Activism

I agree with activists but I find them annoying. Well, let’s not get personal. I agree with activism but I find it annoying. Why?

I know if I write this down I will seem a lot more certain than I am. Really, I am exploring a feeling, not judging right or wrong, good or bad.

First, I do agree with Occupy and respect and even admire those who put their bodies on the line and in the rain to make a point that is long overdue about the terrible, growing inequities brought on by out-of-control capitalism. I do agree that nuclear power has to go. I do agree that toxic chemicals must be kept out of our babies’ bodies. I am utterly opposed to war of all kinds. I am shocked and devastated by how we humans are altering the climate and the planet’s other life-support systems.

What is more, I have been an activist myself, or worked closely and in concert with activists, for more than 30 years. I have supported causes financially and professionally with my communication skills. Wow. That is a long time. I hadn’t realized. And still I find activists and activism slightly or greatly annoying.

I just checked my feelings this morning by going on Facebook and skimming the latest posts of my friends, many of whom are totally devoted activists. Yep. Still annoying. I skipped over the links to articles about everything I agree with but don’t want to read. I lingered over the personal posts, scrolled fast through the issue stuff.

Maybe the problem is me. Yes, probably it is. I have been at this too long. I am burned out. I am ready for something else. As I wrote recently, I am so tired of persuasion writing. This could be a personal burnout issue. Still, how can I leave it all behind, knowing what I do about the world’s messes and the urgency of the need to clean them up and stop making them?

At the same time, I am surely not the only person who is put off by activism. Perhaps I can use this feeling that is rising to the surface right now to empathize with those who not only find activists annoying but also outright disagree with the activists’ causes. Or transfer their annoyance with crusaders to the crusade.

Uh-oh. I see I am getting into persuasion theory, if not persuasion writing. That is, why aren’t activists more convincing? Why does activism so often divide rather than conquer?

Whole treatises have been written about this so perhaps my insight is neither new nor needed. I’m just exploring my own feelings here. What I feel is this:

Anger turns me away. Too much information about things I can do nothing about paralyzes me. Enforcement of behavior changes by rules and punishments (legislation, regulation, etc.) is necessary, but my nature is not suited to it.

On the other hand, I know that the road to change is difficult and involves many tasks to which we might be unsuited, such as persuasion, confrontation, tedious negotiations, knocking on doors, demonstrations, and even reading more than we ever wanted to know about the problems.

This is not fun. But here is the thing. Somebody’s got to do it. Somebody has to express the anger and grief that more of us would feel if we allowed ourselves to know. Somebody has to work to change the rules. Somebody has to push the boulder of public opinion up the hill until it rolls down the right side.

So why don’t we just say that joining the set of causes that represent the changes that need to be made—whether it is one cause or all of them—is like joining the army. You will be called upon to do difficult and even distasteful things. It will not do to think too much about all this once you are enlisted. We shouldn’t have to keep shoving information in front of each other. What will really get us through the hard stuff is what soldiers depend on—loyalty, friendship, mutual support, love.

I sense this among activists but I seldom hear it expressed. That is, the details are less important than the fact that what we are doing is really hard. So what is really important is that we have each other’s backs.