Re: <nettime> the silence on the rising fascism

[Louis Rawlins via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 22:31:26 +1100, sayeth paul van der walt via nettime-l <
nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>:

> Hey,
>
> Just wanted to chime in on something you said Brian, bit of a tangent
> maybe,
>
> On 2023-12-27 at 23:55 -05, quoth Brian Holmes via nettime-l <
> nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>:
> > Humanity is something that no one simply has by nature. Humanity is
> something that one must strive for, recover, repair, remake in every
> generation. There are no "just wars" - that is a self-serving and dangerous
> illusion. The only dignity is to break the silence in one's own self, and
> use the tragic consciousness of unjust violence and murder most foul as a
> force for ceasefire and negotiation.
>
> This reminds me of "The Invention of Humanity" by Siep Stuurman (which is
> a thick tome i admit i have only read about half of) which broadly traces
> the history of the genesis of the idea/awareness of "common humanity" and
> it's development from ancient societies through to the Renaissance.  He
> argues quite persuasively that, as you point out, the concept of "humanity"
> (and the realisation that "the other" in various contexts also is imbued
> with shared humanity) is anything but a "natural" state of affairs.  I
> guess that strengthens the argument that a populace should be provided a
> strong grounding in civics, since it's hard work indeed, to achieve a state
> of humanity.
>

Considering Paul's response, this headline caught my eye:

Environmental crisis is an effect of capitalism, not of humanity, says MST
leader João Pedro Stédile
https://www.mstbrazil.org/news/environmental-crisis-effect-capitalism-not-humanity-says-mst-leader-joao-pedro-stedile

May we all learn what humanity means for each of us collectively.

Peace,  Louis
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