‽istis reclaims consensus (weekending November 28th 2020)
This week ‽istis wonders, when, for example
and apparently:
‽ the margin is 51.9%
to 48.1%[i] - or - 80,063,589 votes to
73,904,195 votes[ii]
‽ 59% of
respondents in the UK 2011 census indicate a Christian belief and 41% claim a
belief in another religion or none[iii]
‽ despite the ‘spectrum’
approach of the Democracy Index[iv], it seems that 57% of
countries could be considered to be democracies of some kind[v]
‽ the UN reports
that just 5% of heads of government around the world are female[vi]
‽ c.2/3rds of the
British Cabinet are privately educated (Feb 2020)[vii]
‽ the
world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who
make up 60 percent of the planet’s population - and the 22 richest men
in the world have more wealth than all the women in Africa[viii]
‽ the United States spent around 718.69 billion
US$ on its military in 2019[ix] and New
Zealand planned to spend 3.29 billion US$ even after a 23% increase[x]
..then how is ‘consensus’
created or sustained especially in situations where there may be no written
constitution[xi];
where the ‘evidence’ or the science may be contested (for example: Severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / SARS-CoV-2[xii]), let alone the policies
based on it; where a ‘post-modern’ incredulity towards meta-narratives (after
Lyotard[xiii]) perhaps asks much of that
which is considered accepted/given/non-other in either our ‘histories’ or our
various ‘presents’…?
And then ‽istis wonders whether there has
ever really been a ‘consensus’… or whether what any ‘we’ calls consensus
might be no more or no less than the views of the ‘currently powerful’…
·
perhaps however
that power might have been rooted[xiv]: physical strength (and
its extension in weaponry and arms small or nuclear) and related ableism; gender;
sexual orientation; wealth, ownership of the means of production, heredity; social
status or class or caste; education; age; race; religion; etc…
·
possibly, however
that power may have been acquired, buttressed, maintained, imposed or manifest…
·
maybe, however
that power has been used to claim an understanding of apparent consensus - or
the right to decide what may be the accepted, declared or unquestioned sense of
consensus…
And perhaps in recognising the means of gaining, holding
and exercising power- and of defining ‘consensus’ - we possibly begin to recognise
the clothes that Emperors anywhere and anywhen may put on to hide their shared
nakedness?
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this
week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’:
[i]
The UK’s EU Referendum results: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results
[ii] Number
of votes for Biden/Trump respectively as reported by The Guardian webpage 26.11.2020:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2020/nov/26/us-election-results-2020-joe-biden-defeats-donald-trump-to-win-presidency
[iii] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/articles/fullstorywhatdoesthecensustellusaboutreligionin2011/2013-05-16
[vi] https://www.aicgs.org/2020/05/why-have-women-world-leaders-performed-so-well-during-the-covid-19-crisis/
[vii] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-cabinet-reshuffle-news-privately-educated-mps-a9335261.html
[viii]
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-billionaires-have-more-wealth-46-billion-people
[x] https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/new-zealand-announces-major-increase-in-defence-spending
[xi] https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-committees/political-and-constitutional-reform/The-UK-Constitution.pdf
[xiii]
https://iep.utm.edu/lyotard/#:~:text=Lyotard%20famously%20defines%20the%20postmodern,legitimise%20knowledges%20and%20cultural%20practises.&text=For%20Lyotard%2C%20this%20is%20a%20question%20of%20both%20knowledge%20and%20power
[xiv]
Including matters linking to ‘protected characteristics' under the UK Equality
Act 2010: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/your-rights-under-equality-act-2010#:~:text=Under%20the%20Equality%20Act%2C%20there%20are%20nine%20protected,religion%20or%20belief%208%20sex%209%20sexual%20orientation
