Editorial by Maxime Retailleau, editor-in-chief of the new issue of Antidote
The care revolution
As climate change continues to advance, manifesting itself in a variety of ways around the planet, the world is confronted with a near-Manichean choice: face reality and take preemptive measures, or continue to bury our heads in the sand and suffer the full consequences of our actions. The specious myth of infinite economic growth – on a planet whose resources are limited – still largely structures dominant ways of thinking today, even as the concept of « degrowth » struggles to gain supporters; it is like a perfectly legal drug, fed to us every day since birth, to which we’ve become addicted before ever being able to articulate a critique of it. In order to start the healing cleanse and put an end to this capitalist trip, our society will have to rethink its values and challenge the sacralization of profit – all the while resisting the trap of philanthrocapitalist strategies employed by some of the world’s wealthiest to appear virtuous by starting foundations that are often misappropriated to support the system that put them in power, while legitimizing their liberal dimension.
Beyond relying on rational, scientific theories, the ecological paradigm has benefitted from the rise of a transversal approach to Care, which is articulated at an intimate level before expanding to the collective. Learning to love oneself, to take care of one’s own body and mental health in the face of hardship and discrimination, is indeed fundamental to a holistic practice of Care, where well-being, altruism, and honesty about one’s personal convictions coalesce and amplify each other. A philosophy with revolutionary potential, championed and embodied by inspiring young apostles, who are interviewed in the pages of this magazine. Among them, the straight-edge designer and artist duo, Fecal Matter, whose extreme aesthetic – born out of a process of self-acceptance foiled before it could reach its peak and frequently upcycled looks, constitute a visual manifesto for tolerance and freedom. These same values are also transmitted by the poet and trans nonbinary activist, Alok Vaid-Menon, whose assertion, in the face of transphobia, of the right to be oneself, has inspired intersectional activism and a rhetoric of love in the service of equality.
The many difficulties the American author has had to confront largely mirror those faced by trans people in France, including Redcar, who shares an exclusive text here, accompanied by theatrical pictures by this issue’s photographer, Anthony Arquier. In this poetic and moving text, the singer discusses the origin of his new album, his gender transition, and the difficulty of belonging as a “man with a pussy” in a world that still requires the life force burning inside each of us to conform to pre-established norms, rather than reshaping them to enable that life force to emerge in all its splendor –thus illuminating the ultimate horizon of Care.
Photographer: Ferry van der Nat.