Donald Trump has once again been elected President of the
United States (POTUS). This makes him the leader of the biggest and strongest
economy in the world (according to The
Economist )with critical influence over, amongst many things, the world's
war machine. The NY
Times credited the 'suburban white woman' with this success, as one of the
biggest voting blocks in the United States' (US) election, and also discussed here
in the Conversation. Satirised in
Saturday Night Live here
What?!? What is going on with the voting choices of white women in the US? Do they know the power they have for change, or improvement, or for a "better world"? One could come to the conclusion that perhaps they do not. Perhaps they don’t understand? Or perhaps they know all too well, that they too are invested in the status quo. I don’t live in the US but we are all affected by this outcome, and as a suburban white woman I have thoughts about this, my own actions and the reality closer to home.
World leaders have been predominantly men over history. Some
good, some bad - enough bad to ensure their stories are remembered more loudly
than the good ones. Are there enough good ones to allow progress to move in the
right direction, a more healthy, fair, holistic future?
We seem to be fucking the planet we inhabit, whose population has doubled in my lifetime, and while we have abundant resources to do so - we do not give each person what they need to survive let own thrive on this planet in terms of food, shelter or freedom from violence. While each human is more or less quite intelligent, the corporate man is completely incompetent in making choices that will serve humanity. In the way our euro-centric society has developed there is safety for a woman in the earning potential of a man to protect the nuclear family unit - as opposed to the way collective societies develop - the power is in the collective to divide jobs for the wellbeing of the whole
Evil is sustained by the inaction of bystanders - the patriarchy sustained by 'suburban' white woman. Although I doubt we are bystanders in all reality. We can go on about patriarchy but maybe it’s a matriarchy - the woman behind the man, pulling the strings. White feminism is a term used for women seeking individual power instead of community power (pay rises, career progression in a capitalist system, power over, not power with). White women have a power in the hierarchy that is also self-serving - upholding and benefitting from the status quo - a status quo that has developed over centuries.
I am horrified at what has happened in the US, a democracy far, far away, but similar things are happening here - with a government here also fighting for status quo. The US outcome has made me think about my own 'suburban white woman' position within the system at home. The 'Treaty Principles Bill' is a move by a libertarian political to not drive the tenets of liberal economic and social principals deeper into our legal and economic system. A system that gives little regards to social and environmental outcomes of those policies - collateral damage in ever increasing economic 'growth' that serves the few instead of the whole. Luck falls on which category each person falls into - but I can guarantee its demographically determined. This government can argue 'we are all one', we are all equal but that is ignorant at best, and evil at worst. That is not how the world is set up to work - any removal of affirmative action to steel an Americanism, maintains the dominant status quo, makes the 'levers' invisible.
This current New Zealand government is maintaining the dominant status quo under the guise of 'equality for all'. Removing what little protections there are for indigenous world views digs a deeper hole for the worst of capitalism, protections for the rich elite and a dreary march towards a dire future. Seymour is a tool - in more ways than one.
I first wrote a blog responding to the red headed lunatic in America, 8 years ago January 2017 after he was then elected to the office, and in the wake of the enormous protests to hit the streets in protest over his treatment of women. I was in shock and likened him to Darth Vader, and hoped for a revolution. Since then rights of women have deteriorated in some ways throughout the United States with respect to access to contraception and termination of pregnancies. I sincerely hoped his leadership and influence when the country voted for Joe Biden at the next election. Maybe it was just a blip. However, he has been elected again. I am not shocked this time, just resigned, and holding on to the one hope that he can, as he says, reduce the calamity happening in Gaza. I'm not holding my breath.
This time he is critically supported by Elon Musk - another
man full of his own self-importance.
Sure he's a scientific genius, but maybe a mad one, lacking skills that IMHO are far more effective for leadership and humanity. Musk is reminiscent of the caricatures of Hollywood movies - the baddie who wants to take over the world, he's hooked up his horse to the crazy SOAB Trump in an effort to increase power on top of being the wealthiest man on the planet.
I no longer even hope that Trump would trigger a revolution - he is symbol, a symptom rather than the cause of a system that is sick and unjust. He is directing an unbalanced and self-centred organisation that will eventually unbalance its natural systems - human, social, and climatic. The Star Wars metaphor is getting all too real. And 'we' voted it in - he is democratically elected, just like Darth Vader, just like Adolf Hitler, just like Putin (well?). Do we even know what we want? We seem to be backing the powerful horse, one that will rear up and throw us off.
YET, there is hope for revolution, but maybe of an internal
one. A search for peace, calm and justice closer to home - in myself, in my
community, and in my own sphere of influence. In this way I feel connected to
all the freedom fighters - those who choose to be peaceful, be calm, be justice-oriented Until we, the white suburban women, challenge our own patriarchal thinking - we
will also support the strong man in the ring, or the election in this case. And
for good reason - the patriarchy is strong. 'We' know where the power and the
safety is - and 'we' choose it for ourselves, instead of for the many. If we
have this access we will use it - and it seems my white face, with an education
and an income, gives me access. There's much to be said about white feminism
that is more interested in equal pay in the corporate workplace than true
equality or equity across classes and races. We want to protect our place on
the ladder, just below white* (or rich) men. It's been a while since I've
called myself a feminist and that is why - I have a lot to learn about what I
am fighting for, and who I am fighting for. I want to know more about the world I
live in, and how all people, biases, racism, sexism, ageism, and ableism,
intersect. Intersectionality. I know where this suburban white woman will be
when the people in Aotearoa New Zealand are marching. It is a stand against
patriarchy, and injustice, a stand for people and our environment, it is a fight
for indigenous systems, knowledge; and ways of interacting with ourselves, each
other and the world around us.
Toitū te mana o te whenua, toitū te mana motuhake, toitū
te tiriti o Waitangi.
*its not just white, its rich, land owning, political actors
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