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| Graffiti seen on the streets of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, December 2011 |
The original Obvious International Manifesto was published in TruthOut on June 3, 2013
Lately I have been exploring the meaning of the word
"humane". While it has its roots in the word "human", it
refers to compassion and empathy with non-human entities as well ("humane
societies" are generally intended to encourage the humane treatment of
animals, not people, for example).[i] A quick
internet search reveals a graph of the word’s usage over time[ii];
according to this set of data, the adjective "humane" has been on the
decline since 1800 (with a brief upward trend in the early 1970s). I can't help
but wonder, has the entire concept of humaneness been on the decline too?
Philosopher-physicist Karen Barad routinely uses the word “matter”
as a verb. Through the lens of language, she invites us to envision a kind of
“post-humanist” world in which humanity along with everything else is not just
equal and interconnected, but is intra-connected
and ever-becoming – ever-mattering – based on constantly-morphing intra-relationships.[iii]
Incensed that it is possible to live in a world in which it is of urgent
necessity to point out that #BlackLivesMatter (glaring evidence, if ever there
was, that the obvious is in dire need of advocates), it is in this active
sense of the word "matter" that I am suggesting that #HumanenessMatters. Active humaneness towards
everyone and everything of all colors, genders, species, and even presumed status
with regard to “aliveness” or “consciousness” is bound to cause an immediate
ripple effect, resulting in a measurable increase in overall planet-wide levels
of humaneness.
To humanize someone or something
– human or otherwise – is to relate to her, him, or it with compassion, on an
equal plane with oneself[iv]. “To humanize”
has elements in common with “anthropomorphize”…to
ascribe our own characteristics to things outside of ourselves, such as plants,
animals, geological features, or forces of nature. Anthropomorphization is
often thought of as a quaint, if slightly risky, poetic device, a handy
metaphorical tool, but something that must be used with discretion if we wish
to be taken seriously as rational creatures in societies in which it is
collectively assumed that humans are different, separate, and superior to
everything around us.
On the other hand, to
“dehumanize” someone or something is to degrade it, to divorce oneself from responsibility
for her, his, or its well-being. Soldiers are trained to de-humanize those
deemed enemies in order to fight, kill, or torture them. Imperialists
de-humanize pre-established populations in order to colonize their lands. Capitalists
often de-humanize labor in order to exploit it. In addition, they may find it
necessary to detach themselves emotionally from environments and entities that
must be harmed or eradicated in order to maximize profit. De-humanization is
routinely employed to justify all manner of predatory behavior.
The ongoing effort to reverse
these trends – racism, classism, sexism, speciesism and other oppressive -isms – may be enhanced and accelerated
by the radical re-humanization of everyone and everything. A simple mental
shift will transform the pigeon in the park or the mountain in the distance
from “it” to “him” or “her” (as is standard in many languages other than
English). This could be thought of as a kind of “post-anthropomorphism”, the
reflexive granting of equal status, respect, and care to every being and every thing.
What if we were to begin with the
assumption that we are more alike than different and work our way out from
there, instead of starting from a position of presumed
separateness-until-proven-connected?
Even if you are a scientist, have
no fear…this mindset will not permanently impair your capacity for objectivity
when necessary, nor will it cause you to do your job less accurately. In fact,
you may be able to do it more constructively; empathizing with your specimens
could move you to design more humane, ethical, and beneficial experiments. After
all, the notion of objective observation is a poetic device too.
It turns out that poetic devices
– including our basic assumptions about the ways the world works – can have extremely
tangible effects, for better or worse, on the ways we treat each other and the
planet we share. By choosing a social imaginary that presumes equality and interrelationship,
rather than one that perpetuates exploitation and abuse, our individual
everyday lives become re-infused with purpose and meaning. Detachment leads to
alienation and nihilism, while caring leads to a sense of cooperation and
fulfillment.
In this time when it seems
apparent from a cursory glance at the daily news that humans are capable of so
much damage and violence, it is important to bear in mind that it is a
relatively small percentage of the total population of humans that is causing
the majority of the harm[v], whether
through extremist acts of aggression or by a seemingly more innocuous form of
fundamentalism: excessive consumerism. For those wooed by such ideologies,
gravely destructive acts have become normalized.
But it is not too late to stop
the spread of destructive -isms and
reclaim the spirit of what it means to think and act humanely – with kindness,
compassion, and empathy. If “to humanize” means to connect with another in an
intelligent, emotional way that feels uniquely human to us, we can approach
this fraught moment in history most constructively and with maximum grace by
coming to humanize everything.
[i] Curiously, most definitions include a
reference to “humane” ways of killing.
[ii] http://tinyurl.com/ofa4jux
[iii] http://humweb.ucsc.edu/feministstudies/faculty/barad/barad-posthumanist.pdf
[iv] http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/Humanize
[v] http://climateandcapitalism.com/2014/12/07/care-fertility-control-wont-solve-climate-crisis/