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In this episode, Dani takes us on a journey of imagination. They'd like this episode to act as a thought experiment and get us all thinking.
See full episode notes for recommendations & links.
Dani is honest and refreshing in her takes on the world and society. Listen as she explains how she’s come to understand the world through kindness, both towards ourselves and everything else.
[0:00] Hello friends! Welcome to Understanding Kindness, a podcast hosted by me, Dani! I’m someone who approaches life by learning from everyone around me, and I’ve decided to write it all down and talk about it here with you. I’ve learned that in order to create change in this world, we need to understand ourselves and the world around us, all while infusing kindness into everything we do. If I can do it, you can do it, and we can do it together. Welcome to Understanding Kindness.
[0:29] Hey there! Today’s episode will be a bit different than previous episodes. This one has lots of questions in it. In fact, it’s almost entirely questions. They have to do with the general topics we usually discuss: culture, Community, society, the US empire. Should be a fun one! I want this episode specifically to act as a thought experiment. The questions I’m raising here are only those that which came into my head. Though I’d like them to enter yours and get you thinking, I’d also like for you to ask even more questions! Send them to me if you’d like! For now, let’s just get into it.
[1:07] Here we are for our Native segment today and we’re talking about none other than Line 3. I mentioned just 2 episodes ago that the construction of Line 3 was almost complete, and now it’s with a heavy heart that I say it has been finished. The day after Canada’s first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September, Enbridge announced that the new pipeline was “substantially complete”. Line 3 will now carry 32 million gallons of crude tar sands oil DAILY from so-called Alberta, Canada to so-called Wisconsin in the US, illegally cutting through a variety of different Indigenous lands. Despite this, the Indigenous leaders who have been front running this resistance are not throwing in the towel. There will be oil spills as a result of this dirty oil pipeline, like ones previously when 840,000 gallons were released into the Kalamazoo River in so-called Michigan by another Enbridge pipeline or when there were 2.8 million gallons of “hazardous liquid incidents” between 2002 and 2018. Water Protectors continue to resist Enbridge to prevent further spills from Line 3 and all pipelines. Currently, there is a $3.32 million lawsuit filed against Enbridge by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for “failure to follow environmental laws during construction of Line 3”. Enbridge is also under investigation for spilling 80 gallons of drilling fluid into the Willow River. So, this is not over. There are still ways that you can help as well. You can start by learning more about Line 3 on StopLine3.org. Then you can listen to this episode of It’s Going Down titled “Anti-Pipeline Resistance & Organizing for Indigenous Survival: A Discussion” for some analysis on the current resistance of Line 3 and suggestions for how to do more and be more effective. Another way that I’ve mentioned in the past to support the resistance of oil pipelines is by divesting your money from them. On the Mazaska Talks website, you can learn how to divest from banks that fund and support big oil and the construction of oil pipelines. Doing this hits them where it hurts. Oil companies, like Enbridge, need funding in order to construct these giant pipelines that span miles and miles, from one country to the next. When we begin withdrawing our funds from banks that choose to support these companies with massive loans, we show those institutions that we will not stand idly by as they destroy our home and kill us all.
[3:41] I just finally divested from the bank I used previously. It took me a while to cut the final cord. In my situation, I was nervous that if I closed my account with the bank I was with I wouldn’t receive any further stimulus checks if the US government gave another out. This held me back from finally withdrawing all my money from that account. I was thinking I’d have to wait until tax season to switch my account information with the IRS. I wasn’t able to switch it prior to then and continually felt a nagging pull that I needed to just cut the cord. I wasn’t able to do it until I was listening to an episode of It’s Going Down (I don’t remember which one), where someone mentioned that this struggle isn’t about us as individuals; it’s much bigger than that. If there was another stimulus check, maybe I wouldn’t get it right away. I had to realize that that was okay, and there are so many who have gone without any of those checks and made it through. This struggle and resistance is bigger than my need for some money. It’s crucial that we come together to show these institutions and corporations that we won’t just stand by as they destroy our only home, all of our lives, and the lives of future generations. The Mazaska Talks website gives loads of information on the banks, the pipelines, the boycott, and how to divest yourself and your Community. There are great tools for helping you through the process to make it quick and easy. Don’t wait around like I did. Understand that this is bigger than you and find your Community to not only lean on, but to encourage to do the same. I’ll link the Mazaska Talks and StopLine3 websites, as well as the It’s Going Down episode in the episode notes.
[5:21] {Singing} *Shooouuuuut-Ooooouuuutttttsssssss*
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[5:41] Before we get into our main topic today I have an update for y’all. Understanding Kindness has a new email address: UnderstandingKindness@protonmail.com. Protonmail is a secure email provider, using end-to-end encryption for all your communications and information - and it’s completely free to use! I’ve chosen to switch over to this email company to keep myself and my comrades safe. With other platforms, your information can be used against you or your comrades in any way if the state so chooses. Switching my communications to a secure platform makes this much more difficult. Protonmail is highly rated and recommended. They also provide free VPNs for all over the world so you can keep your internet history safe as well. Even if you don’t think you need protection like this, it’s important to keep all of our communications secure so that others who contact us are safe too. The interface is lovely and works great, at least so far for me. Try it out! And once again, UK’s new email address is UnderstandingKindness@protonmail.com.
[6:47] Okay, now the main topic. I’ll introduce how these thoughts came to end up in my mind and then get into the first one. I believe I was driving home from somewhere when I began thinking about some of these ideas. Passing by billboard after billboard on the highway, watching excavation of our beautiful Land, seeing the ever-present construction workers donning their orange vests upon giant machines. All of these imaginings didn’t come to me in that moment, but those images were what lead me to these thoughts. For this thought experiment, I’d like to ask that you try to view these situations from an outsiders’ perspective. Imagine you are someone who has never seen these societies and are watching from a distance. What do you see?
[7:31] I’d like you to just imagine that the society we live in in the so-called US were dystopian. Imagine that those billboards you see while driving on the highway to work are propaganda for this dystopian society. See the new amazon fresh ad stating, “Your new grocery store” with a picture of an overflowing basket of groceries. It pops out. If this were a dystopian society, what would that billboard really be like? To me, I read that ad instead of just saying, “Your new grocery store” it tells me, “Your new grocery store.” Imagine, instead of billboards and ads just trying to get you to buy their product or shop at their store, they now tell you which product to buy and which store to shop at. How simple that would be! No more thinking involved! Amazon fresh just built a store a mile away from me so, yeah, they are my new grocery store.
[8:33] Or perhaps it’s easier to imagine that that is what companies want. They don’t just want to reach out and grab your attention to persuade you to purchase their item or shop at their store. They want to tell you that you will be buying their product and shopping at their store. Or working for them. Watch all the busy little People running around. What are they running around for? Imagine you have a bird’s eye view. You see thousands of cars driving around, into the city, out of the city, across Felds, through the Mountains. What are they doing? How weird it is out of context. They seem to be doing big things, but comparatively, to the universe that is, they are minuscule. Nothing but ants on a mission. But ants’ missions are to survive as a species. What is the little Humans’ mission as they traipse back and forth across the Land. Is that what furthers their species? What about those little screens they keep in their hands, hanging their heads low over them? What is the purpose? They spend HOURS of their lives looking down at those things! Do they hold the secrets of their species, of the universe? What are those little Humans doing with them? And then, next year they have a different one! And, somehow, their heads hang low peering over them for even longer! Don’t they realize there is beauty beyond that screen? There is life beyond that little screen?
[10:01] Okay, thank you for indulging me in that one. This next one is slightly related. Imagine being in the future and seeing the ruins of the fallen US empire. Just like we can see the ruins of the civilizations before us in pyramids, in colosseums, in giant walls. The US will not last forever. Nothing lasts forever. So let us imagine the end. What comes after? What do you see when you look onto those enormous now-plant-covered steel giants? Can you see the thousands of miles of overgrown highways now? Watch as Earth covers up the structures of a once greedy and closed-minded society. See as she shows us who’s in charge, how we would never overcome her. See as her laughter spreads out into forever Fields of green, Oceans of blue, and Flowers of every color. Her Creatures come out from hiding and take over once again. Breathing sighs of relief as they are finally back home. But are we Human Creatures still there?
[11:10] Do we live beyond this collapse into what was always going to come? Can we survive the mirror being held up to our faces? Will we survive the destruction of our ego? I do not know these answers. But I see the beauty that has come with the destruction of our society, the destruction of our ego. I laugh, exasperated. How could this have happened in the first place? How could we have strayed so far? We tried to control. We tried to destroy Nature and in turn we destroyed ourselves. Thankfully, our Mother Earth will be here with or without us. She brought us here and she can take us out. So, we must ask her, will we survive our own destruction? As our ego collapses under your almighty power? When control has been stripped from us, when our ego has been crushed, and when you take over once again, are we still around? Perhaps we are still around. What do our societies look like now? Do we live within Nature? Or have we learned nothing and continue to try to conquer her? Do we live within the ruins of the US empire? Are we taking care of each other? Or continuing to look the other way as our neighbors and relatives starve and suffocate? Who is there with us? Have we extinguished all other life with our choices? Or do our choices allow us to live in harmony once again? Do you see Flora and Fauna bubbling up from Earth? Or are the ruins a fallen wasteland? What do you see?
[12:49] Do you still see Humans running around uselessly, attempting to gather as much wealth and capital as possible? Do you still see giant machines and oil pipelines cutting through our Earth? Do you still see factories churning out dead bodies while others scream as they await their fate inside? Do you still see Field upon Field of the same crop, attempting to snuff out all diversity? Do you still see metal tubes bolting across our Skies leaving clouds of gas behind them? Do you still see individual little gas guzzlers zooming across the Land? Do you still see border walls and militias? Do you still see People in the streets demanding their rights to live the lives they choose? Do you still see a few hoarding all the money and resources from the overwhelming masses? Or has the plight of the overwhelming masses succeeded and everyone lives in Community with one another? What do you see when you imagine the ruins of the current US empire?
[13:48] Thank you, again. I have one last one for you here now. And again, this one is related. Imagine, if you will, that you are not an individual, but one in a Community with a greater goal- continuing our species and your Community’s culture. Do you imagine we still soldier on in the name of capital and money? Or do you imagine us living lives for ourselves and our Communities and our loved ones? Do you imagine a culture of continuous war and murder to continue? Do you imagine us living in harmony and reciprocity with each other? Do you imagine us hoarding our resources so that only the wealthiest will continue to live? Or do you imagine we share resources to allow our species to continue as long into the future as possible? Do you imagine the culture of greed we currently live under continues? Or do we strive to live with one another and share the wealth? Do our cultures allow us to rejoice in life and who we are? Or do they refuse to see our humanity and continue to ask us to live for the constant gain of capital?
[14:52] Do you see your ego dissolving? Do you see your importance within the group? Do you see your unique abilities and how they fit in to help the whole? Do you see your life being made richer because you’re able to share it with others? Or do you see People going mad because they can no longer have all their things? Will their temperament ever change? Do you see individuals fighting and clawing for the crumbs of their employers? Do you see employers? Employees? The latter will answer the former. Do you see individuals exchanging money, or goods? Capital, or services? Do you see true reciprocity? What does it look like? Are we taking and taking and taking? Or giving and giving and giving? Are we continuously learning? Or continuously pretending like we know it all? Do we help each other, or hurt each other? Do we understand our place and importance on this Earth? Or do we continue to fabricate a place and importance for ourselves? Are we still arrogant? Or have we finally come full circle?
[16:07] Thank you once again for allowing me to indulge in this little thought experiment. I do not know the answers to any of these questions. Mostly because they’re about the future, but also because the answers are in each of our minds. They’re each different because we’re all unique. My hope is that at least our underlying desires for ourselves and our societies is similar. I believe we all want peace and justice and the ability to live our lives as we choose. I believe we all desire more time with our loved ones and for ourselves. Though the ends to our desires may play out differently in our minds, it is important to imagine them. Our current societies snuff out our imaginations. We’re told that this is the only way society can work. We know that the same system that is telling us this has lied many, many times before. Why do we trust it with this? What would it gain from telling such a lie? And if this is the only type of society that can work, how did our ancestors get along for millennia without it?
[17:14] {Singing} *Recommendaaaationsssss*
Alrighty, we’ve just got those recs from the Native segment today. First there’s the StopLine3 website where you can learn more about Line 3 and its current resistance. There’s also the Mazaska Talks website for learning how to divest your money from the institutions funding these oil projects. You’ll find lots of info on the banks, pipelines, and boycott on there as well. Lastly, I mentioned the It’s Going Down podcast which helped me finally realize I needed to divest my money because this struggle is much bigger than me. In the IGD episode titled “Anti-Pipeline Resistance & Organizing for Indigenous Survival: A Discussion” you can listen to some analysis of the current Line 3 resistance and suggestions for how to do more and be more effective. IGD is a phenomenal resource and I’d highly recommend checking it out. I’ll link that episode and the IGD website in the episode notes, along with the Mazaska Talks and StopLine3 websites.
[18:17] If you enjoyed this episode, help support the podcast! All this content is free and I’d love to make it my job one day, so if you’re financially able join our patreon or send a one-time or recurring donation through paypal! You can also share an episode with family or friends, and give UK a kind rating and review!
Check out UnderstandingKindness.com for all episodes, transcripts, and blog posts. And why not take a listen to my other podcast, Better When Awkward, co-hosted by my childhood best friend Jasmine!
Get in touch with me by emailing UnderstandingKindness@protonmail.com, or through social media. You can find all links in the episode notes.
For now, be kind, be compassionate, be understanding, and question everything. I’ll be here. Thank you for listening to this episode of Understanding Kindness. [End transcript]