catherine
10-30-19, 9:22am
Trump's decision to back off Syria and leave the Kurds to their own defenses was probably ill-advised, from a foreign policy perspective, according to some of his own advisors as well as many others.
Last night I watched a film called The Accidental Anarchist (https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/accidental-anarchist/), about a British diplomat who got disenchanted with the ways of the current Western world and started to explore alternatives to capitalism. He learned that a group of people, mostly Kurds, settled Rojava, which occupies parts of northeast Syria, and created their own "un-government". Here is a description:
“It’s difficult to overstate how radically politics have been transformed in Rojava since its ‘self-administration’ was formed in 2013. Rather than revolving around a single strongman or a central authority, the territory is organized into cantons, largely self-governing regions with their own decision-making councils and institutions…
“Each canton is split into neighborhood or village communes. …One that I visited encompassed 257 homes. Every two years, its residents elect a man and a woman who manage neighborhood concerns and meet with the co-chairs of other communes to address community issues. The commune sold gas for heating and cooking, managed health care, developed local economic projects, and helped reconcile neighborhood disputes. One commune I visited had recently helped reconcile a marital dispute and set up nighttime patrols to improve safety. Another was planning to install streetlights.”
Bauer says there has been a feminist social transformation:
“Probably the most dramatic effect of the Rojava revolution has been its impact on women. Every public institution, from communes to courts to canton ministries, is chaired by a man and a woman. The cantons require that at least 40 percent of all political positions are held by women. While Syrian law is based on Shariah, Rojava’s ‘social contract’ separates religion and state. It has abolished forced marriage, polygamy, and child marriage…”
Trump has put Rojava in grave danger, as Turkey will now try to re-claim the land. Syria may want to get in on it as well. After all, Rojava sits on oil-rich land. https://www.boulderweekly.com/opinion/trump-destroyed-the-rojava-project/
So maddening. This community has proven that people can live inclusively, communally and cooperatively and with limited social or political hierarchies. But the world Takers have to ruin it.
Last night I watched a film called The Accidental Anarchist (https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/accidental-anarchist/), about a British diplomat who got disenchanted with the ways of the current Western world and started to explore alternatives to capitalism. He learned that a group of people, mostly Kurds, settled Rojava, which occupies parts of northeast Syria, and created their own "un-government". Here is a description:
“It’s difficult to overstate how radically politics have been transformed in Rojava since its ‘self-administration’ was formed in 2013. Rather than revolving around a single strongman or a central authority, the territory is organized into cantons, largely self-governing regions with their own decision-making councils and institutions…
“Each canton is split into neighborhood or village communes. …One that I visited encompassed 257 homes. Every two years, its residents elect a man and a woman who manage neighborhood concerns and meet with the co-chairs of other communes to address community issues. The commune sold gas for heating and cooking, managed health care, developed local economic projects, and helped reconcile neighborhood disputes. One commune I visited had recently helped reconcile a marital dispute and set up nighttime patrols to improve safety. Another was planning to install streetlights.”
Bauer says there has been a feminist social transformation:
“Probably the most dramatic effect of the Rojava revolution has been its impact on women. Every public institution, from communes to courts to canton ministries, is chaired by a man and a woman. The cantons require that at least 40 percent of all political positions are held by women. While Syrian law is based on Shariah, Rojava’s ‘social contract’ separates religion and state. It has abolished forced marriage, polygamy, and child marriage…”
Trump has put Rojava in grave danger, as Turkey will now try to re-claim the land. Syria may want to get in on it as well. After all, Rojava sits on oil-rich land. https://www.boulderweekly.com/opinion/trump-destroyed-the-rojava-project/
So maddening. This community has proven that people can live inclusively, communally and cooperatively and with limited social or political hierarchies. But the world Takers have to ruin it.