How Do You Unbuild A House? Fixing A Broken System

The house we live in is falling apart.

It looks like a nice enough house from a distance (or at least it did, once). But now the roof’s come off, the walls are cracking, and the basement’s taking on water. As it stands, the house would not pass inspection. If we stay in this house is going collapse on us.

How do you restructure a house while you’re living in it?

First, it’s necessary to admit the builders 1. may not have known what the fuck they were doing, 2. despite flowery words, may not have had the best intentions, and 3. did not build and could not have built a house designed to adapt to centuries of change.

It’s not really their fault (although it ENTIRELY is). They had limited vision and could not have possibly foreseen just how big the house would get, so they designed a house that would benefit themselves, and fuck everyone else in the process.

The U.S. is flawed because the founders were flawed.

And that’s being polite. Could any of the people who wrote the constitution: racists, sexists, rapists, slave owners, pedophiles, be elected to office today?

Obviously, YES.

A racist with a history of sexual abuse currently occupies the oval office, but again, that’s because the system was built (and rebuilt) flawed. Time and increasingly complex problems have exposed these flaws in a way that can no longer be ignored.

The infrastructure of this country was designed to benefit a few and protect some, at the cost of harming many. The foundation, exploitation of humans and resources, was shortsighted and cruel. It’s cracked and rotten, built with faulty ideas and bereft of compassion. Not only was it unsustainable, it does not deserve to be sustained, or rebuilt.

A new foundation is needed. One where truth replaces slogans.

A large part of the problem is: the current occupants have lived this way for so long, they can’t imagine a different foundation. They’ve venerated lofty ideals which have never been realized, while building accommodations (aka amendments) around the flaws. They are so dedicated to preserving a flawed vision, most can’t even picture another way.

This, despite the fact that other ways predate the building of this house.

For lasting structural change, multiple things need to happen simultaneously with systemic cooperation and prioritization.

First, evacuating is not an option. Neither is isolating people we disagree with to one part of the house while we attempt to fix another. People live in this house. You can’t arbitrarily turn off the water or cut power without devastating impact. You CAN reallocate resources to accommodate the parts of the house most in need, while repairs are being done.

A timeline and shared costs need to be established and agreed on. Many minds dedicated to moving together in a particular direction are needed, each with a different focus that benefits the whole. A foundation that protects the most vulnerable instead of preying on them needs to be created.

And while this is going on, you still have to protect the house from invaders.

While all of this is happening, a plan needs to be established to compensate those whose labor and resources were pilfered in the house’s construction. Ultimately a house built on stolen land needs to be returned to its rightful owners.

The end of patriarchy is rematriation.