Burger King = Fly zapper (and things about slow violence)

Fragrant flowers

Today as I was walking home from work the sky was hanging low and there was the smell of spring in the air. Dampness, sweet flowers, impending rain, a nice breeze. The impossibility of perception washed over me as I realized that it is actually just impossible for most humans to actually see the entirety of Earth with their own eyes. All we will ever have are paltry representations (maps) or photos from those lucky enough to go into space. In that moment I found it hard to even begin to conceptualize what the whole town of Manhattan looks like from the sky. My mind strained and eventually I gave up because I had to cross the street. It is so difficult to shift levels of perception from the local to larger. When I begin to do so I feel like I am just playing with simulacra, that one person will never be able to truly see and understand. Of course, that may just be my cynicism but Ingold’s globe vs. sphere remains a main feature on my thought buffet. But to the main point of this post →

I walk home every day past the smoke billowing out of BK with its bright lights on the sign. I am always reminded of the fly light my grandparents had on their patio. Flies (which are thought of as dirty insects) couldn’t resist the lure of the light and would find themselves dead in an instant. This week we read about slow violence and while we haven’t had the chance to discuss it yet in class, I wanted to go ahead and talk about it a little bit because it has been on my mind. BK is not a fly light that gives a quick death. It is an institution and part of the system of slow violence.

What is it that allows leaders of industry to talk and think so nonchalantly about harming other humans’ living spaces? Why is it we are so drawn to fantastical imagery of graphic violence but ignore those that cannot be seen? This trend isn’t just environmental issues. Thinking of ableism and health conditions, it is only the ones that we can see that count. Depression and other mental illnesses that require medication have been highly stigmatized. It has only been recently through awareness campaigns that that stigma has decreased. Now it just like having any other body ache, you take pills and feel better. At least that is how it is presented. Earlier this month I read this article about a girl getting a nasty note for having a handicap permit because she didn’t look handicap, she can walk!

It’s as if “I’ll believe it when I see it” has been deeply ingrained in the way we approach problems and issues that affect other people. As if we can’t trust someone else when they say they are in pain or in harm’s way until we see the blood gushing from their body. Rather than try to blame anything in particular (although Neil Postman’s thoughts on TV/media come to mind) I would rather just try to grapple with the question that Nixon asks. In my own words (and thinking about Japan) I rephrase it to myself as: How do we make cancer as exciting and attention grabbing as a nuclear bomb detonation? How do we make that relevant to people today?

When I asked a close friend of mine if they would ever go to rally or get involved in environmental and social justice issues they said no. They have their own set of problems with school and work that they themselves are trying to overcome. They have their own problems that they have to work through. They acknowledge that there are large, systemic issues but feel like they don’t have the time to engage with them. “It’s not that I couldn’t make a difference it’s just that I have to do this project first.”  I couldn’t figure out how to tell them that most of the pressures they are feeling are ultimately optional, and that many of the things they see as necessity and paramount are not (at least in my world view). Sure you need to graduate college and such but the job you get afterwards doesn’t need to have a $60k tag on it. In fact, my own $50k piece of paper sometimes just feels like a certificate of validity to use in the larger system, but I digress.

There is only one way to achieve success $$$$$

How do I convince my friend that these larger social and political issues are inherently tied up their job search, in the amount of money they make? Nixon says storytelling. I am very bad at story telling. I asked a storyteller I look up to for advice and he shrugged his shoulders and said “it’s mostly instinct”, “have mystery to keep people engaged”. I realized that this is what scams and spam on the internet use to get people to click.

YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT PARIS HILTON DID NOW! CLICK HERE TO SEE!

An ad snipped from TMZ's website

I don’t have an answer and I’m not sure if there will ever be one. How to make the global and distant future morph in the local and immediate. How to elucidate the far reaching implications of small daily problems. I can only write and practice storytelling, sharing the connections I make in hopes that they will make sense to other people.