Alchemy
It’s fairly easy to imagine being stranded alone in the wilderness, stripped of one’s possessions, left vulnerable to the elements, reliant on foraging to survive. Most would agree that the defenses modern civilization has built are a reasonable response to the dangers posed by “nature”. We take comfort in having houses, food, and clothing, and recognize how vital these things are to our survival.
Beyond just surviving, though, we augment our own capabilities with tools, vehicles, and computers. We even go as far as to alter our own bodies with medication and surgery, to ward off disease, relieve the symptoms of an illness, heal injuries, and more. Technology and medicine have become deeply woven into our lives.
In all of these cases, we accept them as elements of our existence that could be deemed “unnatural”. Doing so gives us new forms of freedom and autonomy that other animals have never known, and has allowed us, in turn, to improve upon the tools available to society, and thus pursue even greater freedom and autonomy. It would seem as though following this cycle of scientific and technological advancement would inevitably lead toward some form of universal liberation.
To be a member of society, however, is to be bound by its rules, its customs, its flaws. In a society as unequal as ours, one so utterly unconcerned with the well-being and autonomy of such an enormous proportion of its members, the liberating effects of the cycle of advancement have primarily served the wealthy few, while the most basic needs of the majority remain unmet. This is not by coincidence. This is by design.
There are countless ways in which the inequality in our society is enforced, but common to all of them is an exploitation of our vulnerabilities as human beings. Our powerlessness is rooted in our material needs. We can be deprived of food, water, and shelter. We can be threatened with violence, beaten, restrained, and murdered. Each of our body’s limitations is an avenue for violence and oppression.
In that sense, every material need is therefore a front for struggle against inequality. Whatever ground we can reclaim gives those in power fewer ways to harm us. Looking beyond the immediate struggle for survival, reclaiming the cycle of advancement for the benefit of all is a foundational aspect of emancipatory action against systems of inequality.
Thinking toward the future, then, it is apparent that we can and must change society, but in parallel with that endeavor, we can and must change ourselves. We can work toward conquering the limitations and fragility that have historically been used against us. In doing so, we grant ourselves ever greater power and resilience in our struggles.
Science and technology are indispensable revolutionary tools, ones we must employ both outwardly and inwardly, and we should not arbitrarily limit ourselves in the extent to which we do. We have already long since abandoned the domain of the “natural”. If our fragility is part of what makes us human, then we must become less human. If nature is unjust, we must change nature. By reshaping ourselves, we reshape the world.
