism. There is no rebellion one could engage in that impacts the big picture, no message one can communicate that isn’t fraught with hypocrisy and naivete, no behavior one can exhibit unmotivated by raw self-interest. In McRaney’s (truncated, emphasis-added) words:  I've always fantasized about having an advice column. Over many awkward conversations, I've learned it's an irritating trait to inflict on my family and friends, but I just LOVE telling people what to do. A recent interaction I had on Reddit reawakened this dream and I thought, why shouldn't I do this kind of thing on the GCA blog? If you have existential late stage capitalism ennui you need help to work out, @ me at any of the social media links below and I'll be more than happy to opine. ~ Kerri Coombs Daisy Asks: "I just feel like such a failure. I am 31 and still working entry level roles. I can't seem to grow a career further than this. I have tried at different organisations but I always seem to get overlooked and end up at the beginning again. I am ready to take on so much more but I can't seem to get there. I feel like such a failure in life and I just can't shake this. I know I should be happy, because all aspects but one in my life are great, but when you spend most of your time at work, just feeling cruddy all day, it's hard to leave it behind. I guess I am seeking advice from anyone in the same boat or previously in the same boat. How did you change your circumstances or perspective?"
Hard times is here and everywhere you go
Times are harder than ever been before You know that people, they are are driftin' from door to door But you can't find no heaven, I don't care where they go People, if I ever can get up off of this old hard killin' floor Lord, I'll never get down this low no more When you hear me singin' this old lonesome song People, you know these hard times can last us so long You know, you say you had money, you better be sure Lord, these hard times gon' kill you, just drag on slow
"Dear Mr. Tom Jacobson.
How are you? At this time fine I hope. Well, Tom, I am doing the very best I can. Work are very slow now for me. It has been 5 or 6 weeks since I have did any thing at all. You know just how I stand now. I already have bills on hand, there is more to come, and I cannot hear anything from my manager at all. Nothing in sight, as yet. Now, I really appreciate the picture. I think it's very nice. Also my wife loves it very much. The records will not be released until August, so I learned. Just as soon as they come out I will let you know. So bye for this time. Yours Truly, Skip James" Letter to a Tom Jacobson, June 13, 1966 "Perhaps it is not what one is searching for that one could contemplate over for greater joy and self-knowledge, but what one is avoiding. Accepting the fact that unpleasant feelings (those things I tend to avoid) are hardwired into being human helped develop my capacity to be with the undesirable moments in life and not wander off subconsciously into fantasy land, a place I have been to many times. Reminding myself within such moments that emotions and thoughts, like moments, are transient, and quite beautiful each in their own way, has also eased the inquietude of certain points in time.
Within a joyful moment it requires very little effort to notice and observe the pleasing effects this state has on myself. Within a moment filled with fear and/or sadness it can be a bit more difficult to see the beauty of such emotions, but its there. The power these emotions have on my entire being fascinates me almost every time I am experiencing one of them. From the change in thought patterns, to the intense physical sensations, to the transformation of my perspective on people, places and things, remaining present to observe and experience these once overbearing feelings has become an engaging and amiable reality. I want to say a lesson in the self within each moment but that’s a tad banal for this posting. A genuine connection to one's life sounds better. All of these sensations and neurological systems (and so much more) within one delicate human, its too amazing not to be awestricken. What kind of world would we live in if all people had, or chose to develop, the capacity to be with fear, sadness and anger? I will remind myself of this post the next time I have trouble sensing the beauty in a painful moment." ~ Jennifer Aberman, 2015 Visit Jennifer's website.  I took a chance on a kid I made friends with on Twitter not being a shady criminal, sent him a bit of money and made him a website so he wouldn't have to use Twitter to try to help his community. Lamin and his family sent me this lovely thank you and I'm all choked up.
http://worldofmoms.ca is the website. I hope to add other families in need around the world, for those who prefer to help families in need directly without any gatekeepers or middlemen. ~ Kerri Coombs Paul "Bam" Akehurst creates minimalist artworks to combat depression and anxiety.
They are free to use for logos, banners or backgrounds.
"I’ve witnessed over and over that there are still billions of people, doing billions of little things to make billions of places better each day. Even though we see humans f*cking up the planet, I see more people each day NEVER GIVING UP ON IT!!! That’s what the song is all about!" Song is available on Stay Human Vol. II & Stay Human Remix EP (Including clean version for kid-friendly version)
You beautiful people made my week.
Thanks for tuning in last night. Happy 79th, Bob Dylan! ~ Ji Sharp (Road Waves) |
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