I’ve decided to start my blog again, mainly as I’m now doing another residency, but also because I’d been meaning to carry on with it regardless. I’ve got a bit more time on my hands as work has been slowing down already- and the cuts have only just begun…
Just to get the details of the residency out of the way, I’m near Barcelona, in the foothills of Monserrat mountain which takes its name from the ‘serrated’ look of the mountain top. The residency itself in is a rambling farmhouse called Can Serrat. The whole thing reminds me of Greece- the pine forest, the dirt tracks, the air, the powdery light.
Yesterday I went up to the monastery, which had fantastic views across the plains to the Pyrenees and up the bizarre rock formations lining the mountain top. There was the usual ornate décor associated with Catholic churches, plus about hundred variations on Christ on the cross and the virgin Mary- this place is famous for the black Madonna (emphatically NOT an African Madonna, according to the locals). Highlight of the day was the bells going off during Mass.
All these expressions of unwavering faith made me think of the book I have been reading- Ground Control, by Anna Minton. Amongst many other interesting topics she covers- including the erosion of local democracy through the encroachment of ‘private estates’ into public spaces and the manipulations of the property market in favour of developers, often to the detriment of existing communities- she talks about an area I’m really interested in: the intersection of political economy and emotional states. She suggests that the lack of an emotional sense of stability, security and ease in the world leads to an urge to find ways to protect oneself from the ‘dangerous’ outside world, hence private gated communities and endless CCTVs; but also the paradoxical finding that as security increases, so does the fear of danger, and therefore, in this scenario, the ‘strangers’ who make up the public.
This obviously is exacerbated by the media, which feeds the paranoia compelling most people (something like 80% of the UK population) to be convinced that crime is rising, compared to the official statistics, which (though not infallible) point to the opposite. This is an example of Zizek’s big Other in action- things aren’t actually as ‘bad’ as they are perceived to be but we act ‘as if’ crime really were rising; the official discourse is not believed, precisely because it doesn’t match up with the perception of the situation- i.e. “Well the government SAYS crime is going down, but EVERYONE KNOWS its not, really”.
The government has contested this attitude pretty weakly; is there something to be gained economically from a vague fear towards strangers, public space and society?
It makes sense that as society fulfills more and more of its needs, it becomes harder to sell stuff, so new deficiencies need to be played upon, new desires need to be aroused. What better than something nebulous, like a ‘sense of security’? This opens up a whole new economy, not just for private estates and gated communities (much more ‘secure’) but also for the technological infrastructure of surveillance and monitoring. This digression is just to make the connection between the emotional need for security, in Buddhism the seeking of ‘ground’ and one of the main roots of suffering, and its conversion into a desire for security at a practical level.
Which is why I was thinking about this at the monastery. Once, we put our faith in God, to give a sense of ground, to feel that we are not (only) insignificant fragments destined to rot sooner or later. Now, what can we put our faith in, to give a sense of safety? This is the emotional need that is being played on- and being inflated rather than sated. This could sound like I’m advocating a return to religion to solve our problems, which I’m not. I’m just interested in the way that mental health and ill-health are reconstituted as economic opportunities- directly fuelling certain markets (pharmaceuticals etc) and also more subtly expanding others- those of private property development and surveillance.
