Who else jumped and cheered!!!!! I'm so happy that it's getting an animation adaptation, I've always thought the prose could be wonderfully translated through an animation medium. Super looking forward to it!

Source: https://deadline.com/2024/06/piranesi-movie-travis-knight-laika-in-works-1235978218/

Wow this Haudenosaunee principle of thinking not of yourself, not of your family, but of a generation 7 ahead genuinely stopped me in my tracks. That's what, almost 200 years? When I hear most people talk about the future and their hopes and dreams they talk about their intentions for their older self, or they talk about leaving the world a better place for their children, or maybe they talk about a very abstract future they don't really imagine in any concrete terms. I think the specificity of seven generations kind of forces a reframe, to more directly envision a future where you existed and made choices and have been long buried, and you may not even be remembered but your decisions will still have a ripple effect. How do you do right by THOSE people, now? What will you work to leave behind?

Now this last chapter absolutely had me sitting up in my seat because I am SO glad this topic of what constitutes violence received attention in this book, and from so many different angles. If I had a physical copy you better believe practically the entire chapter would be highlighted yellow. Really, the chapter should be printed into pamphlets and handed around. Since I can't do that, I consolidated the parts that had me snapping and that I wish every single person would read and reflect on.

p. 141:

Popular definitions of violence tend to include property destruction. But under these definitions, the destruction of property is usually viewed as violent only if it disrupts profit or the maintenance of wealth. If food is destroyed because it cannot be sold while people go hungry, that is not considered violent under the norms of capitalism. If a person's belongings are tossed on a sidewalk during an eviction and consequently destroyed, that is likewise not considered violent according to the norms of this society. Those destructive acts are part of the "order of things."

p. 144:

Conditions that the state characterizes as "peaceful" are, in reality, quite violent. ... When state actors refer to "peace," they are really talking about order. And when they refer to "peaceful protest," they are talking about cooperative protest that obediently stays within the lines drawn by the state. The more uncooperative you are, the more you will be accused of aggression and violence. It is therefore imperative that the state not be the arbiter of what violence means among people seeking justice.

p. 145:

The violence of the state and response to protest is rarely scrutinized to the degree that protesters are scrutinized. ... Protesters are expected to remain "nonviolent" at all times, regardless of the circumstances, while the state is assumed to be justified, at least sometimes, in inflicting violence to quell "unrest."

p. 147:

By forwarding these [antiprotest] bills, Republicans are telling white people who are angry at Black protesters that even if it isn't legal to hit them with cars, it should be, and that people who commit these acts have the backing of some government officials. ... There's always been a reciprocal relationship between racist elected officials and white vigilante violence, and we are witnessing a moment of intensification of both sides. This kind of order making, through the state sanctioning of outright racist violence, is deeply embedded in the United States as a political project.

p. 149:

The elasticity of violence as a concept allows vigilante violence to be legitimized by the state or even attributed to its victims, if they are protesting the white supremacist order. The conceptual elasticity of violence also allows police to commit casual acts of brutality and gender violence and kill three people per day in the US, while robbing countless others of life and dignity, without being viewed as inordinately violent.

p. 150:

Under capitalism, "peace" is the maintenance of violence on the state's terms. Organized efforts to disrupt those harms will always be characterized, by any necessary stretch of the imagination, as violent.

p. 152:

For decades, oil executives have knowingly contributed to catastrophic climate change while suppressing knowledge about the severity and trajectory of the problem, endangering all of humanity and many other species. These executives' actions have already contributed to the death and displacement of millions of people. Meanwhile, activists who challenge those executives' acts are designated "violent" terrorists deserving of lengthy prison sentences.

p. 160:

State violence around the world is routinely dealt out in such a manner: the state reserves the right to overstep its own laws, and even when it subsequently acknowledges it's mistakes, it has already subjected people to the indignity of arrest, deprived them of their liberty, or subjected them to other violence. Such abuse is intentionally crafted to discourage others from expressing themselves or taking action, because it sends a message: even if the government is in the wrong and is ultimately forced to acknowledge as much, it can make you suffer and ruin your life in the meantime.

p. 162:

The maintenance of global capitalism necessitates mass death, just as the maintenance of capitalism in the United States requires the violence of the carceral system. If these systems function without interruption, you will be told you are experiencing "peace." ... If you choose to disrupt the systems, passively, destructively, or by way of extending mutual aid, the concept of violence may be stretched and manipulated by the powerful to encompass your work. That is why we must not allow the frameworks of the powerful to define the bounds of morality in our politics and our action. The elastic concepts of criminality and violence, as controlled by the powerful, will always be bent against us.

This was a really thoughtful (albeit, lengthy) chapter to start off with, and I'm enjoying how much it's getting my mind going. Taking a lot of notes too.

The distinction made between activists and organizers was a really helpful one for me (coming in at the activist end of the spectrum), and honestly I was really shocked by how much resistance I felt within myself at the approach and mental framing they suggest effective organizers take. So much of this chapter was about how organizers must remove their judgement of people who act against the collective even despite being fully informed with the facts, and when that was first brought up I really felt doubt as to whether I had that in me or even agreed. The idea of engaging with such individuals through "persistent, patient, and curious conversations and story sharing" and simply meeting them where they're at over and over is a true testament to hope replacing anger, and of everything described so far it seems to me like one of the hardest parts of the work. To show up like that, you'd need to separate your work from so many personal feelings of betrayal and righteousness and sheer frustration, and that is hard to take your self out of the equation.

Just off of how much I could feel myself pushing back on that idea initially, I'm truly shocked the degree to which I warmed up to it by the end of the chapter. The anecdotes shared really were so helpful to see little ways in which organizers were able to effectively work using that approach, and it was inspiring. One of my favorite quotes was "People thought the public was apathetic. But I realized... It was not that people didn't care or didn't know, but that people were afraid to suffer. It was the refusal or the incapacity to suffer." I really sat with that. It directly tapped into my empathy in a way that actually made me want to be patient and keep faith that there is an essential goodness in people that they actually want to express if they can just bring down their own defenses.

Still not sure I'm cut out to be an organizer, but I do want a better understanding of the work they do so that at the very least I can engage with it better as an activist. Really looking forward to what else is in store.