Two themes I've been thinking a lot about
these past few months are toxicity and boundaries. They've come up for me as
notable ideas this year, mostly because I think the world has shown that a lot
of toxic things, ways of being, and entire systems can't be left unchecked
without establishing specific boundaries. Covid-19 is spreading as it is in
many places around the US, and continuing to infect people across the world
(no, the numbers aren't going down in "civilized" places, either).
The virus itself is literally toxic in that it's killing tens of thousands and
causing potentially life-long damage for those who recover. And remember, a
large percentage of these deaths are completely avoidable.
I also see toxicity in how the
world is trying to expunge this poison. The world is vomiting everything out,
good and bad. Countries are trying to expel foreigners (part of the reason why
I’m still in Canada and not sure about going back to the US/Switzerland). The racial
uprisings across the US and elsewhere are another example of healing, angry energy that simply
had to erupt. I think this could be cleansing, evacuating all of the sickness, but
then is the Western world okay with being empty? Probably not. A driving force
in our toxic behavior is, of course, the need to consume.
One of the ways boundaries have emerged as
important is masks and social distancing regulations. I see these as
boundaries and distance influenced by toxicity, but I’m also thinking about the
gap between how people are treated versus how they should be treated. People
seem to be so ready to transgress the physical boundaries, yet that gap remains
difficult to cross.
It's sad that this is a polemic statement,
but you should care enough about other people to change your behavior
in meaningful ways. This means wearing a mask. This means social
distancing. This means donating money to Black people, also and especially
Black Disabled people, Black Trans people and other marginalized folks within
the Black community. This also means making space for them in ways that might
make your life more difficult.
Bob the drag Queen, in a
poignant discussion with Lucy Stoole about the wave of Black Queer town hall meetings that have been happening across the country, pointed out that in order
for Black folks to gain power it means that White people have to lose power.
Point blank periodt. That makes a lot of folks uncomfortable, but this is truly
what restorative justice looks like. A lot of privileged people are going to
have to give up privilege, which, to them might feel like oppression. It is not
a coincidence that Karen and her friends are claiming oppression, when asked to engage in the slight inconvenience of wearing a mask in
public.
I’m not really sure where these thoughts
are going. If I were a better academic, I’d try to write an actual paper about
this. For now, I suppose I’m just satisfied with having written this much.
