Cultural Tones

To Elsa Barkley Brown,

You noted that a “necessary rethinking of the intellectual and political aesthetics” is
essential to having a better, more inclusive cultural framework. I think a lot about the
texture of different time periods. By texture I mean the different tones and narratives that
mold our thinking and way of moving through the world. In my opinion, much of the current
texture of the time has been shaped by a capitalist, linear understanding of the world. A
capitalist mindset, which has a tendency to standardize, reduce, and universalize, has no
room for “intellectual chaos.” It only has room for an immovable set of values and an ahistorical
understanding of the world that is so far removed from reality it is delusional. In my opinion,
a cultural texture more grounded by the weight of reality is one that you described, of asymmetry
and chaos and various rhythms both together and separate. I also believe that this notion of a
community of people who do not exist outside of one another runs in contrast to capitalist ideals
of individualism. How do we arrive at a shift towards a political aesthetic more like this? I am often
so disheartened because ideals of linearity are woven into both physical space but mental space.
How can chaos come to be taught and valued? How do we adopt the mindset that reality is a
process that happens in dialogue with each other? Additionally, do you think the post-Enlightenment
ideals of equality are even what we should be striving towards following your discussion of asymmetry?