(no subject)
I discovered this Tolstoy parable through Kevin A. Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy, that perfectly fits into my world view of the moment, and it's also beautifully poetic. It goes like this:
I see mankind as a herd of cattle inside a fenced enclosure. Outside the fence are green pastures and plenty for the cattle to eat, while inside the fence there is not quite grass enough for the cattle. Consequently, the cattle are tramping underfoot what little grass there is and goring each other to death in their struggle for existence.
I saw the owner of the herd come to them, and when he saw their pitiful condition he was filled with compassion for them and thought of all he could do to improve their condition.
So he called his friends together and asked them to assist him in cutting grass from outside the fence and throwing it over the fence to the cattle. And that they called Charity.
Then, because the calves were dying off and not growing up into serviceable cattle, he arranged that they should each have a pint of milk every morning for breakfast.
Because they were dying off in the cold nights, he put up beautiful well-drained and well-ventilated cowsheds for the cattle.
Because they were goring each other in the struggle for existence, he put corks on the horns of the cattle, so that the wounds they gave each other might not be so serious. Then he reserved a part of the enclosure for the old bulls and cows over 70 years of age.
In fact, he did everything he could think of to improve the condition of the cattle, and when I asked him why he did not do the one obvious thing, break down the fence, and let the cattle out, he answered: "If I let the cattle out, I should no longer be able to milk them."
This relates quite wonderfully to what Kenneth Rexroth calls the "social lie", or the way in which societies are governed by tactics of deception in order to maintain a hierarchy of exploitation and servitude. I've found this to be true in nearly all the history of the modern political world I've come across, which has resulted in a general uneasiness which I've developed toward even the most principled of politicians and political activists, even the ones I use to support with only a bit of doubt . I see electioneering as a dead end, which isn't to say I have an answer that would act as the ultimate alternative or even that it is entirely impossible to affect real change through voting, but I've been considering this a lot since I came across Karl Hess' life changing The Death of Politics and I'd like to take myself out of the process/division as much as possible, because in the end it breeds so much negativity with so little to show for it all.
I see mankind as a herd of cattle inside a fenced enclosure. Outside the fence are green pastures and plenty for the cattle to eat, while inside the fence there is not quite grass enough for the cattle. Consequently, the cattle are tramping underfoot what little grass there is and goring each other to death in their struggle for existence.
I saw the owner of the herd come to them, and when he saw their pitiful condition he was filled with compassion for them and thought of all he could do to improve their condition.
So he called his friends together and asked them to assist him in cutting grass from outside the fence and throwing it over the fence to the cattle. And that they called Charity.
Then, because the calves were dying off and not growing up into serviceable cattle, he arranged that they should each have a pint of milk every morning for breakfast.
Because they were dying off in the cold nights, he put up beautiful well-drained and well-ventilated cowsheds for the cattle.
Because they were goring each other in the struggle for existence, he put corks on the horns of the cattle, so that the wounds they gave each other might not be so serious. Then he reserved a part of the enclosure for the old bulls and cows over 70 years of age.
In fact, he did everything he could think of to improve the condition of the cattle, and when I asked him why he did not do the one obvious thing, break down the fence, and let the cattle out, he answered: "If I let the cattle out, I should no longer be able to milk them."
This relates quite wonderfully to what Kenneth Rexroth calls the "social lie", or the way in which societies are governed by tactics of deception in order to maintain a hierarchy of exploitation and servitude. I've found this to be true in nearly all the history of the modern political world I've come across, which has resulted in a general uneasiness which I've developed toward even the most principled of politicians and political activists, even the ones I use to support with only a bit of doubt . I see electioneering as a dead end, which isn't to say I have an answer that would act as the ultimate alternative or even that it is entirely impossible to affect real change through voting, but I've been considering this a lot since I came across Karl Hess' life changing The Death of Politics and I'd like to take myself out of the process/division as much as possible, because in the end it breeds so much negativity with so little to show for it all.