smithea1 thank you as always!

Hi Nancy and Kay,

A rare Wednesday evening where I thought I might get to this in real time. And then password difficulties, followed by the slowest incoming email west of the Pacific.

Anyway, it’s great to be here. I think I’ve probably written somewhere you folks could see it before about the dreams I used to have when I was in my cage. Envisioning myself at the local zoo, undoing the latches on the cages of the big cats, who paced as I did, back and forth, to and fro, on a very limited track.

Three short paces this way, three short paces that, nervous system on fire, thoughts racing.

Great metaphor tonight!

Animal Agency: Resistance, Rebellion, and the Struggle for Autonomy
https://drstevebest.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/animal-agency-resistance-rebellion-and-the-struggle-for-autonomy/
”
The history of capitalist accumulation is so much more than a history
of humanity. Who built America, the textbook asks? Animals did.https://drstevebest.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/animal-agency-resistance-rebellion-and-the-struggle-for-autonomy/#_edn3
As political agents, animals did not just labor and suffer mindlessly
and helplessly, rather they frequently refused work and exploitation,
at least past a given limit, and subsequent labor had to be negotiated
in some way and to varying degrees. Increased production only meant
increased resistance, especially notoriously stubborn and
rebellion-prone animals such as donkeys. Hribal adds to an already rich
account of animal resistance to human oppression, describing a wide
range of animal resistance tactics from intentional sabotage and
property destruction to revenge killing and popular violence.https://drstevebest.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/animal-agency-resistance-rebellion-and-the-struggle-for-autonomy/#_edn4
Faking ignorance, rejection of commands, the slowdown, foot-dragging,
no work without adequate food, refusal to work in the heat of the day,
taking breaks without permission, rejection of overtime, vocal
complaints, open pilfering, secret pilfering, rebuffing new tasks, false
compliance, breaking equipment, escape, and direct confrontation, these
are all actions of what the anthropologist James C. Scott has termed
“weapons of the weak”…Hence, while rarely organized in their conception
or performance, these actions were nevertheless quite active in their
confrontation and occasionally successful in their desired effects. For
our purposes, these everyday forms of resistance have not been
historically limited to humankind — as each of the above listed methods
have been used by other animals.
Donkeys have ignored commands. Mules have
dragged their hooves. Oxen have refused to work. Horses have broken
equipment. Chickens have pecked people’s hands. Cows have kicked
farmers’ teeth out. Pigs have escaped their pens. Dogs have pilfered
extra food. Sheep have jumped over fences. Furthermore, each of these
acts of resistance has been fully recognized by the farmer, owner,
driver, supervisor, or manager as just that: acts of resistance.”