I finished reading a series of comics. I really like this comic--the characters, their relationships, the story, some of the ideas. And after reading this comic, I want to write a little. The last time I remember writing about a specific comic, it was about a story in which several comic heroes found themselves in a situation in which the government was imprisoning people indefinitely, with no trial or charges. This time, the comic involves a group of companions that, after fighting a foe that aimed to destroy the universe (no small task, I suppose) and winning, return home to find that society had changed and betrayed all it had stood for.
The society was fairly new, begun as a “fresh start,” after humans on earth nearly destroyed humanity. The new society, on a new planet, started off as an embodiment of peace, goodwill, and community. But things began to change. Different concerns began to take precedence, at least in the minds of some who managed to be at the top of a hierarchy that apparently the “fresh start” forgot to abolish. As one character puts it, “It’s Jamieson. Ever since his clique began to dominate the council, it’s been just another business.”
This new “business” is weapons manufacturing. Over time, those in power subverted the principles and ideas upon which the society was founded and began to see their position as a potential source for increased profit. To this end, science, research, and technology were used to manufacture weapons that were then sold on a galactic scale.
When the main characters return from their long adventure in other parts of the universe (and even elsewhere!), they come home to a corrupted version of their memories. Instead of being greeted with thanks and relief, they are tried in court for several alleged crimes related to their mission and task of confronting the foe that was determined to destroy the universe. The characters realize the sham that is the judicial system and, before waiting for an outcome, take action and make a very significant decision. The characters know that this home can no longer work for them. They decide to, as a group, leave this “fresh start”—they escape their bonds and take off for another world all together, where they can work towards something that holds true to their vision of humanity.
If it were only that easy! I love the comic book and I don’t dislike the ending. In fact, it is really emotional and I feel for the characters. In this world, though, that is not a feasible option. One cannot just take off in a ship for another world that is free from the established hierarchies. Sure, you can go off in the woods and build a shelter and live there—alone, with family, or in some sort of communal dynamic but this is not a way out. There is no “uncivilized” corner in which to live with the dreams of a new culture. Plus, there is something to the old maxim “As long as someone is imprisoned, I am not free.” Fleeing this world and establishing another does not change the oppression of the many in this one.
Where does this leave us? Do we stay and fight? Do we give up and “enjoy” the aspects of the status quo that keep so many in line? Do we create an alternative within the midst of the larger culture? These questions make me think of a book I read last week. In Beyond Civilization, author Daniel Quinn suggests that we should pursue what he calls “new tribalism.” This new tribalism is specifically occupationally oriented. While I do believe strongly in creating immediate alternatives to present conditions and ways in which we relate to one another, the environment, and ourselves, this version of an alternative existence is promoted as a way, and an end in itself, to bring about the fundamental changes that are necessary if we are to stop the destruction of the natural world, including humanity. However, the examples offered and the description of possible manifestations of this new tribalism are all enmeshed in the capitalist system already in place. It is not simply that this vision is involved with the capitalist system but that it does not appear to challenge it any real way that is the basis for my hesitance and even distrust of it.
Again, I do believe in alternatives in the immediate present and not just some hoped for “revolution” some time in the distant future. I also understand that some of these immediate alternatives will involve some participation in the present system. Just by living in this culture and simply this time and space, we participate in varying degrees with the current system. I understand that this is a balancing act, that to live and fight against this system and for something different means to live at least partly within the system. However, the vision represented in the book seems to make the argument that this vision is an end in and of itself; that, by rearranging the structure of a business (making it smaller, more intimate, and “tribal” in nature), change of a substantive nature will eventually envelop the whole culture. I don’t understand how that change will really involve some of the core problems, like hierarchy and capitalism. Instead, it seems to reform certain aspects of the structures we create within these larger paradigms. I believe this can be and, in the vision of the book, is an important way in which to change perspectives and worldviews and eventually our culture but not without challenging the relationships between our livelihoods and the powers of domination and hierarchy that outline the ways in which we interact with the world.
Several times in the book, the author states that he does not think that joining a commune or escaping to the wild is the answer. But, I think, neither is restructuring in a limited sense our business and occupational relationships. In the vision presented in Beyond Civilization, we will all still be making money and utilizing capital to guarantee our comfort and way of life. At one point, he says that, yes we will still pay taxes. What he doesn’t mention is that, yes our taxes will still fund imperialist war and occupation, weapons manufacturing, and environmental destruction.
As part of a larger and interconnected revolt against the status quo and what it represents—capitalism, imperialism, consumption, hierarchy, classism, the suffocation of creativity and spontaneity, and the destruction of the non-human world—this approach of new tribalism makes sense. As a way in which to live life, period, and with the idea that this will change the world, it does not quite ring true with me.
So, where does this leave us? Perhaps no closer to an answer than the last time I asked this question. I wish I was in the dark reaches of interplanetary space, traveling with a crew of like-minded companions that I had grown to love and understand, en-route to an answer that I understood.
But I’m not.
Instead, I am sometimes physically with others that share a common desire and goal; sometimes in solidarity, ideologically and in spirit, with others, known and not, as they struggle and take action; and much of the time I am alone, trying to understand myself, the world, and how to take significant action.
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