Political bonsai

[hierophantic]

@MelBAU: please forgive me if I’m stepping on your toes; I’m not trying to speak for you, just trying to head this off at the pass.

@Carl: I believe you’ve crossed the line from “polite and respectful inquiries designed to open your mind” to “asking a marginalized person to do your work for you.” If you’re genuinely interested in the experiences of marginalized people, you need to do your own research. Lots of marginalized people have spent their careers writing and talking about their experiences. Go find them.

A nickel’s worth of free advice: you might consider starting with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. If you’re actually interested in engaging the experiences of marginalized people, you might find it valuable.

[Carl]

@hierophantic: It’s interesting that MelBAU said she felt invisible and then you spoke for her. All I did was ask her to share her experiences just as I did with you. Just because MelBAU is a woman doesn’t mean she shares the same experiences as other people who say they’ve been marginalized. I view and value people as individuals, not their race, sex, sexual orientation, etc.

And how presumptuous of you to assume I haven’t done my own research. How would you know what I know unless you ask?

[MelBAU]

@Carl , you’ll never understand unless you’re one of the marginalised.

I suggest you look at the people in your club next time you’re there, ask the women if they have ever felt like they’re invisible… look at the responses on the forum here, look at the chat on Mirai Live, count the men’s names. Do you go out of your way to welcome new members? Are you less likely to spend any time with someone who isn’t like you? Let us know how you go.

Forgiven @hierophantic

[AndyK]

It feels like I kicked a rock off a mountain when I started this topic, and it has turned into a bit of an avalanche.
I find working with trees puts my short life and problems into perspective, and after I have worked with them, I’m usually filled with optimism and hope (as long as I haven’t snapped a branch!)
In looking at Bonsai as an art form, I was hoping to explore how these positive emotions can be turned into a message, especially for these turbulent times.
Thank you all for your varied views and opinions. I guess I have learned not to kick rocks off mountains.

[hierophantic]

@AndyK: I think that’s a noble goal, but unfortunately, “turbulent times” means different things to different people.

To many marginalized people in the contemporary US, it means “a substantial portion of the electorate is actively trying to further harm us”; to many people in the US who are not marginalized, it means “we would like to retreat into our hobbies and act like nothing is wrong.”

That’s a hard gap to bridge.

[AndyK]

I hear you @hierophantic, and its not the just the US.
Im also not in the “just put your head in the sand” camp.
Inclusivity in bonsai is a good place to start. I was a dedicated rock climber, and have returned to it in the last 2 years after 14 years off. The scene has changed a lot in that time, with a lot more diversity in the mix, and general feeling of mutual support.
I think we have to be the change, because no one else is going to fix things.
No, bonsai probably won’t change the world, but sometimes the smallest of actions can have huge ramifications (kicking small rocks)

[hierophantic]

@AndyK: solidarity elbow-bump. I keep hearing good things about climbing! My noodle arms could sure use the workout, and it really encourages me to hear you think the scene’s become more inclusive.

Completely agreed that we’re responsible for embodying and actively promoting the change we want to see.

And re: bonsai changing the world: I don’t think of it as bonsai so much as one of many arts. Art is incredibly good at effecting social change. Why not bonsai as one example?

[AndyK]

[hierophantic]

Love it. Orson Welles and David Foster Wallace also both capably argue that all language and all art are inherently political in “Politics and the English Language” and “Tense Present” respectively.

[Carl]

@AndyK

In looking at Bonsai as an art form, I was hoping to explore how these positive emotions can be turned into a message, especially for these turbulent times.

Perhaps a good place to start is getting people to ask questions as well as asking them yourself. Everyone has a worldview which encompasses a particular set of beliefs through which they see the world. Because of this, we tend to hold our worldview tight to our chest and when people try to poke it, “turbulent times” ensue. A person’s political views stem from their worldview, which is usually why those discussions get so heated. But they don’t have to be.

As someone who studies philosophy and thoroughly enjoys these kinds of conversations, I’ve observed a few things (for what it’s worth): Arguing is a good thing; it’s how we find the truth. However, being argumentative should be avoided. So keep kicking small rocks off the cliff. Keep having conversations. Also, most people want to be understood. It seems we have a situation right now where different sides of these topics don’t feel understood and now just yell past each other, essentially making it worse. And it doesn’t help when one side is told they can’t possibly understand another side because they lack the proper characteristics. If two people feel a sensation of pain, they don’t feel each other’s pain, but they each know what pain feels like and can certainly emphasize.

So, to keep with the rock analogy and to bring up a great point by Greg Koukl in his book Tactics, we should put rocks in people’s shoes by asking questions. If you’ve ever had a rock in your shoe, you know it bothers you until you take it out. Likewise, if we put a rock (question) into the shoe (worldview) of another, they will have to deal with it at some point. Asking questions lets someone know that you care about their beliefs and you wish to understand them. It also takes take down any walls and defenses to communication so a great, productive conversation can transpire.

Lastly, one thing I try to always keep in mind is that usually both parties have the same end goal in mind, differing only in their approach. I try to not attribute motive until I know more details.

I hope that helps in some way or another.

[LeonardB]

Andy,
Don’t sell your good intentions short. What happened to Juan was certainly unfortunate but there may have been a myriad of other things that happened coincidentally that caused his exodus.
Wishing it to go away isn’t the answer I know as well but trying to change these backward thinking people isn’t something that can be timelined with any accuracy.
From the civil rights activism of the 60’s to now there will be people who can point out the changes made in our society because of this activism. And of course those also who expected more change and less differences in status between peoples.
Being second generation in this country I of course am very proud of my hard work and accomplishments ( no matter how small some might think they are ). My grandfather was very fluent in the history of his Scottish clan and his immigration to this country with wages earned in the coal mines of Glasgow was an example of his determination. He also was very adamant about the way his people had been treated by the British and had history of it back to the 1600’s.
My fathers people were indentures that came to New England from Scotland in the 1700’s as weavers and worked as virtual slaves for years just to pay off their ship passage fare, so I understand some of that aspect as well.
So, as you can see I have some small understanding of these conditions we all have been discussing as well as the family history to show what can result from hard work and determination.

[hierophantic]

This is an ancient post, but – as someone who just dug it up reminded me – it IS perennial.

That person also pointed out that I incorrectly cited an essay up-thread. “Politics and the English Language” was written by the novelist, essayist, and cultural critic George Orwell – and not, in fact, by filmmaker and noted oenophile Orson Welles.

I’ll hand in my English degrees whenever y’all are ready.

[circleasylvan]

It is my understanding that nationalism usually surrounds the state not the place. I think it’s fine to be proud of where you live, but pretty gross to be blindly proud of a government.

[circleasylvan]

It seems to me that bonsai is to some extent a inherently bourgeoisie pursuit. The cost of supplies, pots, high quality material along with the free time needed to care for trees are a huge barriers to entry. Even the exclusivity of knowledge which ryan is working hard to dismantle is a big problem. Then we add to that other cultural problems like ingrained racism and the patriarchy and you have bonsai as a microcosm of our larger societal failings.

I would love to see change come to our community but I don’t think that it is possible to solve them with liberal ideals and feel good prescriptions. We will be a reflection of society no matter what we do so we must radically change our social, political and economic systems in order to have bonsai become a more egalitarian, inclusive artform.

Radical intersectional bonsai artists of the world unite!

[hierophantic]

Hey, it’s my Mirai cake day!

I’m well pleased that this post continues to pop up periodically even three years later.

One definition of politics is that politics is the process of negotiating who we are, what we want, what we support, and what we reject.

All social groups are, by definition, political. All art, all craft, and all design is political. Bonsai, and the social groups that form around bonsai, are political.

Pointing out that a social group/art/craft/design is political is, by definition, a challenge to the status quo, because it carries the assumption that things could be different than this.

Arguing that a social group/art/craft/design is NOT political supports the status quo, because it carries the assumption that the status quo is automatic, natural, essential, unchangeable.

Bonsai practitioners in the US are predominantly white, male, and wealthy. We don’t need a peer reviewed study to tell us this; it is a perceptible, pervasive reality. Anyone who says otherwise is like a fish demanding evidence for water. Why bother? Just open your eyes.

Bonsai should be more accessible to people of color and to people who are not male regardless of their economic status. The bonsai community cannot be responsible for the socioeconomic realities of the contemporary US, but it IS responsible – and can actively impact – the accessibility of knowledge, material, peer support, and mentorship. Mirai is a big contributor, especially with its beginner-focused content.

We can all be contributors to diversity in bonsai on a personal and community scale. Proactively open your communities to people from different backgrounds. Foster young peoples’ interest, and fund it when you can with your time, knowledge, and even material. Make people of color, women, and people of other genders welcome in bonsai spaces. Speak up against racism and misogyny when you encounter it; demand accountability. These actions are not dependent on fixing gross inequality in the US. They depend on us deciding that bonsai is political, and that politics is personal: you and me, here, together.

I like what @circleasylvan said, above: “radical intersectional bonsai artists of the world unite!”