My collage for the 141st round of the LMAC Collage Contest (I don't compete in the contest) was inspired by @shaka's template photo and by my acute interest in history.
@shaka's Template Photo
When I see a picture with a medieval structure, I don't think romance. I think of a feudal social order. Short life spans. Lives spent in bound servitude. So, my collage reflects what came to mind.
There were several versions of the collage, but always at the heart was the same dynamic of oppressed labor and privileged rulers. And so my little narrative in this blog will look at the issue of labor and leisure. I try to take the long view.
Who works? Who benefits from that labor? Is it the natural order that some will have leisure, and others will labor to secure that leisure?
There is no doubt that work needs to get done in order for society to have food and goods. Who does that work, and who reaps the benefit?
Ancient Greek Statue, Farmer and 2 Oxen
Credit:Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China. Public domain. 6th Century B.C.
I looked up attitudes of the Ancient Greeks about work, and work equity. Not much help there, if I'm looking for a theory of equity. The sociologist Robert B. Hill describes the classic Greek attitude toward work and leisure: "...philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle made it clear that the purpose for which the majority of men labored was "in order that the minority, the élite, might engage in pure exercises of the mind--art, philosophy, and politics".
Indeed it seems these philosophers regarded as brutish those people who toiled to keep them in leisure. "Hard work, whether due to economic need or under the orders of a master, was disdained."
After reading about the Ancient Greeks, I made a discouraging excursion into Thorstein Veblen. This high priest of social and economic theory offers us this assessment: "...in feudal Europe or feudal Japan...the distinction between classes is very rigorously observed; and the feature of most striking economic significance in these class differences is the distinction maintained between the employments proper to the several classes."
Reeve and Serfs in Feudal Europe
Credit: Anonymous. 1310. Public domain
Veblen informs us that in early Icelandic communities, in the Age of Sagas, "Manual labour, industry, whatever has to do directly with the everyday work of getting a livelihood, is the exclusive occupation of the inferior class."
It seems, if there are people who do nothing, then there must necessarily be people who do a great deal.
Is there a remedy, another way to order society? Utopians had/have ideas about this. In the U.S several societies arose that were inspired by Utopian principles. All were supposed to share work and leisure equally. One of these communities, Brook Farm, had some famous residents,which included Ralph Waldo Emerson. Founded in the 1840s, the community failed by the end of that decade because it was not economically viable.
Of course, so far I've ignored the elephant in the room: Marxism.
Gold Plated Phone in the Museum of Revolution, Havana, Cuba
Credit: lukaszKatlewa. Used under CC 3.0 license. This telephone sits as a symbol of the elite class against which Fidel Castro and his followers fought in the Cuban Revolution. Castro represented himself as a Marxist-Leninist. The phone had been given to the ousted leader of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista by the International Telephone and Telegraph Company before the revolution.
Marxism, of course, is the economic/social/political system, proposed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which was supposed to address the inequitable dynamic between labor and the elite.
We all know what happened. The world split in two, and then it split into sub factions.
Cold War: JFK (USA) and Krushchev (USSR) in Front of Their Respective National Flags
Credit: Ruby Jennings. Used under CC 4.0 license.
There was capitalism, Marxism, socialism, fascism. The legacy of these 20th century isms are with us today. And yet, in every country, no matter the dominant ism, one is likely to find an elite class, and a laboring class.
Is this the natural order?
I knew what I wanted to do, right away. As I closed in on my target, I couldn't make up my mind about the final effect. Here are three slightly different versions of the collage (there were more!)
I have many people to thank for the contributions they made to this effort:
I started with the great @muelli's tree trunk (next to the castle), which I borrowed from LMAC's Image Gallery, LIL.
I borrowed the flower in the queen's hand, from @edgarafernandezp. Again from LIL.
The sky I borrowed from @lunaturqueza, on LIL.
The wonderful storm cloud I borrowed from @justclickindiva, again on LIL.
The large pinkish flower in one of the collages is my own contribution to LIL.
Anyone on Hive may contribute to LIL and anyone may borrow from LIL. All images are in the public domain. Rules may be found here.
I borrowed many images from Pixabay:
My process began with taking out the background and focusing on the castle and land immediately in front of it.
My process is very primitive. I just keep adding pieces until I find the outcome satisfactory.
I use Paint 3d, Gimp, and Paint to manipulate the pictures. Many, many rounds of manipulation :)
I thank @shaka, who founded the community and who leads it. I thank my fellow team members @quantumg and @mballesteros, who inspire me with their talent and hard work. And I thank everyone who makes a collage. I learn so much from you.
Voting for the finalists is going on now. Hurry over there and pick your favorite.
Wow, I thought it was only about the collage but this was a better lesson in sociology than any class I had in college. Who knew something so simple could hold so much meaning. I like how your represented the iron fist of the rulers over the peasants. All the ideal of might is right.
About the whole political commentary, what could I say, politicians have always showed is what kind of pigs human can become. It doesn't matter if they are form the left or right. Politicians always work for their own profit.
Anyhow, the collage has a tone similar to the game Ghosts n' Goblins. I don't know if that was intentional, but it adds a layer of illusion to the art piece as well.
Great work!
I really appreciate your comment. I wondered if anyone would read the piece. You get it. You saw the collage, and understood what it said. This is very satisfying. The essay is more balanced perhaps (in political/social perspective) than the collage. I didn't want to lecture. The difference between art and exposition is art can be more subjective and emotional. I took that liberty here in my picture.
Thanks so much for your insight and for taking the time to share it with me.
BTW: I don't do gaming, but of course we are all influenced by everything in our culture so maybe somehow that seeped into my awareness.
It was an interesting read. Not too charged with the ideas of lectures one often endures in classes. There's a thing about all art being political. I can pinpoint who said the phrase and it isn't like that exactly. I'm going to go with W. E. B. Du Bois. But I'm not sure.
There's a lot of references we usually don't have in mind when making something. But since readers of any media have the own backgrounds, they will make sense of the works of art in their own accord.
This collage is so meaningful. It speaks to me on many different levels and makes me think a lot.
There is the technical-artistic realization, which is great. Then there is a political-sociological component, a symbolic one, etc.
You have really succeeded in this work!
!LUV
@captainloken(1/1) gave you LUV.
tools | wallet | discord | community | <>< daily
HiveBuzz.me NFT for Peace
Hello @captainloken,
I'm glad it speaks to you. This collage and blog reflect my personal voice more than most blogs I write. I of course did some research--because research lends authority--but this one flowed out of me:)
It's satisfying that the piece struck a note with some readers. That is, after all, why we blog, isn't it?
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Lightning seems alive, people are in danger. There were very good thoughts expressed in your work
Thank you, @momins. I'm grateful you read the essay. I put some thought into it and hoped people would reflect on the issues discussed. You do seem to understand what I was trying to say in the picture and in the post.
Hi @Agmoore ! it is quite an interesting topic, your collage certainly shows a grim reality for the human being, today, under the logic of capital we are merchandise, replaceable, highly disposable, it is so just for a little more profit, especially at the cost of human lives.
But you know something, sometimes I have had the vision that bitcoin and blockchain technology could somehow change that situation, but I don't really know.
Great topic to debate and of course great collage @Agmoore !
Thanks for using my #lil stuff for this work of your ingenuity :D
It has always been so.
You capture exactly why I participate so enthusiastically in Hive, why I curate in two communities (a lot of work!). Bitcoin and blockchain may be a door, an opening for people to break through 'the system'. It is now for many people on Hive.
Thank you for appreciating my collage. Your flower is perfect in the collage. Thank you for making the picture available.
Great collage with interesting discussion to go with it. Unfortunately, the conversation usually gets mired into right vs left larval polarities, instead of the wide array of spicy fuzzy-logic possibilities that human development actually entails. For instance, history books completely ignore biological-neurological realities of human history. As mammals, we're bound by our biological history and make-up, and yet, this is completely ignored by those who write the history books. They prefer to focus on the brawling mammalian politics that led to this war or that struggle or that death. Important as these topics are, they do not represent the whole tale of our historical development.
Leisure, and its closely related subject of sexuality, rarely appear in history books except as tawdry shameful elements of culture. Personally, I see leisure as a form of sensual pleasure that comes from having the freedom (political, religious, economic, etc) to design your own reality. It used to be accessible mainly to the elite royal and priestly classes, but as the industrial revolution increased people's spare time, resources, and political power, leisure became accessible to a larger number of people. The importance of this development cannot be overstated. The Nazis understood the power of leisure and they even tried to control the workers' leisure time in a systematic way. Their motto was Strength Through Joy.
Thankfully, we rejected the Nazi way of doing things. Instead, we democratized leisure and gave its power to the individual. A ten year-old in the modern information age has experienced more leisurely realities than any king of England in medieval times. This is mind-bending fact. Our brains are hungry for pleasure signals that come when we have the freedom to design the reality we wish to inhabit in a particular moment. We take it for granted that the suffering of others not only should be (and has been) minimized, but leisure should be increased and labor eliminated altogether. Let robots do the work!
How's that for a morning brainstorm?
Excellent topic and collage.
Hello @litguru,
As always, your comments add a thought-provoking perspective.
It is certain our biological profile influences behavior. But are we doomed by it? According to Freud, civilization requires that we suppress instinct. History is a function of civilization. Primitive biological drives--that's the stuff of other disciplines 😁.
Maybe for you and me, and people we know. But look around the world. Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia. Migrant workers in the U.S. Child labor in India.
Oh yes, please!!!
Thanks so much for brainstorming about this blog. It's always a pleasure to learn what's on your mind.
I wouldn't say so much doomed but driven by them. Unfortunately, we do not give careful attention to this important aspect of human experience, then we act completely surprised when some members of our species chimp out and cause territorial troubles. But understanding behavior it's not just about primitive behaviors of the past but also the new yet-to-be developed behaviors that emerge when a new type of consciousness appears on the scene. I consider the pleasurable experience that arises from leisure activities an aspect of that new consciousness.
There is no question that more work needs to be done to minimize suffering, but objectively speaking we (westerners and non-westerners) are living in times like no other in terms of the superior standard of living. A few centuries ago, leisure time, retirement, fast travel, tele-communication, contraception, modern medicines, literacy, justice, exotic foods, mass media, and such niceties that we now take for granted were unheard of or confined to the ruling classes. It's different now. We're riding a formidable wave of abundance, in spite of the hiccups along the way. Even the ability to publish and share our thoughts is a magnificent luxury, made possible by the omnidirectional grid of satellites and cybernetic devices that allow us to caress each other's eyeballs with delightful thought-signals transmitted at the speed of light! Astounding! Talk about leisure and pleasure. Some people do not have access to this for whatever reason (religion, political corruption, crime, etc) As long as we're stuck in this planet, there will always be suffering, but I'm hopeful for a different outcome. I think you know where this is going, so I'm gonna stop right here. 😄 🚀
Of all the things you mention in your comment, this one I think is the most compelling. Information is everything. The ability to publish, to communicate instantly can change the world. Which is why there is such a push to stifle that. Look around the world. Millions of people do not have access to information. And yet...somehow, like water, it manages to flow.
Information and education. These are the most dangerous developments (in the eyes of government) and the most precious gifts to the rest of us. Change minds and you change lives, change governments, change economies.
You're right. One fact that really amazes me is that a handheld phone today is millions of times more powerful than the computers that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon. We have amazing power that is relatively cheap and accessible. This is changing many parts of the world as people access and share information. Hive is a great example of what can be done! Coupled with a solid education, this technology can be transformative for communities in need.
After reading this post, I know I'm safe for any sociology test.
You really let your writer's mind out in this collage and I can relate to that, for when most people may look at that tower and think of Romeo and Juliet, I look there and see a siege watch from Merlin or Game of Thrones 😂
😅
I did let my writer's mind out in this collage. I think I will do that more often. If I'm going to spend hours designing (yes, hours!) a collage, might as well say something.
Thanks for visiting and for your clever comment, @seki1
Wow, hours for something a passerby would look at for a minute at most🤧
It doesn't matter how long people look at it. What matters is, did they think about it? Some people did, and that makes me happy.
♥️
I feel it's true what you say in your article:
Even in the poorest countries, kings, queens, presidents, ruling parties and their elitists friends sit atop castles, live afloat on yachts, and live in elite residential areas.
The middle or working class bear the brunt of society, alleviating the rich from participating in their fair share, and supporting the unfortunate and poor.
The poor will never rise above their station so oppressed are they that are kept in their position by the society that caters to the elite.
No matter where in the world they exist.
Thanks so much for sharing your collage and information. I appreciate you including one of my fractal art pieces in your scene. It does make for an ominous cloud. I appreciate your support.
Take care.
Your words are truer than you may realize. I wrote an essay a few years ago. Here's an excerpt:
I have read similar statements from Americans. If everyone goes to college, who will drive the taxis? Wait on tables? Essentially, who will serve us?
I appreciate your comments, @justclickindiva. And I want to thank you for that great cloud. Picture wouldn't have been the same without it.
Take care :)
You're welcome. OMG...so this is where the first Americans that Britain sent to the U.S. learned this from.. The actions are exactly how they treated the African Americans they received in the Atlanta Slave trade. Laws in the U.S. were then created. The plantation owners vowed to scatter, not educate, not allow the family unit to exist, and never allow them to form any type of group opposed to their station in life.
Of course, in conjunction, they also had at their service I believe a German scientist validating them as the superior race.
Yes, if all citizen believe they are of value in this life and meant for something better, who will serve the one who also believe they are entitled?
I also heard a U.S acclaimed historian say that a certain group is fearful other races will eventually outnumber them. And, they won't forget the mistreatment they were served.
I truly don't feel the world will ever function in a manner equitable to all.
Take care.
😟
🍁🌿🍁
Congratulations @agmoore! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 24000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
Congratulations @agmoore! You received a personal badge!
Wait until the end of Power Up Day to find out the size of your Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!