In this episode of Equianopod, we speak with Chloé Valdary, the visionary behind the Theory of Enchantment. Chloe's unique approach emerged as a response to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has evolved into a profound philosophy. She invites us to rethink our approaches to tackling hatred and injustice and emphasises the importance of treating people as human beings.
I've only been to New York once. Long ago I went to see the Statue of Liberty, a black American guy asked me if I was from England, I asked him how he knew, he said black Americans don't go to the Statue of Liberty. I guess black Americans are cynical about American Liberalism.
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'
The American Declaration of independence is an uncompromising statement it continues 'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...'
'The Theory of Enchantment' is not a theory. It could be an idea, an aspiration, a mission statement, a sentiment or a poetic vision. A theory explains something or predicts something. A theory is open to challenge and modification, or even abandonment if dis-proven.
'We hold these truths to be self evident' gets around the question of authority, it requires no proof or justification. 'We'hold these truth to be self-evident' if you don't, we might have a problem. 'We' are willing to defend our ideas by force if necessary,'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...'
In the UK we have a new elite of celebrities, media and academics. This is not 'bottom up'. Particularly in relation to race, ideas come from the US academy to the UK academy, from there they go to public administration, government and schools. Chloe Valdary is an advocate for her idea or vision, not philosophical truth.
The American Declaration recognises conflict. In some instances no doubt therapy can ameliorate conflict. But we need to realise that more often than not conflict has material causes. The British Atlantic slave trade was not a demonstration of supremacism, it was driven by greed, wealth and money. The slave traders knew that what they were doing was wrong, the business was just too rewarding, by proposing that black Africans were less than human the slave traders could salve their consciences or delude themselves.
Today we still need to recognise that people have reasons for their beliefs, prejudices or bad behaviour, hypocrisy or pretence.
I accept that ideas like those of the American Declaration of Independence, need to be re-discovered, from generation to generation and person to person. A theory might explain to us why conflict continues despite workshops and good intentions. Of course for Americans Marx is persona non grata and to some extent in the UK too. With the end of Marx we also lose his 'theory' that conflict in society is a due to material conflicts involving vested interests, the prominent one in his time and ours being 'class'. In the unlikely event of the end of racial conflict we would still have class conflict, indeed ironically today's academics with their workshops and theories gain their authority from their status as academics, they form cliques and elites, and are as snobbish, self-serving and exclusive as any other elite.
I've only been to New York once. Long ago I went to see the Statue of Liberty, a black American guy asked me if I was from England, I asked him how he knew, he said black Americans don't go to the Statue of Liberty. I guess black Americans are cynical about American Liberalism.
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'
The American Declaration of independence is an uncompromising statement it continues 'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...'
'The Theory of Enchantment' is not a theory. It could be an idea, an aspiration, a mission statement, a sentiment or a poetic vision. A theory explains something or predicts something. A theory is open to challenge and modification, or even abandonment if dis-proven.
'We hold these truths to be self evident' gets around the question of authority, it requires no proof or justification. 'We'hold these truth to be self-evident' if you don't, we might have a problem. 'We' are willing to defend our ideas by force if necessary,'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...'
In the UK we have a new elite of celebrities, media and academics. This is not 'bottom up'. Particularly in relation to race, ideas come from the US academy to the UK academy, from there they go to public administration, government and schools. Chloe Valdary is an advocate for her idea or vision, not philosophical truth.
The American Declaration recognises conflict. In some instances no doubt therapy can ameliorate conflict. But we need to realise that more often than not conflict has material causes. The British Atlantic slave trade was not a demonstration of supremacism, it was driven by greed, wealth and money. The slave traders knew that what they were doing was wrong, the business was just too rewarding, by proposing that black Africans were less than human the slave traders could salve their consciences or delude themselves.
Today we still need to recognise that people have reasons for their beliefs, prejudices or bad behaviour, hypocrisy or pretence.
I accept that ideas like those of the American Declaration of Independence, need to be re-discovered, from generation to generation and person to person. A theory might explain to us why conflict continues despite workshops and good intentions. Of course for Americans Marx is persona non grata and to some extent in the UK too. With the end of Marx we also lose his 'theory' that conflict in society is a due to material conflicts involving vested interests, the prominent one in his time and ours being 'class'. In the unlikely event of the end of racial conflict we would still have class conflict, indeed ironically today's academics with their workshops and theories gain their authority from their status as academics, they form cliques and elites, and are as snobbish, self-serving and exclusive as any other elite.