The big picture.

Preamble.

I hadn't blogged twice in a day for months. Then Maha made a comment on Twitter. It was a response and a appreciative comment to a blog post I shared with her.

There isn’t and never has been “A big picture” only ever moving, solitary and ephemeral collages... “A big picture” is a lie.

— Simon Ensor (@sensor63) April 8, 2019

The big picture

Sorry this is an inane rant.


So this (the map above) is the (a) big picture.

This is a perspective that I was brought up with.

This is a perspective that I was educated with.

My father was born in 1907, the year on the map of the World.

It's a big world made smaller with all of that pink.

The pink here represents the British Empire.

The pink represents the worldview of some people in 2019, they still hark back to it in their attitudes, arrogance, their bank balances and their politics.

[BREXIT]

[JOHNSON, FARRAGE, REES AND MOGG]

[THE COMMON (cough) WEALTH]

There is this idea that all of this and all of that land belongs to "us" and not to "them".

That is the big picture - power.

[POWER AND CRICKET AND AFTERNOON TEA AND GREENWICH MEAN TIME]

BIG PICTURE = BIG POWER.

Power built on military domination, torture, slavery, expropriation, exploitation, land of hope and glory, "Christianity", Inanity, songs, prayers and lies.

"OUR HISTORY" - THE BIG PICTURE.

PROGRESS THROUGH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

PROGRESS THROUGH FREE MARKET EXCHANGE.

PROGRESS THROUGH DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM.

(Altenatively: progress through Chinese Communist Party etc )

PROGRESS THROUGH SUPERIOR VALUES.

There are still people who hold onto an irrational reverence to science being an explanation for all.

[I had a class with people who told me this only a few days ago...]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational hope in strong men being an answer to politics.

[TRUMP, PUTIN, BOLSONARO, ORBAN, MUSSOLINI, NETANYAHU, HITLER, etc]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational bigotry that white people are innately superior.

[WHITE SUPREMACISTS, KKK, etc]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational belief in their "god" granting them the right to kill.

[TOO MANY TO MENTION]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational belief that humans are simply men and women and nothing in between.

[TOILETS, GENDER CORRECTION SURGERY]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational belief that Western societies are built on meritocracies or goodwill.

[LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE, THE STATUE OF LIBERTY]

There are still people who hold onto an irrational belief in "individual success", the primacy of the individual.

We love stories of good and evil.

[AXIS OF EVIL, GOD the DEVIL]

We love ideas of heroes and villains.

[MANDELA - MANDELA]

We talk of saints and monsters.

[POPE(S)]

The big picture is a comforting lie....for those who like the picture.

[GOD SAVE THE QUEEN THE FASCIST REGIME, THEY MADE YOU A MORON]

We love our myths, our legends, our narratives, our plays with neat beginnings and endings.

POWER NOW INCLUDES PINK POWER!!!

Of course now, if we wear rose tinted spectacles,  we might think of pink representing a new trendy, liberal, more caring Britain.

Uncomforting Exceptions to the big picture...

Somewhere in all of that pink there is a little land called Brunei.

"The British" no doubt found support for a pet exotic, a Sultan convenient.

They kept him sweet over the years with Eton, baubles, bullets and flattery.

They oiled the wheels of his Rolls Royces, with the oil that came cheap.

They fêted his presence in their big picture with our majestic Queen.

Now that ex-pink has it in for all the pinks present.

Brunei introduces death by stoning as punishment for gay sex

Big picture of big building.

Post scriptum

Sigh. Yes Simon. I meant the context :) I think I can get my head around your writing when I interact with you for longer periods of time, more immersive... but when it's decontextualized, it's beauty i don't fully understand but still appreciate

— ℳąhą Bąℓi, PhD مها بالي 🏵 (@Bali_Maha) April 8, 2019

Sigh, sometimes, often even, we get sparked by comments and words taken out of context.


(It's been too long a while that Maha and I have not interacted)

Sparks can light candles or bonfires.

I fear that the story in the Guardian about a tiny country and its tyrant will spark more islamophobia and more "big pictures" with more big headlines.

I wonder when we will be able to appreciate the beauty in people's expression of spirituality, or sexuality, the value of all people over that of oil, pf the value of life over material possessions, of the reality of our common humanity, and to accept a more equitable, more complex, less graspable, less controlled, more moving collage.

Post post scriptum.

The big picture is that this post is a mark of individual privilege and servitude- a few data points for those who have access to the means to interpret "big data" and use it for their ends.

Looking at all that blue doesn't make me yearn for the pink but makes me wonder how it will affect the stories people will tell their children...

Footnote and conclusion.

We are indeed slaves to what brings us freedom....

Diffusion of responsibility...

What a gorgeous spring day it was for the assembled anonymous flag wavers, people watchers, souvenir hawkers...Her, Him, HRM, George Clooney and I.

We do do it so well, don't we?

Pageantry.







Let us pray, stand, or kneel by ceremony.

Pageantry.

Heavens they even invited a black gospel choir!

STAND BY...
ME!

OH! Moving it was.

OH HURRAH!

God save the Queen!

Lime green, behatted, b.well conserved, granny.

What's not to LOVE?

We do do it so well, don't we?

Pageantry.

People slept in the streets...

They were moved on.

People slept in the streets.

They stood to cheer.

Hurrah!

Pageantry.

Let us pray, stand, or kneel, or lie perhaps, by ceremony.

They have updated the brand a bit.

Heavens, they even elected a black president!

Heavens, they even invited a black preacher!

He dared to "touch on civil rights" even!

He dared to speak to POWER!

Of "Power" "Real Power".

“I'm talking about some power, real power, power to change the world ... If you don't believe me there were some old slaves in America's South who explained the power of love."

Curry continued, 

“They sang a spiritual even in the midst of their captivity. It's the one that says there's a balm in Gilead, a healing balm."

FREEDOM.

He quoted from Saintly Martyred Doctor  King, now relic, now bust, no body, now stood alone, cast bronze in oval office.

Oval offices past and present.

Take a tour.

Is that a portrait of Andrew Jackson smirking?

Let us trot out a dream.

AMERICAN DREAM.

He gave us LOVE.

He gave us hope?

Real hope?
False hope?

We have LOVE that will change the world.

OH TRUE LOVE!

Rev Michael Curry could almost make me a believer

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 19, 2018

OH DOE-EYED PRIVILEGE!

Yes, the Rev Michael Curry could almost make me a believer.

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE!!

Her, veteran of suits series, in Givenchy.

Him, veteran of uniform series,  in Afghanistan.

What the hell was he doing in Afghanistan?

What the hell was she doing in America?

HIS STORY.

HER STORY.

THEIR STORY.

OUR STORY.

"There is no PLAN ET B"
Emanuel Macron.

SAVE THE PLANET.


Changed to black tie, white dress.

 Changed from gas-guzzling Rolls to grey-horse-drawn carriage to "a zero-emissions, battery-electric-powered version of the 1968 model with LED headlights". Jaguar


Doesn't it make you feel all fuzzy, dozy and content?

ROSE-TINTED SPECTACLE...(S)

OH TRUE LOVE!

“What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment and death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment . . . inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.” 

― Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson

"After over 200 years of rumors and controversy, Thomas Jefferson’s historic home at Monticello is giving Sally Hemings, the slave with whom Jefferson likely fathered at least six children with, a room of her own, reports Michael Cottman at NBC News."

"...small, windowless room is 14 feet, 8 inches wide and 13 feet long"

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sally-hemings-gets-her-own-room-monticello-180963944/

Diffusion of responsibility.

They've cut the number of classes per term.

Oh you know "budget cuts."

Nothing to do.

Oh, you know "we (the university) do(es)n't have any money."

"So what that means is you will have 20% less time to cram in all those hours."

She was already stretched to the limit, people on yearly contracts do 30% more teaching hours.

On a spreadsheet, nobody can hear her scream.

The accountant is relieved.

The director is relieved.

She is screaming.

I am blogging.

Blogging on, banging on...doing nothing.

I am reminded of a blog post of Jesse Stommel.

I wrote about my time at Marylhurst: “As the financial woes of the institution mounted, the mistreatment of faculty, and especially adjunct faculty, increased ... Tears were not unusual at committee meetings.” https://t.co/wjp4SyggKO

— Jesse Stommel (@Jessifer) May 19, 2018

In  a blog post, nobody can hear her weep.

Writing, singing, movies, social media diffuse emotional proximity.

We can feel moved.

We can relate...vicariously.

We can nod (off).

Diffusion of responsibility.

Don't speak out.

Don't act up.

I mean we are all so busy.

I mean we are all so scared.

I mean we are all so fortunate...

Well some of us.

Aren't they beautiful?

What a gorgeous spring day it was for the assembled flag wavers, people watchers, souvenir hawkers, Her, Him, HRM, George Clooney and I.

Count your blessings.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or should it be 5, 4, 3, 2, 1?

I mean it's all about cost.

To them, certainly.

To us?

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Shh... count your blessings.

Diffusion of responsibility.

Shall we sing songs of slaves?


"Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then has not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" 

Jeremiah 8:22

Shall we swallow talk of "love" whole (and do nothing)?

"I'm talking about some power, real power, power to change the world ... If you don't believe me there were some old slaves in America's South who explained the power of love."

Dr Stephen Curry gave us songs of captive slaves?

Why wasn't he speaking of slave rebellions which freed them?

“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccesful rebellions indeed generally establish the incroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is a medecine necessary for the sound health of government.” 
― Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson

Didn't King speak of that struggle, that suffering?

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1951-/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-august-28-1963.php

Diffusion of responsibility.

Corridors of power are long.

Whose doors do we knock on to speak to the management?

"Take me to your leader!"

"According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.^[3] It possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow a couple of heads.^[4]

The Hydra had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.^[5]

Whose streets do we barricade when the highways are virtual?

Whose (virtual) walls are we banging our heads against?

Blogging on, banging on...doing nothing.

Safe.

Safe?

Banging on, blogging on... Banging on door. Blogging on. Did you hear the screams? No?
Him not I...
Him being flogged.

— Simon Ensor (@sensor63) May 22, 2018

Diffusion of responsibility.

What to do when responsibility is diffuse?

What to do when responsibility is distributed?

Where is Google or Facebook based?

In Ireland?

In Luxembourg?

In Gilead?

Where is the capital?

Washington?
Bei Jing?
Wall Street?
Davos?
Panama?

Jerusalem?

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy lamb of god
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the countenance divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Diffusion of responsibility.

What of King's "dreams"... on Youtube?

Oh yes, part of the curriculum now.

He's safe now he's bust in bronze and gone into scripture for royalty.

What of crowds of anonymous marchers at the capitol?

What is the "power of love" without the power of rebellion?

Count your blessings.
Count those sheep.
Count those years you spend asleep.

May your dreams be sweet.
Some have dreams of release.

Here I am banging on, blogging on, doing nothing.

Count your blessings.
Count those sheep.
Count those years you spend asleep.

May your dreams be sweet.
Some have dreams of freedom.

There is no freedom without struggle.

Hope, it's theirs...

He waves a banner.

Hope, it's the right one.

Touches of sense...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

He snores.

Footnotes

Diffusion of responsibility^[1] is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present. Considered a form of attribution, the individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done so.^[2] Assumption of responsibility tends to decrease when the potential helping group is larger, resulting in little aiding behavior demonstrated by the bystander(s).^[3] Causes range from psychological effects of anonymity to differences in gender. Implication of behaviors related to diffusion of responsibility can be threatening as there have been increases in moral disengagement and helping behavior. The infamous rape case of Kitty Genovese and increased murders in WWII can be attributed to diffusion of responsibility

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility


Diffusion of responsibility

In addition, diffusion of responsibility is more likely to occur under conditions of anonymity. In prosocial situations, individuals are less likely to intervene when they do not know the victim personally. Instead, they believe that someone who has a relationship with the victim will assist. In antisocial situations, negative behaviors are more likely to be carried out when the person is in a group of similarly motivated individuals. The behavior is driven by the deindividuating effects of group membership and the diffusion of feelings of personal responsibility for the consequences.^[6] As part of this process, individuals become less self-aware and feel an increased sense of anonymity. As a result, they are less likely to feel responsible for any antisocial behavior performed by their group. Diffusion of responsibility is also a causal factor governing much crowd behavior, as well as risk-taking in groups

Post Script

"When we cheer the royals, democracy suffers."

The end of the world.

I had that uneasy post-Brexit feeling.

I woke before five, went to look at my phone.

It took me a while to take in the news.

TRUMP to win.

I went back to bed.

I didn't sleep.

I got up and turned on the TV.

TRUMP wins another state.

My son came down to breakfast, followed by my daughter

TRUMP has won.

They couldn't believe it.

They didn't have many words, they dropped their heads and ate breakfast.

I went to the university, the students were sitting, muttering in the gloom, lights unlit.

My colleague arrived.

She had not slept.

She had received a message from her young grandchild.

TRUMP NO.

There is that feeling that we as adults have not done enough to protect our children from this.

We have let down the kids.

How did we let this happen?

What else can happen now?

Huddling in the dark.

Students huddled together preparing themselves for their class.

One or two stopped me to ask for a few words.

Some were speaking about war.

I couldn't find the words in English.

I spoke French.

I felt they needed reassurance.

I wasn't much of a reassurance.

They couldn't believe it.

TRUMP won.

I found two student blog posts in my RSS reader.

"The end of the world"  Mael had written.

There was a picture of TRUMP and then it was blank.

I flipped it into a Flipboard magazine and then saw there were some words.

I opened it.

There were no words.

I suppose sometimes no words are better than nothing.

I opened it up again on the PC.

I found a black page, with writing which shone out.

This morning, we are in mourning.

A world just collapsed, one that will succeed it gives hardly want to know we can still believe and yet it will live with, is to show the challenges he proposes, show uncompromising on our values and ways of thinking, continue to affirm our faith in the belief of a carrier humanism of hope and progress.

We do not have the choice.

Mael maybe thought that he couldn't write in English, he had never blogged before.

Christ!

Mael's meaning shines through his unpolished English.

MOURNING.  BELIEVE. LIVE.
UNCOMPROMISING OUR VALUES. 
FAITH.  HOPE.
We don't have the choice.


"Slippery Slope."  Maxime had written.

I noted the word  'hangover.'

There was a strange feeling of the day after in the classroom.

An American election and the young in a terrible state in France!

I went back and read Maxime's post.

Far from being paralysed by the news, Maxime was thinking of the action to take.

If TRUMP won.

Le PEN can win.

"What is a big part of my hangover too is that I think about 2017 in France. If a racist man could be president of the USA why not in France ? The Front National party could be access to the Elysée. 

I can uderstand that people vote because a Fed up but why vote to the extreme. I believe that 1936 is a good exemple to say that's not the solution. The solution is in part of everybody. 

So my french friends and all people I know who live in a democratic country, I'm happy to see you hit by the news of D. Trump president, but don't stop here ! Engage you, participate of politics debates, vote!" 

A sneeze in Bamako and France gets cold.

A few hours later, I overheard a vigorous conversation going on between a group of students.

One of them, Abba, from Bamako, Mali, was busy educating his friends on global politics and colonialism.

"Where do you think the French Nuclear Industry gets its uranium from?" He asked

"There aren't many uranium mines in the Massif Central."

"'What do you think the French army is doing in Mali?"

"Have you heard of Areva?"

"Did you hear that they have found oil in Senegal?"

Time out to think.

The students were preparing 'gap year projects'.

It occurred to me that this might be a fruitless task for someone from Mali.

"No, it's ok he said, I have a diplomatic passport."

I was somewhat relieved...

He would indeed be able to get to New Zealand.

"I have always dreamt of going to New Zealand." he said.

We spoke of the injustice of "freedom of movement."

The other students were attentive, listening.

Whose stories count?

We spoke of how histories are weapons of the powerful.

"This is not the American Dream, this is the American Nightmare," I quipped.

"Oh yes that's a movie" one of the students chipped in.

"American Nightmare One, American Nightmare Two."

I fear that I shall sleep badly.

I blog to mark the day.

Fuck it.

I go and find Abba's card trick tutorial.

He'd never made a video before.

It took him hours.

If you listen carefully you can hear him, you can hear them speak.

BELIEVE. LIVE.
UNCOMPROMISING OUR VALUES. 
FAITH.  HOPE.
We don't have the choice.