The concept of being “anti” something doesn’t exist in nature. What occurs in the natural world is active response to behavior, relationship, context, intent and potential. My friend Darin once asked me the most interesting question, “What is the opposite of war?” I thought long and hard on that question, realizing that he was asking it because the common responses all failed (catastrophically) to embody the potential of the question.
What is the opposite of racism? It isn’t anti-racism.
What is the opposite of environmental degradation, destruction, extraction? It isn’t being anti-Zinke.
What is the opposite of facism? It isn’t being antifacist.
What is the opposite of consumer capitalism? It isn’t being anti-capitalist, or even socialist.
These responses are all an act of immediate surrender to the very thing they claim to be against.
I saw a sign the other day that said: “Anti-racist neighborhood watch. If you see something do something.”
Do you see the problem with that sign? Do you see how its very essence is passive surrender to racism? The neighborhood is watching for racism. If we see it, we’ll do something…
What is the opposite of war? It isn’t peace. It isn’t love. It isn’t compassion. War is a state of armed conflict – an engagement, a theater of acts of aggression. What is the opposite of that?
For starters, the opposite of war has to be every bit as explosive as war, and it has to carry equal and opposing implications for its ability to affect people and the planet at scale.
What does a LOVE BOMB really look like?
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