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Jennifer's avatar

We have to vote our way out of this mess. We need to rearrange the fish tank!

David Zelenka's avatar

I've been trying make sense of it all. Why does our present system seem to reward some and punish others? This chart has helped me unboggle my mind. I purposefully kept the inclusive language to help provide insight into the mindset from which this emerges. I intentionally left the column labels blank. I did not add a row for sex offenders, but you can see how that would fit into the pattern.

Column A > Column B

Women > Patriarchy / male authority

LGBTQ+ > Heteronormativity / conservative religion

Racial minorities > Whiteness / systemic racism

Disabled > Able-bodied norms

Working class > Capital / ownership class

Immigrants, refugees > Nation-state border regimes

Indigenous peoples > Settler-colonial states

Colonized nations (Global South) > Colonizer nations (Global North)

Muslims / religious minorities (in West) > Christian-majority culture

Animals > Ranching / agribusiness / factory farming

Ecosystems, biodiversity > Extractive industry (mining, logging, drilling)

Climate / atmosphere > Fossil fuel industry, industrialism

Future generations > Present-day consumption

Non-human nature generally > Anthropocentrism itself

Incarcerated / accused individuals > Penal system / state apparatus

Substance dependent individuals > Prohibition / criminalization policies

Youth / children > Adultism / institutional authority

Neurodivergent individuals > Neurotypical standards / medicalization

Consumers / debtors > Financial institutions / predatory lending

My brief analysis is here: https://davidzelenka.substack.com/p/tangled-political-landscape

I'd label this mindset as a modern form of neo-colonialism, where the cultural elite ride in to save Column A from Column B. While some of the conflict apparent in this dichotomy are certainly real, we must go beyond these labels. Labeling helps to lock people and society as a whole into narratives and behaviors.

I'm ready for the adults to return to the room.