I can’t do it alone, and yet, I am still sold on doing it alone The past couple of years have been a big wakeup call as I realize the scale community organizing requires to survive the new normal. My world perspective is rapidly shifting from “life is more fun with community” to “life is unmanageable without community”. The thing that’s really getting me though, is that it doesn’t feel like we’re moving into a more communal reality. Bell Hooks highlights a similar trend post the Vietnam War “Confronted with a seemingly unmanageable emotional universe, some people embraced a new Protestant work ethic, convinced that a successful life would be measured by how much money one made and the goods one could buy with this money. The good life was no longer to be found in community and connection, it was to be found in accumulation and the fulfillment of hedonistic, materialistic desire. In keeping with this shift in values from a people-oriented to a thing-oriented society, the rich and famous, particularly movie stars and singers, began to be seen as the only relevant cultural icons.” (All About Love) Similarly, in 2024, while our streets are raging with war, climate catastrophes, gender discrimination, expanding maternal care deserts, and where the majority of young people report experiencing profound loneliness, I’m being served instagram ads for AI hotties that will text me AI nudes and Mark Zuckerberg celebrating that he designed a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Minivan. Side rant: I am upset by the mere fact that AI sexting apps are allowed to advertise IG, while any sexual content created by a human would be banned and censored. |
