Owning it (and other notions of accountability)

2022, here we go!

“One person’s embarrassment is another person’s accountability.”

This month’s theme is accountability. It could go in many directions. I’ll throw a few of them out here.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: We have the resources at our fingertips to look at and judge others like never before. But how many of us are we really seeing ourselves, beyond evaluating how good the lighting is in our vacation photos, or if our smiles are radiating the joy we think we should be feeling during that time? Do we think about the effect the online content we post might have on our friends and acquaintances? Are we willing to take responsibility for eventual harm we are causing in whatever capacity, and/or are we even willing to face up to criticism as such when it is presented to us?

MICROCRIME: We’ve all stolen a pencil from work, used the business photocopier off-hours, written off something questionably ‘work-related’ on our taxes. And at the same time we’re all pointing the finger at the politicians and the corporations who are using state funds and ill-gotten profits to finance their own off-hours indulgences, without realising that, although our stolen pencils are not equal to Jeff Bezos’ tax bill, the fact is, Jeff Bezos’ tax bill IS a pencil to him, relatively speaking. Either he’s a sociopath or (well, and, actually) he just doesn’t see the damage he is doing to those of us 'below' him. But the question is, do we see the damage we are doing to those 'below' us?

Is accountability the same in private life vs public life?**

Does collective accountability mean anything to you?**

Accountability is looking in as well as out, looking down as well as up, taking responsibility for smaller things before they grow larger with wider-spread consequences.

** These questions from Andréas, thank you!
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DISCUSSION FORMAT & PARTICULARS

This is a (probably sometimes challenging) but NON-JUDGEMENTAL dialogue. We will discuss how money affects us in non-material ways. It is not a chance to discuss your clever investment strategies, or to show-and-tell your latest shopping trip to Charlottenburg, nor is it a chance to pull out your paper cup and ask for donations for your latest art project.

Check your privileges AND your motivations before speaking - if you see yourself rising above the group and glowing in a halo of excellence (or wallowing in a self-pitying hole of indigence), chances are you are not speaking objectively about the topic.

Try to embrace being vulnerable. The reason google yields an answer to almost anything you might ask it is itself implicit proof that SOMEONE else out there has had the same questions/concerns as you, but perhaps has not voiced them out loud yet.

Andréas suggesting structuring with subtopics and allocated times, which I think is an excellent suggestion to keep us from going too off-topic, we’re going to give it a try.

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RSVPing etc.

Please note the 'No flakeyness' policy on the 'about this group' page will be in full effect regarding RSVPs and attendance.

Obwohl diese Veranstaltungen wahrscheinlich auf Englisch stattfinden werden, könntet ihr sehr gern Deutsch sprechen, wir übersetzen gerne! Wenn alle Anwesenden sowieso Deutsche sprechen, wechseln wir auch gern Sprachen.