discuss activism

[Jordan f.]

more importantly what do you think works best. Do you believe in petitions and protests or direct action (or both). Does a militant stance ever create positive things?

You guys know the drill, post your opinions/reply to others respectively.

A guy at work brought up do I think it's a good idea for peta dickheads (my words, not his) to pour fake blood on people wearing fur coats. I told him no, I thought it was fucking stupid. I am 100% for direct action on farms/labs etc (as long as the humans aren't hurt either). Liberating animals or trashing labs actually has an effect. Covering someone in blood and saying "you're guilty" is going to change their mind about as much as all the religious people telling me I'm "going to hell" is going to change my mind.

[Jordan f.]

p.s I wrote this after getting 3-4hours sleep then working 11hours so if it makes no sense, I apologize.

[tylerp]

I already posted a couple opinions on activism and there were some unfavourable replies. but I guess that's the point of a discussion board.

I believe that the power of our vote and elected representatives is our society's greatest strength right now. it's also a huge problem. my own opinions often do not match the opinions of the majority. very often, it's these ruled-out opinions that turn to activism to "win over" some support. that's fair, because the public masses are docile and easily manipulated into voting and believing what they want. and public opinion only changes slowly. take anything - civil rights, acceptance of homosexuality, etc. it took a lot of activism to start to change the public's opinion, and even then it took decades for the change to start to be really prominent as a public majority frame of mind.

anyway, back to the voting. we have the power to elect who we want. in some ways, I think canada has a little more power than the states that way. we take our alternative parties more seriously. the vote doesn't come down to two distinctly conservative parties and nothing else. so tackling an issue starts with this process of electing a like-minded person to tackle the issue from the inside. no matter who's voted in, we always have the power to write/email/etc the elected representatives and make them understand how we think. they work for us. they may have a personal agenda but they also want to keep the public happy.

how do you convince people to change their minds on an issue they may not know or care about? in the past, rallies were really effective. they were fresh and exciting ways to present alternative views. they were spectacular and public. I feel like nowadays, rallies of the same size aren't recognized to the same degree. people are much more set in their opinions. everyone's out to argue and not to learn. the news will report on a rally but there are so many issues that I feel like rallies aren't convincing many new people of important issues. they aren't complete wastes of time but I think they're also less effective than before.

I've always thought of art as one of the best forms of activism. music, visual art, writing, whatever. anything that really engages the audience will potentially change their minds. it's also really difficult to do well. not everyone's going to care about your basement punk band. maybe someone will read the lyrics and think in a new way. but I can think of so many examples of art, especially books and bands, that present issues they care about in really fresh ways.

extreme activism in the form of violent protest, sabotage, etc. generates press for an issue and can "damage" the enemy. sometimes the press is bad though. and it can take a legitimate issue and convince people that it's just the hysterical acts of a radical group, people who don't think rationally and thus aren't to be respected. maybe extreme activism is necessary sometimes. it can feel like the only thing with a direct result. I feel like it causes more harm than good.

merging any of the above with the internet is a way to take activism to a fresher stance. I've seen some pretty great websites, web documentaries, etc. I've also seen a LOT (most, maybe) of really bad websites with sensational exaggeration of facts. there's one I saw recently on the killings of pilot whales in denmark. they change the names of pilot whales to another species and claim it's endangered. if your facts aren't right then you're not going to accomplish anything. email is really easy to get the word out to a lot of people. you can email representatives. there are so many possibilities for art to be shown online. there are so many ways to spread the word about an issue online.

sometimes I think that the internet is so saturated with this stuff that a good old letter will be that much more powerful though. I think letters and faxes are taken more seriously in government/politics. and online petitions are so much less legitimate than a real petition.

one of the biggest problems with activism today is how much it's branched out. I find lots of activists care about a LOT of issues. but they're divided. there's so many issues. the whole thing seems chaotic and disorganized.

my own experience in activism is lacking. activism requires a lot of drive to believe you can change and make a positive difference. I have the same age-old docile opinion that makes so many people mad. because the majority do not think like me, I am at a disadvantage. the world will never change to suit my mind and interests. there will continue to be large corporations, greed, abuse, violence, and chaos. there will be lots of really stupid people having lots of children. there will be lots of fossil fuel emissions destroying the world as we have more and more children and fill it up even more. we'll keep cutting down trees to make room for these children. we'll keep caring for the sick and disadvantaged and fighting survival of the fittest until some virus or parasite kills us all unless we've killed ourselves already. the world will be destroyed. all life except the most resilient will have been wiped out by our gummy little fat hands. this is all bound to happen because we rely on all the things that are bad for us. we believe human life is the most important thing when it's the abundance of human life that's causing so many problems.

this is all a little tongue in cheek and I'm not hitler but I feel like thinking of any one issue can lead to this realization of powerlessness that stops a lot of people from participating too much in activism. my personal favourite part of music is that it reflects these feelings that I can relate to. it can cause me to care about activist issues but it can also cause me to relate to the powerlessness a lot of us feel.

[xchadx]

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[canon.docre]

I feel like I should comment on this, but I don't have too much to say or add to what has already been said. I do not think we live in a democracy, despite getting a 'vote'. I am not a reformist, and have 0 interest in taking part in legitimate politics. Anyone that says I have no right to complain about our current government because I don't vote can shove their ill-informed opinion up their ass. I think with the amount of political prisoners currently serving sentences in Canada and abroad that its safe to say that activism is viewed by our governments as a threat. Keep up the good work activists, and keep your mouth shut when the pigs come knocking.

[Hollow]

I'm busy as fuck right now, but as soon as I have a moment I'll read everything and respond.

[age of quarrel]

this thread is already too wordy, not reading until i've napped

[grind/bro]

I read Pacifism as Pathology, and I pretty much agree with it. I'm not an anarchist but it raised really critical points. I don't think the same tactics used by other revolutions would work within North America, due to our social policy complications, and stratified financial state. I don't think that is the end of my understanding, because I think of my political stance on this issue and many others, as ever evolving. However, I am in no way really that involved with any "activist" movements, so what I have to say means little to nothing.

[ZACH ATTACK]

I feel like I should comment on this, but I don't have too much to say or add to what has already been said. I do not think we live in a democracy, despite getting a 'vote'. I am not a reformist, and have 0 interest in taking part in legitimate politics. Anyone that says I have no right to complain about our current government because I don't vote can shove their ill-informed opinion up their ass. I think with the amount of political prisoners currently serving sentences in Canada and abroad that its safe to say that activism is viewed by our governments as a threat. Keep up the good work activists, and keep your mouth shut when the pigs come knocking.

This is pretty much what I was going to say.