Day 420, May 11, 2021

Re-Constructs

Tonight's soundtrack: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Brian Blade, JazzBaltica 2004

Last night I wrote about surviving well. I wonder if, in addition to the mentioned forms of well-being, material, occupational, social, community, and physical, if there are other aspects of well-being that we need to be more attentive to for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. 

I suppose on one hand, one can say that those five forms of well-being are universal human experiences. But there is something different that happens with the dynamics of a nation where there are ingrained power dynamics that are founded in homogeneity, majority rule, and whiteness. It sets a prevailing norm that we all, BIPOC and non-BIPOC alike, need to check ourselves all the time. Are the constructs here designed to help all people, or just a subset of people? Do these constructs reinforce inequities, or do they actively work to diminish them? Do we understand the repercussions of our rules and actions? 

The default social construct in the United States is to maintain the status quo, the norm that was established at the founding of our nation, which is to reinforce the power of White men. It is only by a conscious reassessment and revision of those social constructs that we are able to alter the hegemony. What is often unclear is how deep one must dig to reach the foundations of his hegemony. Of course, the answer is, deep. 

But there are also examples where there are places, activities, that transcend the social constructs, that have adopted alternative social constructs that, at least at certain levels, are able to leave behind some of the constructs that emphasize, reify, or strengthen inequities. Watching the Hancock quartet performing in Germany, I am struck by the way those musicians exist in their own social construct, their own negotiated structures, at least while on stage and performing. 

If we deconstruct any of the aspects of well-being, material well-being, for example, the concept is always more complex than just a simple right or wrong way of doing things, of being. There is the legacy of what we inherit or do not inherit. There is the legacy of laws that prevented ownership, or enabled the taking of assets. There is the systematized disenfranchisement of people through laws and the enforcement of laws that were not designed to create a stronger or better society, but to assuage voters or people with power. As we dig deeper, material well-being begins to be rooted in the legacy of race in this nation. Who gets to claim the resolution of basic needs? Who has access to resources needed to better achieve material well-being? It has always confounded me that it takes money to make money, that it takes money to save money. How can it be ethical to charge students interest on their federally funded student loans? How can it be ethical to charge a higher interest rate for a person with a lower wage job when they buy a house or a car? We are purposely making things harder.

For those of us who do have our basic needs met, it is an easier (yet not easy) proposition to engage in "downshifting," where one purposefully steps back from the incessant drive to earn more, work longer, and own more things (See p.19 in TBTE) and opt into a lifestyle that prioritizes other needs. 

Within the construct of community economies, I am drawn to the idea of a diverse economy, that a true reading of an economy, and therefore any system, is that there are multiple ways of being all in existence all the time. In the economy there are capitalist, non-capitalist, and alternative capitalist activities all in constant play. So too, when we look at something like material well-being, there are many ways to engage in downshifting that may or may not read initially as downshifting, but there are ethical choices being made nonetheless. I think of parents who make particular sacrifices for their children, sometimes immigrating to different countries to ensure their children have different options for their future. I think about the work of grandparents, I think of the relatives and friends who work hard, and play hard, and do both outside of the more mainstream visions of a rat race. When I was working with a group of people researching the creative economy, we found the same thing. Artists and artisans work as much or more than people we typically think of as hourly wage earners, but they just prioritize different kinds of things for well-being. Some people worked multiple part-time jobs because they enabled a freedom to pursue their art on their own terms. Others sacrificed degrees of basic needs so that they could prioritize art making, because for them, art making was a more important aspect of well-being. It was a basic need. That said, none of the artists felt this was a healthy tradeoff, but it was an essential one.

I think we are all engaged in these ethical choices when we decide what we go into debt for, what we can spend money on, when we choose to live in a house rather than a camper, yurt, or tent.

I am exploring these ideas not because I disagree with the 5 elements of well-being, but because I want to embrace them whole heartedly and need to understand what the underlying assumptions are and recognize where my own imagination or perception may fall short or fail to comprehend the fuller picture.

All through my childhood, my parents mailed checks home to their parents, up until they were able to come to the US and join their children. It was a responsibility, but also a choice. It was a recognition of sacrifices made, of respect, and of duty. It has to do with culture and cultural beliefs more than a conscious ethical choice. It is a social construct that existed for the first generation of immigrants as they traversed this new world.

As we imagine a community economy, a diverse economy, we need to be intentional to imagine those practices too, and the different ways well-being might look like.

But is there an archetype of the perfectly balanced vision of well-being? What can our Earth sustain? What can our communities sustain? Perhaps this is an infinitely variable thing. 

Suddenly my salutation to, "be well," takes on different responsibilities and choices.

So, as much as there are universal elements to our humanity, I hope we can explore those and make them stronger.

Take care and be well,

Leo



From Our Friends:

From the Five College Center for East Asian Studies:

Human Geography of East Asia: Contemporary Views Online Short SeminarJuly 19-23, 10am-noon ET each day (10 contact hours). This short seminar is intended for K-12 educators who already have some experience with teaching and learning about East Asia. Participants who attend all sessions and respond to required daily discussion prompts on Moodle will receive seminar books, a small stipend, and a one-year subscription to Education about Asia. Open to anyone who will be a K-12 teacher, specialist or administrator in the 2021-22 school year. Registration will close when the limit of 30 participants is reached. Details and registration.






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