What do our current displays of anger, rage and hurt communicate? I asked myself this after returning home from another night of protests in New York City. The first protest I attended was Friday May 29th, 2020 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. The following Sunday, protesters gathered in Foley Square and marched up Broadway to Washington Square Park in Manhattan.

With the continuous proliferation of capitalism post 1990's New Order Regime, and the ongoing incessant expansion into what are now becoming fewer “wild” and ostensibly “empty” territories, there have been new developments in the “whys” and “hows” for extracting and utilizing both natural and human resources globally that are beyond “an enactment of commodification or conquest” (Tsing p. 33). The injustices of commodification and conquest have been seen and experienced for centuries. More recently, the relentless push toward a globalized world, although continues to include such century-old foundational forms of power insertions, also encompasses newer neo-colonialism/neoliberalism counteracting initiatives. Such initiatives, which will be described more below, that have been adopted by government and corporate relations, are used as an attempt to “off-set” the various destructive effects of globalization, as well as both the damaging short-term, yet perhaps productive long-term, effects on human quality of living (that is depending on what side of the 1% you might be on). Using Ulrich Beck's “Risk Society” as mentioned in Etienne Balibar's ​Politics of the Debt ​(Balibar p.1) and Joseph Schumpeterian's theory of “Creative Destruction” in Geert Lovink's ​Friends with Money ​(Lovink p. 6) the following paper will attempt to draw from these two theories to explain both the disadvantages of neocolonialism's heroic intentions for sustainability, along with some of the purported advantages that claim to be experienced in the long-run, in the ever-changing unstable economic system.

The philosophy behind the Sharing Economy – where access to resources and assets have become more important than ownership itself (Conrad 2014:7) – is far from new. Albeit revolutionary to the current neoliberal market economy in which all conventional monetary exchanges take place, the very concept of access to 'shared' resources can be dated back to medieval times (De Moor 2008:179), if not earlier. Essentially, the Sharing Economy – an economy marketed as an innovative alternative to the omnipresent capitalistic economy – has been predicated by multiple iterations of alternative models, which brings us full circle to the origin of shared access to resources – the commons. Although some have claimed that society is being redesigned to ​promote ​the commons (Conrad 2014:4), it is more appropriate to say that the concept of the commons is simply getting more bandwidth and notoriety via technology and collaborative communication outlets. The increased awareness is effectively emphasizing a ​need for a​ redesigning of society in more favor ​of ​the commons in the effort for citizens to reclaim ownership of public resources and their labor value, to build a 'market' of shared responsibility (Barlow 2014:36).

As acupuncture has become more integrated into the dominate Western medical system with accreditation and licensure, much of the radical history of its introduction to Western culture has been skillfully neglected. The institutionalization of acupuncture education has developed in capitulation to the Western medical model's licensure standards, essentially adopting the 'master's tools' in the effort for the practice to be validated through legalization protocols as a safe, and initially, affordable form of health care (Elbasani 2011). With the institutionalized control of the profession, what was once an affordable health care practice for marginalized communities has been subsumed by capitalism's white privilege (Jones 2015).

The distinction, as well as unity, between the ​class​ and the​ party​ has oscillated throughout different historical revolutions. Each revolution – beginning with the German workers-council movement in the early 1900s (Bologna p. 5), followed by the Russian proletariat revolution (1917), the workers' control revolutions in Italy and Spain (1920 – 1939), the Venezuelan factory struggles and worker control initiatives (1989-2007) (Wallis p. 13-28), as well as the Argentinian uprisings (2001 -present) (Lavaca collective p. 7) - have all learned from one another and redefined the relationship between class and party in attempt to obtain further success in worker-led movements, where their predecessors may have failed. Of course these movements are not as linear as the above timeline might suggest, however, such sequential order does reveal the origin, development, and current state of international worker-control initiatives. Additionally, in understanding the historical backbone for such revolutions, it becomes clear as to how the Maoist thought - shared in the above quote - developed and if it is still relevant and applicable in today's uprisings against the neoliberal-capitalism.

The largest tourism niche Vietnam profits from today, and has been since 1986 when the country began to encourage foreign investment and travel, is war tourism. The profits earned from the country's history and centuries of turmoil under western powers are undeniably beneficial to its economy. In addition to helping the country's economic wealth, such tourist exhibits also serve to educate those who had either never heard about the incidents or were ill informed by the media. To be able to see the location where the events took place first-hand offers both a more "authentic" experience for the tourist as well as an opportunity for the residents to clarify their history through personal narratives.

During church services early Easter Sunday a series of 8 bomb blasts struck Sri Lanka's Christian community, in addition various well-known high-end luxury hotels throughout multiple of the country's cities. By 10am casualties rose to 207, with hundreds more injured. Just a few hours after the attack seven suspects were arrested, with no report of whether or not they were apart of a larger party of terrorists. Sri Lanka has a 25-year history of terrorist uprisings, however for almost a decade much of the transgressions had dissolves allowing the country to live in relative peace since 2009. Today, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has encouraged its citizens to "remain united and strong". Our global community can all "remain united and strong" to demonstrate support for Sri Lanka. As prominent leaders around the globe continue to condemn the deadly attacks, the narrative of perseverance can prevail over one of defeat. Terrorists attacks have become devastatingly more common in recent history. Let's use our collective voices to assist in fortifying Sri Lanka’s citizens by globally unifying and advocating for resilience through circulating on social media that "you too stand in solidarity with Sri Lanka" during these difficult time.

Like any project, at times it’s difficult to determine where or how to start. In isolation or in community? Alone or together? In my thoughts or on the paper? However, incessant rumination and ceaselessly waiting for the “right time” can become pathological. Therefore, it is with this knowing that I woke up after months of consideration about the current geography of our societal narrative around women’s voices being heard, when I realized that it was time for me to be apart of the dialogue.