Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/author/mikikashtan/page/8/)
There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish. — Mary Parker Follett
It’s rare for me to cry while reading dense academic prose, and yet that happened to me when I started reading “The Wealth of the Commons.” Something else is possible, because it once existed.
Rather than an exhaustive introduction to Gandhian economics, which can be found through a search on the web, I chose, instead, to look more deeply at two core principles that resonate deeply with me and the path I am on with regards to thinking about money and the economy.
A difficulty that I see stemming from associating power with badness is the corollary move of associating powerlessness with purity… [But] If powerlessness is associated with purity, then those without power are, by necessity, better in some sense. This absence of humility is one of the reasons I see for why when previously oppressed people come into power they often recreate what was done to them.
I believe that one of the best kept secrets about the rewards of choosing interdependence is the wisdom and the richer freedom that are often unleashed through entering dialogue with others as a path to making decisions: together, in complete autonomy, honoring everyone affected.
I dream of a world run on a gift economy basis. I see, vividly, the possibility of people self-governing, sharing resources locally and globally, attending to everyone’s needs in a collaborative way. The image of a flow of generosity replacing the world of exchange is a precious vision for me.
Two passions of mine combine in wanting to take apart the meaning of “Can I?”: my love of language, which includes the belief that words are never simply words; and my burning interest in transforming paradigms of power.
Whenever I shift the language in my mind from personal growth to personal liberation I feel a difference, the very language freeing me from complicity with a system I believe to be ultimately destructive to all.
Miki’s intentions weren’t to oppress, but her black friend told her, a white woman, that that was the effect. “In earlier years I was still consumed by having my own innocence seen, and couldn’t make sufficient room for absorbing and mourning the effects of my actions, regardless of my intentions.”
I suddenly understood what it means to be powerful in a new and different way that tied it to the present moment.