Thanks for expressing your commitment to bridging divides and creating community so eloquently, Ben. Being a member of Hands Across the Hills, especially in the early years, was transformational in large part because of your leadership and that of our deeply missed Paula Greene.
I can’t help but wonder what might happen if those billionaires you mentioned could be helped to see the humanity in the rest of us, what they might choose to do with those resources they’ve stockpiled. What makes them think they know better than a homeless person? And what makes a person of limited resources feel the billionaires deserve to stockpile those resources? Like the workers and the customers aren’t the ones who made them rich and deserve their share in the profits? What makes people think they aren’t part of the community around them? That they can’t or shouldn’t share in the success of the community? What might you say to those billionaires if you had the opportunity to “bridge the divide” between yourself and them?
Such a good question, and one I think about a lot. It is critical that we not dehumanize anyone, including the billionaires. Which doesn't mean we don't fight them. But the work is always relational, between people. Class is a position and a relationship, not a fixed and indelible identity. (As are race and other related so-called fixed identities, but more on that another day.) So yes, it is entirely possible that billionaires could recognize themselves as human beings, neighbors, and contributors to their communities. Then again if they did, they may soon find themselves no longer billionaires.
Hey Ben: This is a wonderful contribution to what I would call the Hands Across the Hills ethos. You have expressed so eloquently what many of us feel. Kip
“A communist Jew from the Northeast”? You and Jesus, eh? 😉 Just the northeast of different countries.
What you write sounds like you may be influenced by the Marxist scholar, Richard Wolff, but just in case you don’t know him, I thought I’d drop the reference. He talks a lot about worker cooperatives, which isn’t a strictly Marxist idea, but as he says, a lot of what Marx wrote about is manifested in things he 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 write about.
Thanks for mentioning the 19th-century Populists. Their story tends to get buried in our history. If they mean something to you, might you have been influenced by Thomas Frank’s book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘕𝘰: 𝘈 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪-𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮? The title is a takeoff from Carl Sandburg’s epic poem, “The People, Yes.” Frank is the author of another book your writing reminds me of: 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭: 𝘖𝘳, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?
Harking back to our little debate about Russiagate at Camp Doremi back when that was an issue, might you see that as part of what you’re talking about now? The people hired to push that story have fessed up in sworn testimony that in effect the whole thing was a con game from the start, which should put it to bed, but it still had utility in generating the necessary hatred for the Russians and Putin in particular to push them into a corner. And whose interests does that serve? Why, the people you’re talking about. But while the Charles Koches, Jeff Bezoses, and Elon Musks at the top of the food chain are after something very different from what we are, whole classes of people under them are too, in this case, the defense industry, Wall Street, and a runaway security/intelligence apparatus. Yes, they’re human beings too, but so were Hitler, Pol Pot, and Alan Dulles. In an enlightened future, perhaps we can deal with them in some kind of reconciliation process, but to get there, we have to destroy their power, which amounts to war. That’s war against them, not with them, as we’re doing in Ukraine now, and did in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, and a whole lot of other places we’ve chosen to memory-hole (over a million dead at our hands in Indonesia, just for one parenthetical example). If you’re familiar with the propaganda model of Herman and Chomsky’s 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, you may see the unprecedented amount of propaganda we’re blithely swimming in, propaganda that convinces us that Democrats and Republicans represent us, not the classes we’re talking about. They have us fighting about transexuals and guns, which are important on one level, but an entirely different level of importance from endless war and hollowed out communities, the very kind of issues that we should be able to address together across a broad spectrum of political commitments if we didn’t have such tribal allegiance to our fraudulent parties.
Down at our level, the unsavory people among us are typically suffering from some manifestation of the sickness this system generates. That sickness affects us all. It’s something we need to identify, label, and study, because only then can we unite to destroy it.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I once watched what I believe was a Sunday Morning piece about a tiny island inhabited by only a few hundred people. They didn't always agree with each other but realized they had to find ways to get along due to the size of their little community. They had to work together for common goals. And in that, they found harmony. At the time, I felt what a unique and unusual scenario. As the world gets smaller, it surely is something to give pause and think about. I felt the same way after reading your newsletter. Thank you again.
A remarkable learning (and teaching) journey you've been living, Ben. Remarkable. And do you have advice for this: The difficulty of experiencing the intolerance of those with whom I agree? The pain/sorrow of sensing how their anger and denigration of the "other" mimics the very cruelty they denigrate.
Thanks for expressing your commitment to bridging divides and creating community so eloquently, Ben. Being a member of Hands Across the Hills, especially in the early years, was transformational in large part because of your leadership and that of our deeply missed Paula Greene.
I can’t help but wonder what might happen if those billionaires you mentioned could be helped to see the humanity in the rest of us, what they might choose to do with those resources they’ve stockpiled. What makes them think they know better than a homeless person? And what makes a person of limited resources feel the billionaires deserve to stockpile those resources? Like the workers and the customers aren’t the ones who made them rich and deserve their share in the profits? What makes people think they aren’t part of the community around them? That they can’t or shouldn’t share in the success of the community? What might you say to those billionaires if you had the opportunity to “bridge the divide” between yourself and them?
Such a good question, and one I think about a lot. It is critical that we not dehumanize anyone, including the billionaires. Which doesn't mean we don't fight them. But the work is always relational, between people. Class is a position and a relationship, not a fixed and indelible identity. (As are race and other related so-called fixed identities, but more on that another day.) So yes, it is entirely possible that billionaires could recognize themselves as human beings, neighbors, and contributors to their communities. Then again if they did, they may soon find themselves no longer billionaires.
This is a powerful and makes so much good sense as everything you write. I love it.
Hey Ben: This is a wonderful contribution to what I would call the Hands Across the Hills ethos. You have expressed so eloquently what many of us feel. Kip
This was a wonderful read! So pleased to see the Substack taking off. Will share far and wide!
Glad you got this rolling, Ben! <3 kate
Thank you for this, Ben! A timely and important message to recalibrate my mind and heart around going forward.
Very inspiring! I forwarded this on to some folks :)
Thanks! Let me know what they think!
As always, very much so appreciate the way you see the world and sharing that with those around you.
“A communist Jew from the Northeast”? You and Jesus, eh? 😉 Just the northeast of different countries.
What you write sounds like you may be influenced by the Marxist scholar, Richard Wolff, but just in case you don’t know him, I thought I’d drop the reference. He talks a lot about worker cooperatives, which isn’t a strictly Marxist idea, but as he says, a lot of what Marx wrote about is manifested in things he 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 write about.
Thanks for mentioning the 19th-century Populists. Their story tends to get buried in our history. If they mean something to you, might you have been influenced by Thomas Frank’s book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘕𝘰: 𝘈 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪-𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮? The title is a takeoff from Carl Sandburg’s epic poem, “The People, Yes.” Frank is the author of another book your writing reminds me of: 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭: 𝘖𝘳, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?
Harking back to our little debate about Russiagate at Camp Doremi back when that was an issue, might you see that as part of what you’re talking about now? The people hired to push that story have fessed up in sworn testimony that in effect the whole thing was a con game from the start, which should put it to bed, but it still had utility in generating the necessary hatred for the Russians and Putin in particular to push them into a corner. And whose interests does that serve? Why, the people you’re talking about. But while the Charles Koches, Jeff Bezoses, and Elon Musks at the top of the food chain are after something very different from what we are, whole classes of people under them are too, in this case, the defense industry, Wall Street, and a runaway security/intelligence apparatus. Yes, they’re human beings too, but so were Hitler, Pol Pot, and Alan Dulles. In an enlightened future, perhaps we can deal with them in some kind of reconciliation process, but to get there, we have to destroy their power, which amounts to war. That’s war against them, not with them, as we’re doing in Ukraine now, and did in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, and a whole lot of other places we’ve chosen to memory-hole (over a million dead at our hands in Indonesia, just for one parenthetical example). If you’re familiar with the propaganda model of Herman and Chomsky’s 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, you may see the unprecedented amount of propaganda we’re blithely swimming in, propaganda that convinces us that Democrats and Republicans represent us, not the classes we’re talking about. They have us fighting about transexuals and guns, which are important on one level, but an entirely different level of importance from endless war and hollowed out communities, the very kind of issues that we should be able to address together across a broad spectrum of political commitments if we didn’t have such tribal allegiance to our fraudulent parties.
Down at our level, the unsavory people among us are typically suffering from some manifestation of the sickness this system generates. That sickness affects us all. It’s something we need to identify, label, and study, because only then can we unite to destroy it.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I once watched what I believe was a Sunday Morning piece about a tiny island inhabited by only a few hundred people. They didn't always agree with each other but realized they had to find ways to get along due to the size of their little community. They had to work together for common goals. And in that, they found harmony. At the time, I felt what a unique and unusual scenario. As the world gets smaller, it surely is something to give pause and think about. I felt the same way after reading your newsletter. Thank you again.
A remarkable learning (and teaching) journey you've been living, Ben. Remarkable. And do you have advice for this: The difficulty of experiencing the intolerance of those with whom I agree? The pain/sorrow of sensing how their anger and denigration of the "other" mimics the very cruelty they denigrate.
I look forward to reading more - congrats on getting it going, friend!