On this day, Bastille Day, I would like to respond to a post
by the brilliant Peter Dybing,
a post seeking genuineness of commitment to activism, and my response is going
to be a quibble.
In his post, Peter (I don’t know
him, but writing ‘Peter Dybing’ sounds officious and more negative than I wish
to be) calls for people to get out on the streets and march and be loud and
vocal and active. This type of activity is promoted by those who consider
public protests will pressure those in power to make changes. This can often
unquestionably do exactly that – before the ‘Arab Spring’ (which has had mixed results but was a
success in the first
nation it originated in), we had Solidarity
in Poland (which eventually ousted the
Communist Party dictatorship), the ‘Velvet Revolution’ and
‘People Power’
in the Philippines (which ousted the
dictator Marcos).
On the other hand, we have had the absolute failure of public protests
against Maggie Thatcher, Hungary in ‘56
and Syria a few
years ago.
I have a successful track record when it comes to activism: I played a
key part of getting changes made to the Equal Opportunity Act here, and we did
so not by marching in the streets and trying to make a lot of noise – we were,
and still are, such a small group that we would have looked a bit like the
battle fleet, in the Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy, sent to invade Earth but which “owing to a
terrible miscalculation of scale” was swallowed by a small dog. So we
negotiated directly with MPs on all sides of politics (in our case, beyond the two main parties were a group of independents,
but minority parties exist and should be included in such negotiations – and we
knew at that time to approach only one side may be a mistake as a change of
government may lead to changes being thrown out, as the abbott government has
shown) and had those in our community write to their MPs to humanise the
issue. We argued on human rights principles, not numbers, and we used the
advice of those who were helping us from inside both political parties to tell
people in our community when more letters and emails would be
counter-productive as they would just annoy those who we were seeking to change.
And make no mistake, that
can happen.
Now, that makes me sound like I am portraying myself as an expert.
Peter poses some questions for such experts, so let’s see how I go when stacked
up against them.
Have they risked their own freedom to
manifest social change?
No. The role I had involved lots of time, energy and money, but I was not at risk of jail from it.
Have they lead protests?
Yes, but not in the streets. See above where I have argued that such is not always the best way to approach the matter. Consider ESPECIALLY the case of Maggie Thatcher, who only became more determined as protests continued.
Have they demonstrated their willingness to
exchange a measure of personal safety for social change?
The change I was seeking was for greater safety, not less. I am a member of four minority groups: that in itself gives me considerable risks to my personal security, and I’m not interested in making it worse.
Now, can you see the bias of the positions that Peter and I are each
taking?
Peter is writing from the point of view of someone who is not part of
the group being sought to be helped, whereas I am writing from the point of
view of someone who is. Both points of view are, I consider, valid in their respective
context – BUT I do consider that public
protests are not always the best way to get results.
Apart from the
risk of violence or the escalation of violence, consider the statement Gandhi made (according to the film), along the lines
of:
“Do you fight to change things, or to punish?”
Just as equally, there are times when public protests are needed. My
success was in the context of a reasonably effective democracy. Trying to
negotiate directly with a dictator isn’t likely to work, but the public protests of Solidarity, the Philippines 'People Power' and the Velvet Revolution showed that this can potentially work. (Just keep in mind that Syria recently and Hungary in '56 shows it may not. Bastille Day also shows that an initial success may potentially be subverted into something bad.) So, in other words, be mindful about what you do - the USA's attempts at interventions have, sadly, too often been too thoughtless and thus ineffective or worse. Don't repeat that mistake.
If you ‘fight’ for the sake of feeling better yourself, you are guilty
of the failure that Peter Dybing so eloquently describes.
I would add to all the above that, if you know about magick, and fail
to use that to change the world to be a better place, you are guilty of a far
worse misdeed. That is something which can safely be applied to even the worst of
dictators.
If you do nothing, you are also guilty of a grave misdeed.
[2]
Please see here and my post "The
Death of Wikipedia" for the
reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of
h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as
extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather
engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy").
Love, light, hugs and blessings
Gnwmythr,
Wéofodthegn
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix
Lux? … Morinehtar?
… Would-be drýicgan
... )
My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index is here.
I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ... See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "Pagans for Peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour, and see also here and be flexible.
- One size does NOT fit all.
- Don't be mediocre - seek to excel.
- Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
- Our entire life experience, with all the many wondrous and varied people, places and events in it, is too small a sample for statistical reliability about Life.
- May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
- Ban the dream interpretation industry!
- A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
- Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
- Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master.
- Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
- Any person, male or female, who has neither a serious health issue, dependents nor an agreement about study. yet expects their partner to work to support them, is, spiritually speaking, little more than a parasite.
- The means shape the end.
- BPLF restraint of uncooperatives is NOT an opportunity for revenge or getting even - even unconsciously.
- As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
- My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
- All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be
stronger [people].
John F. Kennedy (who was
quoting 19th Century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you. Odin wants you to grow up.
We make our decisions. And then our decisions turn around and make us.
F.W. Boreham
Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious.
Jane Elliott
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.
(based on
writing by) Edmund Burke
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
Albert Einstein
We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Robert F. Kennedy 1968
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
John F. Kennedy
If we could change ourselves, the
tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so
does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see
what others do. (Often degraded to “Be
the change you want to see in the world” – see here)
Gandhi
Tags: about me, governance, peace, personal characteristics, personal responsibility, politics, society, violence,
First published: Manadagr, 14th July, 2014
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Monday, 14th July, 2014
