The ‘Post-Power’ Society

How did it happen, these changes that now seem so obvious in retrospect? Looking back from the 24th century – three centuries into the Symbiocene – it’s difficult to say. But I will try to explain. So, to begin, everyone suddenly decided that their nation should not arm for war any longer. Soldiers, sailors and the air force – they all resigned, and no-one would sign up for the armed forces – not for any amount of money – not even with the threats of imprisonment from increasingly isolated governments. This was the first sign of the end of the hierarchies of power, the end of filthy empire, with all its abuse and hypocrisy and machismo nonsense. All this had come on the back of other changes. There was just a dissolving away of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia. People had become much more honest about their identity – honest both with themselves and with others. Meanwhile, almost the entire working population had become self-employed. Maybe it was this that provided a taste of freedom. Whatever it was, the structures afforded by government and big business no longer seemed to satisfy. People wanted freedom, and a new kind of freedom from anything that had gone before. Of course, some countries resisted the changes at first. Prisons were full of men who had refused to be drafted into the armed forces. But this led to strikes and protests, until governments had to back down. Anyone trying to patronise of dominate or intimidate others were seen for what they truly are – idiots. There was no ‘revolution’ though – at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Because revolutions can often just mean swapping one idiotic hierarchy of power for another. Like I’ve said, people just started being honest – we just started to understand where our true pleasures lay and to acknowledge our personal failings without being too hung up on them. A bit of self-knowledge just let’s you square up to all the old prejudice and deceit that has counted as the status quo in society for way too long. So we said to government – you’re killing the planet for the sake of economic growth – you’re killing the poor and needy of the world for the sake of profit. We are not accepting this any longer. Just stop! Give us back our forests, meadows, rivers, lakes and beaches. Let’s live sensibly on the Earth. Give us towns and cities built for people, not for money. Everything once seemed normal. Everything seems normal now. But what counts for normal has changed beyond all recognition. What can I tell you about life now compared to life before? Perhaps it’s best captured by telling you what we want for our children. Here’s some things: To celebrate their bodies as the primary means of being in the world and to never be ashamed of who they are or how they look. To understand their unique gifts and pleasures. To understand their failings and shortcomings without feeling overly burdened by them. To recognise nature as sacred and to treat her with care, respect and honour. To find a vocation that serves the common good. To love life, love others and love the universe – all of them have given us our gifts. To be truthful and respect all persons and all life. To live humbly within their means and within the means of the planet. There is a strange link between some of these things I’ve mentioned – between bodies, gender and sexuality and our responses to power. It is not in any way an obvious link, but it’s there nonetheless. So, with the person of long ago, who sought to gain and often to abuse power, it could have been their bodies that caused this, or alternatively their bodies that stopped them from seeking power. All politics is the politics of the body. You may say that the abuses of power were by those in what was known as the ‘dark triad’ – Machiavellianism (the end justifies the means), psychopathy and narcissism. But I say, in turn, that these character traits are themselves deeply embodied. It was the changed relationship to our bodies that initiated the falling away of power. It was the dissolving of power that led to true freedom. And odd to think that the link back to the body was hardly even noticed back then. It’s not such a simple link though. It’s not that those who abused power were somehow less comfortable with their bodies, nor was it the reverse of this. No, nothing so simple. So, how to explain? Well, every abuse of power – every instance of bullying, patronising or coercive behaviour – does violence against somebody. Against somebody’s body – directly or indirectly. This much is obvious. Not so obvious perhaps is that every abuse of power also does violence to the perpetrator’s body. The abusive person becomes alienated from their body and alienated therefore from their true selves. Mind, body and our way of being in the world – these can have the kind of dignity and merit and attract the kind of honour that we see in the wider world of nature. But for us humans these things are easily corrupted. Back in the 21st century this link between power and body was only dimly understood, and this by only a few. Now, three centuries on, I can only say that we have learnt to live this truth. It would not have occurred to the power-hungry tyrant of earlier centuries that they were losing anything in this. But gradually the loss became apparent. To abuse power is to somehow lose ourselves – to lose all the connections that allow us to truly thrive. Perhaps this is just a different way of looking at the world – no more or no less true than any other. But it has worked. All the abuses of power are behind us. We know ourselves more fully – we have learnt to be free.