June 03, 2006
Absolute Power, Just Doing Its Thing
I awoke this morning to an interview with David Brion Davis, historian, Yale professor emeritus, and author of "Inhuman Bondage: the Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World". His book credits much of the successful establishment of the United States to it's extensive use of slavery. I only listened to a snippet, in which Professor Davis called the abolition of slavery a "willed moral achievement" that was brought about in less than 100 years. I also heard the word "econocide" for the first time. (Evidently, it refers to something fairly specific in British abolition, but I think it could be put to excellent use right now.)
The inspiration for abolition did not simply come from those who could see the hypocrisy of living in a "democracy" founded on the principle of liberty for all, it came in response to the Fugitive Slave Act in which aid to runaway slaves would have been felonized-- even in the North -- (akin to the government's current attempt to felonize aid to illegal immigrants). The Fugitive Slave Act was itself a terrified reaction by slave owners to the success of abolitionists in England. The abolition of slavery spelled "econocide" to the South.
Professor Davis reminded us that when one person has absolute power over another, it almost inevitably leads to corruption and dehumanization. He traced the orgins of slavery to the domestication of wild animals, and examined the question "Which comes first the ideology or the act?"
Here we are again folks, in the middle of a power grab extraordinaire, in which absolute power is, once again, rearing it's ugly head -- sadistic torture in the prisons, major election fraud , the stripping of rights from women and minorities, the loss of privacy in every sector for the average citizen, the siphoning off the treasury to the very rich, the rape of the environment by corporate interests -- you name it, we got it.
As for the ideology, take a peak at the Federalist Society's goals to make abortion illegal (oppression of women) banish affirmative action (keep women and minorities in their rightful place). Dominionism and Fundamentalist religions, now rising in popularity, famous for their apalling treatment of women and children, and for the exclusion or marginaliztion of non believers. Ye Ole Absolute Power is at it again.
And this adage doesn't only apply to the corporatacracy and the fundamentalists. I spent part of yesterday reading (online) "Stripping the Gurus" by David Falk who looks at the effect of absolute power in the ashrams. Guess what? Absolute power seems to have the same effect on the holy easterners as it has had on the holy westerners.
Alice Miller, the Swiss psychologist, argues that traditional childrearing practices that make use of power to control children are at the root of abuses of power in society. I would argue that conscious childrearing might begin to include educating our children to understand their own darkness, and the wish to project it onto others, like slaves, gays, Jews, Iraqi civilians, Muslims, illegal immigrants, even Saddams, rather than examining their own dirty little psyches, and learning to sublimate their primative impulses.
The inspiration for the "willed moral achievement" of abolition, was provided when those in power overstepped their authority, and threatened the liberty of ordinary citizens. Perhaps it helped those ordinary citizens to appreciate their relative freedom, and identify with those who had no rights, lending impetus to a "willed moral achievement" in spite of the threat of econocide.
We are ready for an immediate "willed moral achievement". The greed and corruption of this adminstration, the current political system, organized religion, and large corporations have been laid bare, so that we can see the hideous effects of absolute power, right here in the USofA, as well as in Libya and Iraq. More and more civil rights of ordinary American citizens are being compromised and violated. I'd say we have the perfect conditions to inspire an immediate "willed moral achievement", even though it may effect our economy negatively. The preservation of our environment, our consciousness and our humanity are much more important.
That's quite enough thinking for a Saturday morning.
Photo note: Oh, I don't know. Something about the light and dark, the shadow of the light flamingo, and the contrasting head positions inspired a loose association. Let's face it, this doesn't meet the standards of a metaphorophoto.
As Desmond Tutu said , in relation to witnessing the abuse of absolute power, "If an elephant is standing on the tail of a mouse, and you declare your neutrality in the dispute, the mouse will not thank you for your neutrality."
Posted by Dakota at June 3, 2006 06:40 AM