Postcards on Power

I began thinking hard about power and its effect upon our lives. This came from reading Jessa Crispin’s “Why I’m not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto”. It covers many topics and reflections on the current state of feminism. Many reactions on its failures and focal points. What it really comes down to is a rejection of power, of being powerless, of being balanced for violations of power. For her, Patriarchy is power and it is flawed.

Is Power, Patriarchy, and Capitalism all interrelated? Are they really the same? Do they have the same flaws? And does anyone obtaining power fall into the system, the machine, that is Patriarchy? Is that succumbing to the subtle and hidden barrier for women, people of color, and even men? Can we even live without this drive and hunger for power?

To rid the world of power, and thus the Patriarchy, we must of course understand its birth. Did power come from Capitalism? Did it come from Monarchy? Did it come from Agrarian Society? Did it come from our very nature? If power is built into us, then we can never be free form it without changing ourselves. I am not that pessimistic. For humans, power is merely learned.

Society has lasted so long under the oppression of power that we forget that we are adaptive. That we can live without needing power over others. Plenty of people have tried to step outside the boundary. Feminists of course. Civil Rights Defenders across many generations in many nations. Even Libertarians. Although no group has ever fully existed without relationships of power, they take one exploration, giving a new mode of living more definition, more shape.

Now we can again ask ourselves what is a world like without power. Unclear. It cannot be a world where power is merely inverted. Where, say, women control power. It cannot be a world where “justice” is delivered to those who have abused power. To serve justice requires wielding power against others. In a powerless world, there is no revenge. It requires a strength within ourselves to not rebuild power or wrest it from others.

Even while we define a world without power, we can practice building spheres of non-power. Experiments to discover what works and on how to dismantle our system of patriarchy wielding power. I think one clear stat is for those with power to give it up. To put ourselves at risk in support of others living together in non-power. This is akin to Spanish Anarchists, Monasteries, and Communes. Building gardens so a new system can grow.

Systems of power will of course struggle to survive. To send out antibodies that suppress attempts to remove patriarchy. To make it appear unattractive and radical. Anyone hoping to discover a life of non-power must expect this. To prepare for this. And know that systems of power only stop when we learn to fully live beyond ourselves. To admit fully when we abuse power for our small gains. power stops when we take responsibility for our shortcomings.