On Restful Resistance

Community care vs. toxic individualism

Recorded a video that I hope is timely for our rather soul-sucking era of politics and policy. It’s tough out there, but I hope these reflections can be helpful!

This video is about both self-care and communal care as forms of resistance against hyper-individualistic and so-called "efficiency"-driven ideologies. There is great significance in resting and engaging in "useless" activities that foster human connection and personal rejuvenation.

“Therapy speak” — I think for more progressive folks, we’re starting to outgrow the neoliberal, individualistic drive behind much of the conversation surrounding “put your own oxygen mask on first.” Many other (non-Western, non-captial-driven) cultures don’t view other people through a cost-benefit analysis, support of which drains from ourselves in some sort a zero-sum expense.

The Powers That Be don’t want class struggle, and would be more than happy to have a class of folks that are separate from their friends, co-workers, and chosen families in the name of a well-meaning and sanitized “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality. Therefore, you can resist by engaging in communally-embeded rest.