Integrity PornPornography is generated cynically and consumed obsessively because it gratifies a compelling urge to see reflected in the outside world the extreme intensity of inner fantasy. For many it is addictive, self perpetuating because it cannot still the urge by fulfilling the need it pretends to address. This is not to say that it does not please, only that it never deeply satisfies. As in other addictions, one wants more of that which acts as a substitute until the use of the substitute becomes evidence that real satisfaction is in fact impossible, and settling seems like the best possible result.
While persons moved by the often exploitive depiction of sexual acts, for example, often make and watch sexual pornography, even that kind of porn is not in the end only about sex. It is consciously and unconsciously about power: power over another, submission, and the danger that loss of control, obsession, compulsion, and addiction represent. It may have helpful consequences as well. I am merely pointing out what it does. I will moralize down below.
In the culture in general, the term "porn" has come to refer as well to any obsessively consumed media product designed for consumption by a special interest group. Gardening Porn, for instance, might refer to planting videos, seeding shot from many angles and with endless commentary rendered with manic enthusiasm.
(1)I would like to propose a new category which I will call Integrity Porn. By no means beginning with, but definitely moved front and center by The West Wing television series, #IntegrityPorn is that genre of media product which targets those desperate to participate vicariously in the reassuring sense that, even under exaggerated and unrelenting pressure, leadership can be altruistic and mighty at the same time. The Madam Secretary franchise is an even better example of integrity porn, as it reproduces the formula with fewer variations, provides tidy TV-length resolutions to extremely complex issues, proposing to the civic imagination that being smart, principled, and warm-hearted is not only possible, but that it is the key to instant success in politically fraught situations.
#TrueConfession time. I am a consumer of Integrity porn. I watch these shows, the opposite of but not antidote to emotional and physical violence porn like House of Cards and Game of Thrones. I return to them, in part, because of the voluble sigh of relief uttered deep within my psyche, hammered by an unremitting real world frenzy of cruelty and the violence of realpolitik unfettered by good sense of any kind. Porn can provides a necessary respite from inner tension wrought of frustration that can rise to the level of suffering. I wish to draw to my own attention, however, and that of my fellow consumers the cost of the consumption transaction.
(2)The cost of and problem with any kind of porn is at least two-fold: porn opens the door through which exploitation enters and is normalized, as it provides a simplistic, comforting anesthetic. As I consume integrity porn, the fantasy of leaders goverened by the Golden Rule depresses the essential search for the complex understanding based on direct experience which leads to authentic individual action, a force which can actually change the real world for the better. I vent my frustration vicariously, but I do not act to change the circumstances which cause it. What if, instead of compensatory fantasy, I insist on little pauses to remind myself of this dynamic--not a Thou Shalt Not but a "hang on a second" that allows for enough stillness that reflection becomes possible?
If pornography is generated cynically and consumed obsessively because it gratifies a compelling urge to see reflected in the outside world the extreme intensity of inner fantasy, what does that suggest about the fountain of #Trumporn we see ejaculated from and upon Twitter every day? What does the fact that we click to consume it every day, perhaps many times a day, say about us and about "journalism outlets" (3) who have struggled endlessly with tabloidism that not only "favours stories of a sensational or even fictitious nature over serious news" but offers this "news" as though it were a "compressed portion of drugs, chemicals...compressed into a tablet." (4) To what end am I injesting and regurgitating this professionally processed, regurgitation provoking (whether re-Tweeting in agreement of disagreement), attention dominating drug?
I pause. I rememeber that I choose much of what I put in my mind and mouth. It is my life being spent each moment. Choices have an inescapable moral dimension. Will I choose to spend time in an activity with modest expectations which, nevertheless, incrementaly advances the kind of daily world that is, in fact, more soul satisfying? I might even promise myself and others to do this as an exercise which sharpens my attention and willpower, leads to habits of taking responsibility for my choices, and acts as a commitment to integrity and coherence. I choose a commitment to action that is nonviolent because it is based on direct knowledge of how harm is caused and prevented, and effective because it is learned through practice. This feels a bit like learning a martial art, which is very different from vicarious participation in a media ritual that comforts and gives the relaxing sense that there is somebody out there taking care of business with integrity.
Gardening porn seldom gets your hands dirty. Sexual pornography might get me off, so to speak, but it doesn't get me off the hook of my hunger for real relationships. It cannot bring the feeling of sustainable personal power and reassurance that being chosen by an equal partner can bring. Integrity porn, whether obvious fictional or packaged as a candidate "debate", might release the pressure valve of panic at the degradation of civil society but it sure doesn't get the homeless housed, honest commerce encouraged, the sick cared for, justice done, or guarantee a sane foreign policy. Only you and I together can do that when our vision is clear and our purpose and power are shared--only when we make sure the system works, especially for those whose lifelong cries for honest representation and authentic public service are silenced by the blare of #egojaculations.
(5)2. Image Credit https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Jeremy,_Stormy_Daniels_at_Ron_Jeremy%27s_Birthday_Party_3.jpg
3. Are "journalism outlets" where you buy the cheapest, often damaged, remainders of journalism?
4. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tabloid
5. Original @BDWC modification of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_Rosso_Sex_Show_Amsterdam_Daniel_D._Teoli_Jr..jpg and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/President_Trump_is_joined_by_Vice_President_Pence_for_an_Executive_Order_signing_%2833803971533%29_%282%29.jpg
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Conflict Done Well Aikido Training at SSUMCConflict Done Well begins with martial arts and yoga-based exercises, then aikido movement and concepts, which are then used to learn nonviolent self-defense. To the movements and principles we add language and practice improvisation in order to apply techniques in daily conflicts of all kinds so that restorative justice leadership results. We will be forming a volunteer social justice action team in which you may want to participate. All adult persons of any description, ability, and misgivings are most welcome to join. Teens are warmly invited to ask for parental permission and to join as well.
Please wear clothes in which you can comfortably stretch to your full range of movement and learn at your own pace to keep your balance under stress and rise easily from the floor. If you are able, a sustainability donation is requested after beginning regular attendance, but none is required to begin or continue training. A portion of the donation will go to the St. Stephen community.
Conflict Done Well includes Martial Nonviolence (MNv) training with Brandon WilliamsCraig Ph.D. - 5th dan Aikikai. When the MNv curriculum is adapted for and adopted by a particular community, that is called Peace Practices (PxPx). Here is a video with more information.
Conflict Done Well Aikido Training at SSUMC PollConflict Done Well Aikido Training
at St. Stephen UMC Mesquite, TX
Conflict Done Well begins with martial arts and yoga-based exercises, then aikido movement and concepts, which are then used to learn nonviolent self-defense. To the movements and principles we add language and practice improvisation in order to apply techniques in daily conflicts of all kinds so that restorative justice leadership results. We will be forming a volunteer social justice action team in which you may want to participate. All adult persons of any description, ability, and misgivings are most welcome to join. Teens are warmly invited to ask for parental permission and to join as well.
Please wear clothes in which you can comfortably stretch to your full range of movement and learn at your own pace to keep your balance under stress and rise easily from the floor. If you are able, a sustainability donation is requested after beginning regular attendance, but none is required to begin or continue training. A portion of the donation will go to the St. Stephen community.
Conflict Done Well includes Martial Nonviolence (MNv) training with Brandon WilliamsCraig Ph.D. - 5th dan Aikikai. When the MNv curriculum is adapted for and adopted by a particular community, that is called Peace Practices (PxPx). Here is a video with more information.
Belief about the rightness of Insert System Here establishes an axisBelief about the rightness of Insert System Here establishes the axis on which belief operates on behavior--both positively and negatively. In other word: myth. In this case, the myth of meritocracy. Not either Truth or fakery, but potentially both, simply operating, a powerful tool for moving people and a lens for sensing how people are moved.See https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/meritocracy/418074/
"American beliefs about the rightness of meritocratic ideals often leads to the belief that those ideals are what guides society. But research shows that a real commitment to meritocracy requires understanding that America hasn’t gotten there—at least not yet."
To read the full article and work with these ideas on this site, please sign in and visit Marianne Cooper - The False Promise of Meritocracy.
Not Really RepublicansA Facebook Exchange Between Grant and Brandon
Grant Weber
It's really terrible what democrats have done to black people and other minorities throughout history. Great reminder of all the injustice and intimidation they have faced.
Brandon WilliamsCraig
Need to ask a favor, Grant. In many ways, this kind of post is more problematic than the frantic diarrhea profanity or other bomb dropping that is so common but easier to just remove. I've been avoiding direct engagement with you, often deleting my own replies on other posts because they sound condescending to me, and because I am super-swamped at the moment. I also, however, would really like to contribute to the movement on social media, in general, toward respectful, brief (if possible) exchanges which get at important information. For us to have an honest disagreement about something, I'd really appreciate it if you would begin with a clear statement that acts as an invitation to disagree, preferably relevant to the post and accompanied by a link to something reputable which supports your position, avoiding sweeping and stereotypical generalizations. For instance, (clear statement >) [I find Beto admirable precisely because he speaks eloquently in a way that is largely a departure from the racism and classism practiced for generations by all manner of politicians and parties.] Since the video is evidence that I would like others to see what I see in that regard, how would you feel about briefly addressing either the video or my position as though it were informed by hours of study and carefully reasoned, and then provide evidence that tempts me to change my position?
Grant Weber
Hi Brandon, I will do my best to convey my position on this point although I am not as highly educated as you or eloquent a writer. As you mentioned Beto is an eloquent speaker - as was Obama. I find the democrat platform of "social justice warrior" problematic since throughout history democrats have been on the opposing side of social justice. The GOP being the original "progressive" party" hence the name "Grand Old Party" or the party of Lincoln (R) that moved to emancipate the slaves among other issues while the democrats fought to keep blacks as property. The democrat created KKK to intimidate newly freed slaves and white republicans alike (much like today's ANTIFA). The founder of the modern democratic party (Andrew Jackson) was responsible for the Indian wars and Trail of Tears. You have the Republican majority House of Representatives that passed the 15th amendment in 1869 with a majority 144 yeah's to 44 democrat nah's. The 19th amendment, women's suffrage was passed by the Republican party and greatly opposed by the democrats. Democratic President FDR and founder of the modern progressive movement was responsible for the Japanese internment camps and unlawful seizure of Japanese American's private property. Civil rights was pushed forward by the Republican party and once again opposed by the Democrats. Which leads me to the lie about the "Great Party Switch" Less than 1% of democrat politicians switched to the republican party. The same "Dixie-crats" that pushed racists agendas and fought to maintain segregation remained with the Democratic party. Even Hillary Clinton proudly proclaimed her affiliation with Gold Water. Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia for over 51 years and a Grand Wizard of the the KKK. From 1959 until his death in 2010, a member of the Democratic Party, Byrd previously served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959. Obama Praised Byrd as a role model and cornerstone of the modern Democratic party. There are 2 facts that mislead one into believing the "great switch" theory and that is the majority of the "Dixie-crat" south now does vote republican and the black vote switched from 15% Democrat in the 1930's to now 80% after the 1930's. This actually had nothing to do with politicians switching sides and more to do with FDR's new deal and the black population voting for the party that promised to give them more benefits and also the party with the least resistance since they were often physically threatened for voting Republican in the South. Wrapping up my point, I find it incredibly hypocritical that Democrat politicians use their own party's history of violence and racism to confuse voters. The numbers do not lie. Under Bill Clinton's Presidency Highest number of blacks imprisoned. Under Obama's Presidency highest black unemployment. Sure Beto is an eloquent speaker, but his words like every other democrat leader's words are empty. It is a distraction to mislead a well intended voter base while they continue their agenda of enslaving and segregating minorities, keeping them ever dependent on the government tit in exchange for giving up their freedom.
Brandon WilliamsCraig
I hope that this discussion will not devolve into a competition hinging on seeming more eloquent, and I truly appreciate your measured and thoughtful response. For the better part of a century, the Republican Party had reason to be proud of contributing to gains in the area of human rights, while Democrats compounded their shame. See https://www.thenation.com/.../when-republicans-really.../ for answers to most of your points. Both (all) parties continued to participate in the status quo loving cultural warfare, however, that enslaved persons of color in all but name. Then the Democrats passed the Republicans, if a racing metaphor is appropriate, in the tumble toward helping us become a more representative democracy. This continues to be pushed by the growth of voting blocks of working people struggling against voting restrictions and gerrymandering to secure even a percentage of the opportunities their white peers enjoy--both to be heard and make a living/future for their children. But, where racism is a more deeply rooted illness, the width of systemic injustice is more visible at the level of class. Working people of every description will eventually drive human rights together as we make common cause with people who do not look or sound like us but share the intentionally perpetuated suffering that supports the ultra-wealth of the very few. Also see https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../no-longer.../2015/04/08 What was at one point a party interested in a free republic is now the primary source of enslaving and segregating those now no longer in the minority, keeping them ever distracted from the unregulated corporate catheterization that government Of The People was established to resist. You are right that freedom is the cost, because "the poor" (now including what is left of what once were middle income earners) must contend with more polluted air and water, de-funded schools, imprisonment and less-than-minimum wage jobs, continually shrinking access to healthcare, and are left swinging on the front line every time there is a disaster, even when it is not obviously associated with wealth-industry-driven climate collapse and multiplied by profit-driven planning. Everyone in a seat of power (including me, and Beto O'Rourke) is responsible when the life of any being is sacrificed to increase the power of another. I believe he knows this, and will speak to the changes we need to survive as a species, which the political parties of short term gains are paid to ignore or in the habit of minimizing.thenation.comWhen the Republicans Really Were the Party…
Brandon WilliamsCraig
If you don't accept my evidence, or my obvious biases are too distracting based on what you've been told and come to believe, you might look to any of the thousands of rather loud ex-Republicans (like Tobin E Threadgill, for instance) who are not liberal softies and will be happy to return to the GOP when it is no longer tossing children on the altar of astronomical short term gains for the very few..
The Kind of Corruption That Matters - Making Americanism Great AgainNot just true of "Trump Supporters", who are not a monolithic group, but also true of those who allegedly object to but do not remove him. That widespread often subconscious agreement is why he is still operating, and may survive the felonies of which he has obviously been a part. For "traditional order" substitute "mythology" and you have a more evocative felt sense of the Belief, the #mythopsychology that leads not to "ignoring corruption so much as [being moved by] the kind that really matters" to you. That is why he has Reganesque teflon. He shrugs off rational objections because he is an avatar of the god in the pantheon of #Americanism that demand use of the word "traditional" when referring to the power over specific others that is granted by racist and sexist norms.
From the article at https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/what-trumps-supporters-think-of-corruption/568147/
"The answer may lie in how Trump and his supporters define corruption. In a forthcoming book entitled How Fascism Works, the Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley makes an intriguing claim. 'Corruption, to the fascist politician,' he suggests, 'is really about the corruption of purity rather than of the law. Officially, the fascist politician’s denunciations of corruption sound like a denunciation of political corruption. But such talk is intended to evoke corruption in the sense of the usurpation of the traditional order.'
Fox’s decision to focus on the Iowa murder rather than Cohen’s guilty plea illustrates Stanley’s point. For many Fox viewers, I suspect, the network isn’t ignoring corruption so much as highlighting the kind that really matters. When Trump instructed Cohen to pay off women with whom he had affairs, he may have been violating the law. But he was upholding traditional gender and class hierarchies. Since time immemorial, powerful men have been cheating on their wives and using their power to evade the consequences.
The Iowa murder, by contrast, signifies the inversion—the corruption—of that 'traditional order.' Throughout American history, few notions have been as sacrosanct as the belief that white women must be protected from nonwhite men. By allegedly murdering Tibbetts, Rivera did not merely violate the law. He did something more subversive: He violated America’s traditional racial and sexual norms."#SumpDefenestration
Williamscraig Update July 2018Greetings (soon to be "Howdy")!
The Goodbye Classes and Potluck at Aikido of Berkeley were wonderful!No group has ever showed up in dandy duds complete with bandanas, swayed to-and-fro, and sung Happy Trails to me in unison before. There were even claves for the sound of shod hooves. It was EPIC (in the contemporary sense) and amazingly cool. I felt loved. Brief fond words of appreciation were exchanged. It was the best. So much so that I forgot to announce the fundraising part of it, but remembered to give away some stuff and recorded some pretty cool video (coming later). Two people donated anyway toward helping us fix our van and get a rented truck all the way to Texas. THANK YOU! The food was particularly fine and the company was even better, as always. It feels so odd to bid adieu to a community that has been such a huge part of my heart since 1998. My final classes will be this Saturday at 10am and 12pm. Please come if you can! I'll be back Aug 22-24 because I'm organizing the Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu (TSYR) seminar at Aikido of Berkeley with Toby Threadgill, Kaicho, and then I'm not sure when I'll be able to visit next.Speaking of communities that are an inseperable part of my heart, we are looking forward to a choral extravaganza and goodbye potluck at Epworth UMC on August 5th. That will be our last community gathering before departure, and we've been doing our best to make sure we spend time there whenever possible.My trip to Texas bore all kinds of fruit.Most unexpected and fascinating, a 10 inch by 5 foot hive of bees was removed from the floor between the garage and its apartment at my mother's house. The beedude captured and re-homed (?) around 20,000 bees (pictured in full capture box) and harvested 30-40 pounds of honey-packed hive. The workers have been building a home full of sweetness for seasons, and are now being abruptly relocated (mostly without harm), which has no metaphorical significance whatsoever and should not be harvested for the making of nourishing psychological meaning of any kind. Naturally.In the Home News, we have rented a house in Mesquite (on the eastern boundary of Dallas) into which we will be buzzing on August 8th. The house is two miles from White Rock Montessori so we can ride our bikes to school! I have opportunities in the works but no job yet (prayers and referrals appreciated). Professional info at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdwilliamscraigUntil we go...If you'd like to take the kids for several hours, please let us know your availability on the following dates:Mon July 30Tue 31Thu 2Fri 3If interested in packing and loading, either at our storage unit or at home:Mon July 30 at 11amWed Aug 1
For the mythopsychology geeks in the crowdI think we are in the midst of Nostoi. Metaphorically speaking, the verbatim text of our epic seems inaccessible, perhaps lost to history, available only in summary by others, but is following classic patterns. Various heroic returns (homecomings) are still possible, both comic and tragic, but will remain problematic [beginning to sound a bit like a horoscope... Hmmm.], subject to the brooding resentments of logistical or automechanical gods, perhaps afflicted by familial storms or professional magic (or the lack thereof). Various categories of Return present themselves, and the challenge is to end up in a comedy.Doing our best to be foolishly wise,Brandon
P.S. If you’d like updates about Peace Practices, Conflict Done Well, and my other adventures in teamwork and social justice, please be sure to subscribe at http://abcglobal.net/Find_Us and follow https://www.facebook.com/brandonwilliamscraig/.There is more to all of this, obviously. If you want to connect with me, move the work I do forward, or read more and deeply into what is happening now, I cannot ask sincerely enough that you stay within my circle of friends:
- I write at Culturesmith.com, with the more detailed and personal material protected by signing-in. Please request an account via http://culturesmith.com/account/signup or sign in, if you already have an account. I will approve and welcome you, after which you will also have access to all kinds of fascinating materials for cultural study, should that interest you.
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TSYR Yamakage Dojo Seminar w Kaicho Threadgill Fall 2018Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu (TSYR) seminar at Aikido of Berkeley with Toby Threadgill, Kaicho
Aikido of Berkeley hosts the Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin Kai dojo under the direction of Ash Morgan Sensei. The history of seminars we have hosted is below. Kaicho Threadgill's seminars are usually open to the public (and free to AiBerk, Free Aiki, and Golden Bears Aikido students) on Friday night, a morning and afternoon session on Saturday, and Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon is usually a Kai-only class to cover specific areas of interest.
Most often the public seminars include the practice of jujutsu body dynamics and movement, principles of timing, connection and initiative, internal strength building (how and why), and application of Nairiki (internal structure power generation) as part of overall technique.
Upcoming 2018 Seminar - August 24-26
Full Seminar $175.00 or $60.00 per session as long as limited spaces (30 per session) remain. Register by completing the online form at https://goo.gl/forms/FqZQlFi7zOjlc7UJ2. An overnight stay in the dojo can be arranged. Your registration is guaranteed when you register, fill out our waiver at https://goo.gl/forms/yHQlWnyHmswrIH2F2, and we confirm receipt (by email) of the full amount received.
For information contact Brandon sensei@freeaiki.com
History:
November 10-12, 2017 at Aikido of Berkeley - Downtown
August 12-14, 2016 at Aikido of Berkeley - Downtown
May 17-19, 2013 at Aikido of Berkeley - Downtown
March 23-25, 2012 at Aikido of Berkeley - Downtown
September 16-18, 2010 at Aikido of Berkeley - Bay View Dojo
This website is owned by Brandon WilliamsCraig, aikido 5th dan founder and Dojo Cho of Free Aiki Dojo and Golden Bears Aikido at UC Berkeley, who became a provisional TSYR student under Eric Winters in 2014, Ash Morgan in 2015, and joined the Kai by keppan on August 15th, 2016.
Rachel Aviv - The Trauma of Facing Deportation+DiscussionThanks to Rachel Aviv - The Trauma of Facing Deportation for this essential framing of the true cost of Othering. - ed.
"In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children have fallen unconscious after being informed that their families will be expelled from the country."
Not just in Sweden. There is somatic clarity here, tremendous psychological evidence, and a colossal lack of political will on the part of adults with power around the world to do what is clearly best for children and, thus, for humanity. The Golden Rule is called that for a reason. If you were the child, the refugee, the Other in the story, fleeing a life of fear, how would you want be treated?
"For nearly two decades, a political question—What should we do about migration?—has played out through the bodies of hundreds of children. The number of new cases of apathy declined in 2006, after the Migration Board took a more lenient approach, but the illness is still being diagnosed in dozens of children. Last year, some sixty children lost the ability to move and to speak. There is now universal consensus that the children are not faking, but no one knows why the illness is particular to Sweden. I spoke with more than twenty Swedish doctors who had either treated apathetic patients or written about them, and none of them had an explanation; most were hesitant to even propose a hypothesis. Björn Axel Johansson, a child psychiatrist at Skåne University Hospital, in southern Sweden, who has treated twelve apathetic children, told me, “I’m not convinced that this is only happening in Sweden. Maybe it’s only being documented and discussed and published in Sweden?”
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