14 Extraction Mentalities
Themes: Abuse, Capitalism, Gaslighting, Criminal Justice System
Disciplines: Women and Gender Studies, Law, Social Sciences, Health, Economics, International Business
Guiding Questions:
- Elliott is tempted by the two-dimensional villain and notes, “These dichotomies are seductive because they are so simple. But that’s why these sorts of dichotomies will never create the change we need. They’re too damn simple” (p. 197). What are effective means of creating change in our society to lessen abuse?
- Answer the question Elliot poses, “Did you assume my father was the villain I was writing this essay about? Why or Why not?” (p. 200).
- Choose a passage (paragraph) that surprised you, affirmed an idea for you, or one that you would like to challenge. Type out the passage and include the chapter title and page number, then explain why you selected the passage, why you personally connected/did not connect with it, why the passage is meaningful.
- Write three thoughts that you have after reading this chapter; two questions you would like to ask the author, and one analogy to describe this chapter.
- What is your reaction to Elliott’s revelation that her father never abused people he didn’t like and that maybe for him love was a fire that could both warm and burn encouraging him to become his best self and his worst self?
- Elliott uses the metaphor love was a fire that could both warm and burn. Create your own metaphor to describe the type of love she describes.
- What is another title that you would choose for this chapter? Explain your choice of chapter title.
- Elliot lists ways in which the nation state abuses and gaslights non-Indigenous citizens (p. 215). In what other ways than those listed has the nation state of Canada been involved in abuse or gaslighting?
- Choose one of the questions the author poses in this chapter and answer it. In your answer, explain why you chose this question to answer.
- What is your reaction to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s quote, “[E]xtration is the cornerstone of capitalism, colonialism, and settler colonialism. It’s stealing. It’s taking something, whether it’s a process, an object, a gift, or a person, out of the relationships that give it meaning, and placing it in a non-relational context for the purposes of accumulation” (p. 213).
- How have Canada’s economic and health policies affected Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens positively and negatively?
- Write a summary of what you have learned from reading this chapter, and what are three of the most valuable teachings for you from this chapter.
- If you were running a Book Club, how would you introduce this book and persuade others that it is worthy of their attention?