Tools Of Discombobulation

Progress is currently slow. There was a period of fairly quick writing, but being the kind of writer that I am, it is now a nit-picking process of making sure what has been written makes sense and actually gets the points across in the way I want them to. Normally a writer would hammer through the first draft and then go back to the beginning to review it: in Time’s Up! (still available from all good book stores and a few bad ones) I wrote chapter by chapter, sending each chapter to a few friends – all of whom were duly credited – for criticism. I will probably be doing to same this time, but have the extra issue of having to produce at least one more chapter for a prospective publisher before 9th December, which wouldn’t be a problem, except the chapter I’m writing is very similar to the horrific CHAPTER 13 (in caps because I remember writing it so vividly) from TI!

Actually it’s harder.

I’m having to make a convincing case for Undermining the Tools of Disconnection, and then listing each of the 15 Tools (up from 10) in such a way as to allow the reader to start formulating Undermining strategies, so by the time the Undermining chapters are underway the reader is already well placed to decide whether she is going to take part in this or that task. I have just finished the treatment for the first Tool, and as I’m always open to criticism, here it is:

Reward Us for Being Good Consumers

Description:

It is fairly easy to make civilized people happy, or at least give people the sense that they are happy; they just have to be primed in the right way. What is key to creating this malleable state of mind is making people believe from a very early age that “happiness” is something far more superficial than having a deep and genuine state of contentment and well-being. The marketing of consumer goods and services (“experiences”) tap into the desire for happiness through colourful and positive images reflecting enjoyment of whatever is being marketed; this is compounded by continual messaging through the mass media that consumption in general is a “good thing”, and the consumption of anything new and fashionable is likely to lead to improvement in our quality of life. This powerful message is easily transferred to the next generation via parents and peers who are already primed.

Identification:

At a personal level, this can be recognised through being aware of anything that makes you feel better, yet is clearly a product of the consumer culture: so, for instance, if you are watching or listening to an advertisement and begin to feel happy, regardless of the source of the advertisement then that Tool is in operation. The same can be observed on other people who are showing signs of happiness where no source beyond that which has been manufactured is evident. The popularity of shopping malls, cinemas, amusement parks and package holidays are further evidence that the genuine need for happiness has been subsumed into industrial-scale consumption: we go shopping to “feel good” now.

Consequences:

The two main consequences of “consumption happiness” are, first, that we become less inclined to seek deeper, more satisfying forms of happiness from the real world – such as the enjoyment of dipping our toes into cool water on a hot day – instead seeking out disconnected sources of “happiness” through material consumption. The second, less direct, consequence is that increased consumption through our desire to be happy, leads to environmental and social degradation, particularly where the things we consume are produced, powered from and disposed of.

Perpetrators (examples):

Consumer journalists; advertising executives; marketing professionals; salespeople; travel agents; product developers.

There’s another 14 of these to do, so any comments are most welcome before I do all of them wrong.

The Feedback Loop of Disconnection

One thing I adore about writing – maybe not so much as talking, but it’s close – is the way ideas come about simply through the creative process. Stop and think hard for a while and it’s unlikely you’ll come up with anything original; start writing about it, even something only tangentially related, and as if by magic new things seem to pop out of the ends of your fingers, or pen (actually, I reckon it would be even more apparent with a pen, pencil or brush due to its tactility).

Today was no exception: I was working on a particularly difficult concept, which is how to make the Tools of Disconnection absolutely at the centre of the book. This is difficult because the concept, rather than the Tools themselves, is so esoteric – so what if there are things that make people less inclined to connect with the real world, we all have to get on with our lives, don’t we? This afternoon I was reading a very readable paper by Raymond de Young, called “Restoring Mental Vitality in an Endangered World: Reflections on the Benefits of Walking”, and pulled out something utterly fascinating – the assertion that it is our natural connection to the real world that we need for survival that makes us vulnerable to external, and less useful influences. Because, he says, as humans we are able to focus ourselves away from the “fascination” of natural occurences, we are also vulnerable to being “hijacked” when that focus wanes. Because we live in civilized environments, for the most part, when we lose focus, unlike in survival situations when we would reconnect with – for instance – the movement of a river, or the sound of a predator, the industrial system grabs our “fascination” for its own ends.

This is perhaps an even more esoteric idea than the Tools of Disconnection, but then while trying to knit the two together I stumbled upon an idea that made perfect sense: it is not the system purposefully trying to disconnect us from the real world, but the application of a range of methods of control (i.e. the normal way that we are contained within a civilized mindset) that creates that disconnection. What then happens is that state of disconnection makes us even more vulnerable to being controlled – we become more dependent on the system, although that’s sneaking into psychoanalysis, so I thought I’d better leave that bit out. Anyway, by contrasting that with the feedbacks loops occuring in the climate system, I was able to make – I think – quite a powerful statement regarding Disconnection, and why it is so important to Undermine these Tools.

Next stop is relisting the Tools of Disconnection, now 15, including the Uber-Tool (more later) which I will get on to this week. Meanwhile I have just assembled a pile of packing boxes for a Freecycler, and really must go and have a wee…

Writing in Libraries

It’s terribly, terribly distracting to write in my house. Not that for most of the day there is anyone around, except the chickens occasionally shouting for corn, but there are always so many things to do that the moment I sit down I think of something that I recently forgot and end up doing that instead of writing. So today, as well as picking up some lost property from the bus station in our nearest large town, I took the laptop to the library in order to see whether the atmosphere would be conducive to writing.

Wow, wasn’t it half? Dull, quiet, no view to speak of, no greenery, no jam to make, no seeds to plant, no floors to sweep – all I could do was write, and in the space of the mere hour I had I had almost completed the introduction to the book (did I say I have to have written an introduction and a first chapter before approaching any publisher?) as well as emailed a friend of mine in order to ask for an essay for Chapter 2. And when I had got home and unpacked the stupid weight of food I had managed to fit into the rucksack, I corrected the beginning of Chapter 2 because it was rubbish.

I’m definitely going to the library again.

Chapter One Finished!

I think it’s a big milestone, even though Tolstoy or even Stephen King would sneer at the thought of a single chapter, but I really don’t have much time to write, so when even one chapter out of – I don’t know – fifteen or sixteen is finished then I can afford a little hip-hooray! to myself. Actually, it is important because it sets the tone for the rest of the book: angrier, but more playful, if that’s not too schizophrenic. There are already moments of real bile, along with one major swear word and a smile occasionally playing on the edges of the text.

Equally significant is the first guest piece, authored by the great Carolyn Baker, the only person who was able to get me to consider that I might actually be a spiritual person; well, maybe not spiritual but certainly soulful. Some new words, along with a few slices from Sacred Demise and her new book, which I have the manuscript for but sadly have not managed to finish reading yet. She was the only person I thought suitable for explaining the intricacies of Connection without immediately alienating the reader, and I think her words fit really well.

And now I have to clean out the chickens…