Patrick headed into the forest this week to record some thoughts about what is happening to the intention and meaning of the diversity and inclusivity movement.
Here’s the (12 minute) audio,
and here’s the (12 minute) video.
As always your comments are appreciated and most welcome.
On a 10000 year time scale, we have seen a radical contraction in diversity. Reduced to a minute number of languages, political economies, theologies, etc. Facing this poverty of inputs, a recent trend has been to call for diversity of inputs to decision making. This effort was always going to have trivial success when the nominally diverse have all had the same acculturation. What you are pointing at is a broader picture of what is required in a healthy/ecological system. Real diversity.
Thanks David, yes we agree – a radical contraction in diversity is well underway.
While neoliberalism/global capitalism sings the praises of Indigenous cultures, and champions individuals from those communities at arts festivals and the like, these global-political mechanisms simultaneously see to the homogenisation of these peoples by expropriating their culture into the machine of hypertechnocivility.
It’s this continuation of colonial forms, which began in more recent times with bringing ‘exotic’ folk to London in the C18th or showing off the exploits of empire at the Great Exhibition in 1851, that we so object to.
Under such group-think everyone, ultimately, must think and act and live like a city and become increasingly disconnected from Country and thus from themselves, as extensions of Country.
Thank you for your thoughts… I really resonate with what you said. I have felt an increasing sense of division amongst humans and also a real lack of curiosity, patience & love. I feel the political agenda to push industrial inclusivity and diversity is often damaging and actually at the heart very exclusive and dogmatic. I believe that true inclusivity, diversity & ultimately an earth & humans that flourish needs to be rooted in love & cyclical principles of nature, not in political business where the rich get richer & more powerful & the earth gets raped and people are divided & fearful. thank you for this conversation from the forest xx
Thanks Chloe, thank you for your thoughts. The polarities we are seeing appear to derive from an aggregation of base behaviours, where reactivity is rewarded and wise responsiveness ignored. This has occurred due to the absence of diverse forms of eldership. Eldership has been systematically destroyed by global capitalism, in a Dorian Gray drive for eternal youth and frippery. Long live curiosity, patience & love.
Thank you for opening up this conversation w/ such grace & care. It feels timely to me, having been increasingly troubled watching how anyone questioning the agendas & implications of, say, the corporate-driven trans rights program is promptly condemned as transphobic in pretty much the same way that those declining the Covid vaccinations were labelled antivaxxers & lumped w/ violent far right extremists.
Dont know what it is Patrick,you have a way with narratives,to explain curiosity over 12 mins,that makes me feel almost inadequate,but grateful for the feeling and knowledge it and you bring.
Thanks Gary!
Yes, that’s right Shane, the shame-labels keep flowing to steer mob morality. It’s only a matter of time before people start getting locked away for holding divergent views. It’s coming, extreme homogenisation works like that, especially in politically naive countries like Australia and New Zealand.