Triple Threats
More on the physical characteristics that define politics in a more profound way than language. The structural dependencies created by technology defines reality and experience more so than language. Three examples demonstrate the forms of dependence
Being in a doctor’s office: Expertise linked with physical ailment constitutes power. Medical training and time spent in practice leaves the patient with comparatively little confidence in diagnosing and treating their physical problems. Even if they are able to conquer the discursive tools used by the medical profession, access to technology and medicine are conditioned on control of capital (which ties to broader issues of relative scarcity and exchange). Even so, the physical condition of the patient determines their needs. Being hurt or ill (perhaps terminally) creates structures of dependency that calls into being certain realities that cannot merely be coded into language.
Riding a bike: when you ride a bike, after a while, you begin to hate people in cars, because of the physical relationship you have to them. They control large machines of metal and explosives that threaten you passively every time they pass by you. Your constant state of vulnerability makes every move by someone driving a car an expression of power over you, which creates resentment. Cars create affect and emotions in cyclists simply by driving, by technology.
Global food: the structure of export agriculture creates dependency which inevitably creates power relationships between different reigons. Areas reliant on export agriculture (or really any production/export, but agriculture in particular) also rely on other areas for survival. monopolizing and monoculture-ing farmland undermines a region’s capacity for self-sustaining existence. Survival becomes a function of exchange rates, commodity (oil) prices or political decisions concerning trade rules. The very nature of this power relationship creates resentment, as seemingly arbitrary changes in prices can drastically impact someone’s livelihood or existence. No system is entirely stable, and the power differentials within the trade system make those instabilities particularly dangerous.
Duncan
Being in a doctor’s office: Expertise linked with physical ailment constitutes power. Medical training and time spent in practice leaves the patient with comparatively little confidence in diagnosing and treating their physical problems. Even if they are able to conquer the discursive tools used by the medical profession, access to technology and medicine are conditioned on control of capital (which ties to broader issues of relative scarcity and exchange). Even so, the physical condition of the patient determines their needs. Being hurt or ill (perhaps terminally) creates structures of dependency that calls into being certain realities that cannot merely be coded into language.
Riding a bike: when you ride a bike, after a while, you begin to hate people in cars, because of the physical relationship you have to them. They control large machines of metal and explosives that threaten you passively every time they pass by you. Your constant state of vulnerability makes every move by someone driving a car an expression of power over you, which creates resentment. Cars create affect and emotions in cyclists simply by driving, by technology.
Global food: the structure of export agriculture creates dependency which inevitably creates power relationships between different reigons. Areas reliant on export agriculture (or really any production/export, but agriculture in particular) also rely on other areas for survival. monopolizing and monoculture-ing farmland undermines a region’s capacity for self-sustaining existence. Survival becomes a function of exchange rates, commodity (oil) prices or political decisions concerning trade rules. The very nature of this power relationship creates resentment, as seemingly arbitrary changes in prices can drastically impact someone’s livelihood or existence. No system is entirely stable, and the power differentials within the trade system make those instabilities particularly dangerous.
Duncan
posted by Duncan at 2:09 PM
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