15: Shared fates
Sanjay P. K., Cave painting at Petta-kere, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Above is a photo of some of the oldest cave art ever found, maybe over 40,000 years old, from an island in Indonesia. When some research about it was published in 2014, I posted it on social media and my funny friend Evin commented something along the lines of “It must have been Thanksgiving.” Which always makes me laugh when I think about it so it seemed appropriate to share that little joke as T-Give approaches.
Last week I mentioned a book I’m reading by Elizabeth Anderson, a philosopher who writes about politics and ethics and I just saw that she won a MacArthur fellowship this year too. I’m still reading that book, called Private Government, but I also recently finished a paper of hers from 1999 called “What is the Point of Equality?” that I thought was so good. It’s a pretty savage essay at times, thrashing some competing ideas and I love a good philosophy burn. But it has this powerful idea at its core called democratic equality—equality as interdependence and shared respect, and certain basic conditions of living we should all have access to, for the simple reason that we are all people and should stand as equals, no matter what.
Her basic argument is that there is this flawed understanding of the point of equality that says it should be a process of compensating those who have experienced bad luck, with resources from those who have an excess of luck (called luck egalitarianism). The aim of that approach is to help out those who are worse off only so long as it’s not their fault and then leave the rest to sort itself out in the market based on the choices people make.
There are a lot of problems with this idea, Anderson says, including that it’s focused entirely on distribution of goods instead of the social conditions that lead to equality, and that its corrections are based on a combination of pity and envy and paternalism. Like, oh I feel so bad for this person, it’s not their fault their life sucks let’s give them some money, but only as much as they deserve and so they won’t envy how great things have worked out for me. The result is a combo of free markets and conditional social insurance.
I will let Anderson lay it down:
[T]he hybrid of capitalism and socialism envisioned by luck egalitarians reflects the mean-spirited, contemptuous, parochial vision of a society that represents human diversity hierarchically, moralistically contrasting the responsible and irresponsible, the innately superior and the innately inferior, the independent and the dependent. It offers no aid to those it labels irresponsible, and humiliating aid to those it labels innately inferior. It gives us the cramped vision of the Poor Laws, where unfortunates breathe words of supplication and submit to the humiliating moral judgments of the state.
Ooh that part gives me chills. Rather than trying to correct some cosmic bad fortune, Anderson focuses on fighting the social norms and hierarchies that keep certain people from the conditions that allow them to function as equals with dignity. One more A-bomb (Anderson-bomb):
Egalitarian political movements oppose such hierarchies. They assert the equal moral worth of persons. This assertion does not mean that all have equal virtue or talent. Negatively, the claim repudiates distinctions of moral worth based on birth or social identity—on family membership, inherited social status, race, ethnicity, gender, or genes. There are no natural slaves, plebeians, or aristocrats. Positively, the claim asserts that all competent adults are equally moral agents: everyone equally has the power to develop and exercise moral responsibility, to cooperate with others according to principles of justice, to shape and fulfill a conception of their good.
I know the fact that all people are equal can seem like pretty basic stuff, but the uncompromising way Anderson puts it, it’s striking how far our own democracy is from that ideal.
I think the idea that everyone has universal, equal worth is one we don’t live with in our heads enough, and that goes for people across the political spectrum (but let’s be honest more on one side sorry!). I suspect lots of people, honestly myself included at times, live with these subconscious calculations of that person is above me, or I’m above that person—even people working in fields of social justice or charity. This gets back to that past newsletter about how climate justice isn’t about helping out people in unfortunate situations, rather, it’s about standing shoulder to shoulder with people to make the world better.
Anderson’s argument is not saying that everyone has equal capacities or talents, or is entitled to equal goods. But that all people are entitled to certain goods and conditions, no matter what, no judgment or strings attached, for their entire lives. And we receive that base level because at the end of the day, society and all the goods we produce are a result of our interdependence—everyone has a mutually beneficial role.
That sense of interdependence could be a north star as we both curb and suffer the impacts of climate change. As climate refugees flee their homes, and we retreat from entire geographies, our fates will be tied together. I like how starting from a point that emphasizes our universal, equal worth and our shared claim to conditions of living can cast a certain light on the problem and the solutions we come up with.
You can read the full paper here, it’s worth it and answers a lot of the what about this what about that stuff some of you jerks might be thinking peace and love peace and love.
Links
Speaking of our shared fates, the Boston Globe did this really good series on traffic in the city. I still have to read the last installment but the take home: Boston’s roads can not hold the number of cars trying to use them—300,000 more than there were five years ago! Some of the hits include the governor totally abdicating the state’s role in reducing traffic with tools like congestion pricing. Also, the city’s largest employers offering financial incentives for their employees to drive to work. My favorite part was when the reporter told the mayor about the employer subsidies and he had never heard of them! Which I guess says a lot about who’s running the city these days. I wish it covered more on land use but I did appreciate the recurring mention of BRT and dedicated bus lanes which is a thing I have done some work on. Here’s the whole series: Seeing Red.
There was actually a lot of great reporting that came out this week on transportation, including this Boston Magazine feature on how to save Boston transportation. And this Times article on how different cities are trying to redefine their relationship with cars.
Venice is suffering the worst flooding since 1872.
I highly recommend The Strategist’s “What I Can’t Live Without” series, especially the ones by David and Amy Sedaris. This latest one by National Book Foundation Executive Director Lisa Lucas is good too, in which she drops that she once worked at a comic book store and has an Adrian Tomine print on her wall.
“As our people, and all people, face crises — catastrophic climate change, mounting inequality, creeping hate — maybe audacious and enduring Indigenous ideas like the Alcatraz occupation are exactly what we need.”
This report on the health threats climate change poses to children is heartbreaking. They have faster heart and breathing rates and are outside more playing and being little kids, which makes them more vulnerable to pollution and extreme heat.
Jia Tolentino on a band I love Big Thief.
Watching
I’m still kind of like, what exactly are you up to, HBO Watchmen show, but regardless it is totally bizarre and captivating television I can’t pull myself away from it. Especially Jeremy Irons as an elderly and slightly batty Ozymandias.
You know, say what you will about technology pulling us farther apart from each other, but I always feel a sense of connection with my mother and two sisters knowing we are all watching HBO GO with the same password.
Listening
I’m a big fan of Phil Elverum, including Microphones but mostly the Mount Eerie stuff starting around Wind’s Poem. He’s very prolific though, and I had overlooked an early one Lost Wisdom, a record that just got a sequel. I’ve been listening a lot to the first one including this amazing song that borrows the chorus from another amazing song by Bjork. Listen to it and cry if you feel like it.
Reading
Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios’ Pretty Deadly is this weird western/anime/fantasy/horror that is honestly kind of demanding of the reader but in a good way and it is also totally gorgeous.
By the way I add links to Amazon here so you can find this stuff but I get no affiliate money and you should actually buy them at your local shops and not Amazon but you guys are adults you can figure this out.
And now I want to talk about dog shit for a second. Our two dogs are really old and one of them has to go to the bathroom several times a day it is the worst so we were using so many dog poop bags and it was getting very wasteful. We have been trying to work out a better system to contain the waste and I came up with a sealable galvanized metal bucket to keep in the backyard along with a little extendable scooper and rake.
Jamie is out of town so I was boasting about my new system over text and she was sarcastically like oh wow I can’t wait to try it and I realized that I was in fact expressing pride about a shit bucket. But you know what, we all have to celebrate the small victories wherever we can, and sometimes that’s a solid bucket to take care of the shit.
I’m proud of your small victories too, readers. Keep it in the bucket.
Tate