Other Life #3 - Adriana

Summary

Adriana is a mental health worker based in London. She is a member of Plan C (http://www.weareplanc.org/). Notes How our ideas and speech can cut off liberation dynamics; the sociology of sorting in activist circles (00:07) Why we don't gossip or criticize other political groups, the futility of objections in favor of looking for new weapons, relationships (00:11) Adriana's experiences in mental health, NHS, CBT, etc. The power of meditation (fuck the haters). (00:15) Just because you're high-functioning doesn't mean your mentally well; how we've lowered the standard for what counts as healthy life; capitalism at best is like "choose your own mental illness." (00:16) Financial success is just profitable mental illness (00:18) How we're blackmailed into saying our lives are good (00:19) Learning how to become well together might just be the most viable program of revolutionary politics available. (00:23) Mental health is not hippie shit. (00:25) The need for immediate tools to deal with where the economic system enters our bodies; cognitive-behavioral therapy. (00:27) Focusing on your own mental health isn't selfish. It transforms relationships and institutions; charisma and the ability to embody and effect a new type of being. (00:30) People think "being radical" means saying and doing things within radical circles, but around most people at most times we are boring, lazy, and moderate. On revolutionizing everyday life. (00:44) To spread revolution you have to let go of your fucking agenda once in a while. (00:48) Political groups don't have to read Marx; just find the thing that makes everyone joyous and creative. (00:56) Why we don't recruit, Plan C. (1:08) Adriana's thoughts on the next steps; allow large groups of people to radicalize themselves in totally different ways and then aggregate and organize them. Note and record your own moments where you feel really good, show them, understand them, and ask: what is your version of this? (1:15) Revolutionary organizations should be technologies of immediate liberation; they should be direct action on your being. Also true friendships and romantic relationships, but we still have to learn how to do it because we don't really know yet (although we all pretend we do); making revolution means figuring how this works. (1:27) How much should we let ourselves be depressed? In kindness do we maybe flatter each others' depression? Should we be more aggressive, with each other and ourselves, in helping each other? How we balance these things in Plan C. (1:40) Political problems around mental health that most people don't want to talk about; mental health's contagiousness; why I think one's own mental health should be non-negotiable; some people can't "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" but actually some people can somewhat, especially with external triggers and collective supports, and why it's maybe fucked up to suggest people can't pull themselves up. (1:49) The wellness industry is fucked up, but to dismiss wellness throws the baby out with the bathwater; true wellness is radical because it spreads. (2:06) What I mean when I say I'm a revolutionary. (2:09) Even if nobody listens to this it was a success because Adriana enjoyed it and we feel pumped and connected. (2:13)