capitalism, and patriarchy, and racism, oh my!

As a social worker and counsellor who is influenced mainly by narrative, post-modern and post-structural ideas and ways of working, I’ve been trained to think about systems. I am often considering the role of systems…how all systems – macro, meso, micro…eco – impact the lives of the young people I work alongside (and their families and carers) and loudly declaring that they’re broken. I’m constantly annoying the shit out of anyone who happens to be in my general vicinity when I get in a mood about systems of oppression…of harm…of power (tautology, perhaps?).

(As an aside, if you ever want to end a conversation quickly, a light sprinkle of words like patriarchy or capitalism will usually do the trick)

Someone once asked me the below question (for full transparency, it was on a dating app; a conversation with a film maker; and, I thought, an excellent counter-questioning to my openers that included: what sort of action to you hope to inspire through your movies? what’s been inspired already? Which movies / genres / scenes / lines inspire you into action? Which movie / movies do you think first ignited your imagination? Which made you feel it was possible to do the same? What’s your favourite magical everyday story?). But I digress (again). He asked me:

If you could rewrite the script of the world, what’s the one thing you’d change?

Thinking about a system that isn’t working brought me back to this question and the answers I wrote in my journal (but, it seems, not in the app-chat). Because, for me, rewriting the script of the world means tearing down existing systems – systems that value the individual at the expense of the community; systems that value hoarding, not distributing, wealth; systems that only value care if it can be empirically (and preferably financially) measured. Here are some snippets of my answer:

I love this question and change (for the better) is often on my mind. It would be something related to care, connection, and community. I realise this is a very western-centric view of what I think needs changing and that would have an impact for the better on the world…I have this idea that if more people felt a sense of belonging – if individualism, competition, greed (for money…for power)…if all the things that capitalism appears to value above all else, were either less important or not important at all, we would see a decrease in the kind of ‘anti-social’ or ‘dangerous’ behaviour – behaviour that often stems from trauma and that results in further trauma…I guess for where the rewrites would need to happen – the specific events that need some heavy editing, I’d need to do a little more historical research. But, I think the concepts of belonging, community, mutual or reciprocal care are the things that I’d like to write more of into the world.

When I saw this challenge, I thought ooft...yes! Ali…this one is for you…you have opinions on broken systems. You have something to say. And I do. It’s something I care about. Something I’m passionate about. Something I want to change. Something I want to talk about – that these systems that we’re told are designed to protect, to create order, or to provide a framework for making sense of the world and constructing a just society, are broken.

Oppression, inequality, abuse of power, racism, and misogyny (Capitalism! Racism! Patriarchy!) continue to underpin our social structures here in Australia (and I’m sure in many other places – especially the Global North). Feminism is still too White. Transphobia is still too prevalent. Our Child Protection system is a continuation of the Stolen Generations – just renamed and repackaged…but the message is the same: We well-meaning white women* have a better idea of safety and family and how to properly raise a child than you – and people like you – do. We don’t understand your cultural conceptions of family so therefore it must be unsafe**.

*While policy makers are still overwhelmingly (white) men, social workers / community workers – those ‘on the ground’, implementing the policies, are overwhelmingly women and overwhelmingly white in the Australian context – echoing the early iterations of the Stolen Generations.

**Of course, like in all communities, some situations are unsafe for children – it is the disproportionate removal of Aboriginal children that point to racism (roughly 3% of the population and, in Victoria in 2023 (the most recent available stats), Aboriginal children were place in Out of Home Care at a rate roughly 20 times that of non-Indigenous children.

Individuals are told to practice self-care as if doing more yoga…more breathwork…getting more facials or massages…doing more bushwalks…touching more grass…alone will move them out of financial stress or help the next generation purchase a home (not an investment…a home) or alleviate anxiety around the growing threats of climate change and global instability…and I’m deliberately not explicitly mentioning watermelons, islands, or ice because that rant will send me on too much of a tangent to contain in a 600-1000 word…um…reflection…). Self-care is necessary. It is useful. But it is not sufficient (thanks Vikki Reynolds). We are so often being encouraged to be resilient in the face of systems that are designed to keep us exhausted. Systems that are designed to increase inequality rather than close the gaps, to keep the rich and powerful, well, rich and powerful. Inequality is growing. Overt racism is growing. Sexism and misogyny are rampant. The invisibility and (ironically) the exploitation of older women and disabled folk keeps happening in new and inventive ways.

Capitalism, Racism and Patriarchy are breaking communities and blaming the individual, first for the breaking, and then for their inability to cope (all the while making mental health care too expensive and difficult to access for those who need it most). And so, I, perhaps, have missed the brief on this one. Because these systems are not broken. They are working exactly as they were designed.