On the cover of the March 2015 issue of the journal
New Proposals is a photo taken in the wheelhouse of a coastal British Columbia
fishboat. It is dark out, the image is not in sharp focus, the man on the wheel
is staring up at an electronic map display, and we can’t see forward through the vessel’s windows. For
those familiar with navigational electronics you will know that the green
display is of a GPS (Global Positioning System) assisted chart plotter. It shows
where one is and aids in finding the way towards one’s destination. On a vessel of
this size we also had a radar that helped show other vessels moving around us,
radios providing information on weather conditions, and devices to tell us how
deep the water was underneath the boat’s hull was. All of that is meaningless, of course, if we
didn’t also know how to interpret the information. All of that electronic
data is then compared with the sounds we hear and what we see when we open a
wheelhouse window and peer forward into the dark, rainy night.
Early
navigators travelling through these same waterways millennia ago did not have
our electronic instruments. They did share a similar understanding of the
physical sense of navigation and observational skills required to move through
unfamiliar terrain. The old histories of navigating through these waters
include references to landmarks and currents that remain familiar to us today. Yet
we see them slightly differently and we use them to purposes somewhat different
than our predecessors did. We remain intent, however, upon finding our way from
one point to another.
Łagyigyet, the old people or
ancestors, made their lives in these waters. They struggled to find a balance
between themselves and their human needs and the other social beings that
inhabited these waters. While their world was not perfect, it was a world in
which a certain sense of social justice pervaded. When the people lost their
way from the path retribution was swift –
floods, slides, death felled the prideful. Out of each
crisis and collapse the old people rose again and reestablished themselves.
The
most recent crisis, one that we have yet to find our way out of, was heralded
in by the arrival of a new class of navigators: European merchant adventures. These
sail powered ships arrived searching for new resources to exploit as part of
the capitalist expansion out of Europe then underway. In addition to being
instrumental in expanding capitalist relations of production, these newcomers
brought devastating disease that led to massive depopulation at genocidal
levels. Out of the ensuing melee came the imposition of a system of economic
and political governance that has prioritized greed, individual advancement,
and dishonesty.
The
20th century was witnessed to several disastrous attempts to find an
escape from the depredations of capitalism and capitalists. The revolutionary
attempts at change fell prey to the poisoned global environment and crashed in
on themselves. In their wake even worse examples of capitalist libertarianism
have emerged.
Mistakes
can happen. Knowledge, tools, skills don’t guarantee that our journey is made without
difficulty or mishap. I have stood in a wheelhouse of a boat when the seas were
too rough, the conditions too dangerous to go forward. I recall one time when
we were all gathered on the wheelhouse. We were heading out across a
treacherous open body of water with the waves and wind coming up. A decision
needed to be made. Did we keep moving forward, take the risk of that dangerous
crossing? Ultimately the decision was made to turn back. Yet, even that
decision was difficult to execute. To turn the boat at the wrong moment would
capsize her. That I write about it nearly 40 years later testifies to the fact
we made the turn and brought the boat around.
The
journey toward a more just society is fraught with turnarounds, disruptions,
and even loss of faith in the possibility. From scholarly activism to feminist
interventions we have a set of tools and a body of knowledge that can help as
we navigate forward. In the cracks and fissures of an imperfect capitalism we
can make spaces for collaboration and cooperation, even in the center of
imperialist nations. A lot has changed since the days when a paper newspaper
sold on a street corner could be a revolutionary instrument of change. Today
the internet has superseded that older technology. Nonetheless the same the
configuration of capitalism remains at the heart of the problem: a patent
disregard for human sentiment or dignity. We can offer no certainty about the
outcome. We can and will offer examples to follow. I invite you to join the
journey toward social justice.
