I think it's hopeless, I really do, an endeavor serviced toward a grand idea surely, but in the end useless because it will never hold enough weight to make an impact.
Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but as far as I'm concerned, making a change so that the "Other", and minority groups are recognized and no longer rhetorically excluded and separated from the general population, is impossible.
It's something we've been talking about all semester, power is the ultimate determiner of what is recognized, and what is just shunted to the side. Well, it's great to bring attention to the fact that this is happening, but before this semester I never gave shits about how other groups of society may be excluded from the rhetoric of power. In fact, I was entirely unaware of it, so what is the point of writing about this stuff? What is the point of trying to make people aware -- because that is certainly the ultimate intent -- and persuade them to change, if it's falling on deaf ears anyway, or just not even reaching the destination to begin with?
I like the idea that I get to learn and come up with my own ideas about how rhetoric could be better serviced to encompassing all facets of life, but I don't see any use beyond that because change in this category is ultimately impossible to enact.
You're right, I am just a cynic, I just find no use in wasted energy to be forward. I don't want to give the impression that I learned nothing from this class, or that it wasn't valuable to me because I learned a lot about my writing that I believe will be entirely important to my continued existence as a writer. I just feel hopeless in the endeavor of enacting a change of discourse, a change of understanding, a means to reach people who can actually service this change. I want to try, but like I said I find no use in wasted energy.
Sorry to throw this out amongst the fold of reflection, but I find that it's the only thing I can think about. That being said, I will be writing my reflective paper on this topic, and I'll posit some ideas that are uplifting, some ways that an uninterested audience might be reached. So don't get all depressed by my blog. I'm not depressed, I just find change in this category to be impossible, and as such a worthless endeavor to undertake because it's an utter waste of time.
Ross,
ReplyDeleteI a lot of the time feel the same way. As we talked about once or twice in a small group, there's always an imbalance of power. Even if the "Other" was to be given power, especially rhetorical power, then the party who is currently not, "Other" would become "Other". So I think if this class taught me one thing, it is that rhetorical power is always unfair and imbalanced. No matter how much energy or time we spend, there will always be an unfair power balance. With that being said, I think being aware of this can help us greatly in our rhetorical endeavors, as we can consider what "Other" sides of the rhetorical situation have to offer, and try to give power to other angles of a situation.
Have you ever considered that the hopelessness you experience is a mechanism to stunt any change from the dominant in the first place? It seems like you are feeling the same thing that people of excluded rhetoric have felt. But why? For me, everything has a purpose, and manipulated feelings work really well rhetorically. Perhaps we are all colonized in our own ways. We all feel the hopelessness of certain things because that's how the colonizers keep their power. How awesome would it be for power figures to sit on top and whisper all the negativity down onto those below them. "Stop climbing," they say. "There is only room up here for us, and we are quite comfortable. Why don't you just stay in your place? There's no point in wasting all that energy, when there isn't a seat up here for you anyways." Well, fuck that. grab some boards, a hammer, some nails, and let's start building more chairs for others. If rhetoric runs the world, then the world is an illusion. We can change illusions.
ReplyDeleteFucking right on Levi, I appreciate that response because it makes a lot of sense. Perhaps I do feel hopeless in the endeavor because of some preconceived notion of power and how it conducts itself to maintain that power. But, at the same time, I'm not really convinced that I feel hopeless because the dominant power is inflicting that lack of motivation upon me. I just think it's hopeless because people have tried, and have still been unsuccessful. I recognize that power is very comfortable at the peak, but I don't think people stop climbing because the peak is already too full, I think they stop climbing because they realize that the path in front of them is riddled with the corpses of the people that couldn't make it through the cold. That's a very sobering effect, when one realizes how many others have been unsuccessful with the conquer, one is likely to give up and join the bodies, a stepping stone for the next contributor to try and use in their attempt to get a leg up.
DeleteI know I am a cynic, which is why I appreciated your enthusiasm, but I am resigned to the fact that this climb only ends in my body becoming part of the wall that keeps the Other from the top. Maybe, I could look at my body as a means of climbing the ladder, a fleshed rung to go further toward the peak, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice my being for that cause either.