| Throughout
the better part of last few
years, I�ve struggled to
figure out my role within the
broad spectrum of social
activism that�s taking place
throughout the world. Like
many young people that get
turned on to politics through
punk rock, I spent the early
part of my life genuinely
believing that the world was
an incurably sick place to
inhabit�a place where
everything beautiful was
overshadowed by sexism,
racism, homophobia, class
prejudice, and intolerance.
While anger and frustration
prompted me to become more
educated, involved, and aware
of problems in the world, it
also began to eat me alive.
Some
time later and I am still
firmly committed to the
struggle for social change,
but I recognize the fact that
many of us get lost along the
way due to cynicism,
indifference, lack of
communication, and a general
sense of hopelessness.
Therefore, the reason I�m
writing this essay is to share
some of my insights in hopes
of giving people a reason to
stay interested, committed,
and positive about what is
possible in this world. I�m
not writing this as an
instruction manual, or a way
of promoting my own agenda as
the ultimate truth. I
recognize that everyone
approaches social activism in
a different manner, and there
is no way of predicting which
emotions, tactics, and
strategies will be productive,
and which ones will ultimately
be destructive. My experiences
are not unique, and I am not
special�I�m just a person
that spent running my mouth
when I should have spent more
time listening to people
around me. In that regard,
I�d like to briefly address
three issues that I have been
discussing with activists
throughout the past year in
order to share my perspective
and initiate dialogue about
revolution, DIY ethics, and
protest.
1)
You do not have to be a
revolutionary in order to be
an activist. While I believe
that revolutionary social
changes must take place in our
society, it�s important to
recognize the fact that the
term revolution is thrown
around carelessly by many
people today. Revolution has a
number of different meanings
and connotations, and not all
of them are positive. Some
people use the term as a
metaphor for describing the
degree of change they are
interested in, and others use
the term as a direct
expression of their desire to
literally overthrow the
government. In both cases, I
think the idea of revolution
should be carefully evaluated
as a way of envisioning social
change because it affects the
ways that we think and act.
While I have heard many good
arguments as to why there
should be revolutionary change
in government, it�s also
important to be somewhat
critical of the idea of
revolution. The reason I say
this is because when one talks
about social change in terms
of revolution, they are
essentially saying that change
must be absolute and
immediate. When we think about
social change in terms of a
single event, i.e. the
revolution, taking place in a
single moment, i.e. NOW, it
makes it difficult to envision
social change in any other
way. In other words,
revolutionaries are frequently
incapable of recognizing the
fact that social change cannot
always be abrupt and
totalizing. In most cases,
social change is an extremely
long process that requires
immense amounts of patience,
money (organizers and workers
need to eat, pay bills,
support families, etc.) and
compromise.
To
many activists, especially
those within the punk
community, notions of
compromise and patience are
typically considered to be
symptomatic of selling out.
Unfortunately, many
revolutionaries have a
selective view of history that
allows them to identify with
progressive revolutionary
movements, such as the Black
Panther Party or the Spanish
Anarchists, while forgetting
that revolution is also the
rallying cry for legions of
neo-Nazis and backwoods
militia groups throughout the
World. My problem with
revolutionary thinking is not
with people themselves, but
with the idea that an abrupt
change in regime will solve
all our problems. While it�s
important for people to
advocate for revolutionary
change, it�s more important
to recognize the fact that the
our country has been handed
over to conservative parties
because younger activists are
too concerned with selling out
then actually working within
established institutions in
order to achieve results.
I�m the first to admit that
traditional politics are
frustrating, exclusionary, and
typically boring as hell.
However, changes that take
place within legitimate
political channels are lasting
and more importantly, they are
accountable. In short, the
longer we stay out of
government, the easier it is
for conservative,
corporate-sympathetic people
to maintain control, lead us
into unprovoked wars, cut
social programs, pollute our
environment, and deny citizens
the right to health care and
insurance.
2)
The DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic
of the punk scene is something
that all of us can, and
should, be proud of. It has
empowered tens of thousands of
people to create vibrant
alternatives to mainstream
forms of entertainment,
business, and community.
However, in the case of social
activism, DIY ethics can be a
mixed blessing. The DIY spirit
has produced amazing political
institutions in the United
States, including such
organizations as Food Not
Bombs, Earth First!, and
Indymedia (to name just a
few), and it has arguably
established the basis for the
blossoming anti-corporate
movement. On the flipside, the
DIY spirit can also hinder
people from joining
preexisting social movements
or political organizations
that aren�t structured
exactly like people might want
them to be and as a result
they start their own
organizations. While there are
tons of benefits to having
newly emerging political
groups, it�s also important
to recognize the fact that you
don�t have to reinvent the
wheel in order to participate
in politics. There are
hundreds, if not thousands, of
political organizations
already established in the US
that are strapped for labor,
time, and money. In this
regard, the DIY ethic can
sometimes isolate individuals
from one another by
emphasizing uniqueness and
originality as opposed to
emphasizing solidarity with
folks who have already worked
hard to keep their
organizations afloat. Also,
starting your own political
organization is extremely
difficult, and can lead to
untimely frustration and
burnout. In short, DIY ethics
are crucial to contemporary
politics, but it�s equally
important for people to
realize that they don�t have
to do everything
themselves---there are tons of
places that already need your
help (Women�s Resource
Centers that deal with rape
and domestic violence are
perfect examples of such
institutions.)
3)
Public protest is an effective
way to communicate messages to
corporations, politicians,
school boards, governmental
bodies, and anyone else that
refuses to acknowledge the
legitimate grievances of
people in a given community
(local or national.) Public
protest, including everything
from planned civil
disobedience to guerilla
street theatre, can be very
empowering to people involved,
it can provoke reactions from
people who would otherwise
ignore certain issues, and it
can utilize mass media in a
way that is advantageous.
However, poorly organized
public protests can also make
activists look like absolute
idiots that had nothing better
to do that day. Mass media has
incredible power to frame
specific issues and events,
and it�s important to take
this factor into consideration
when planning protest events.
While it�s important for
people to speak their mind and
take to the streets, it�s
also ignorant to assume that
protest for the sake of
protest is always a good
thing. Protest can achieve a
great deal, but it must be
coupled with education,
dialogue, and other forms of
open communication. Sometimes
we fail to recognize the
importance of education as a
tool for social change because
it�s a hell of a lot sexier
to march in the streets than
it is teach 4th graders about
conflict resolution and US
history. However, education is
invaluable to social progress
and there are many different
ways in which activists can
become involved, whether
it�s through public schools,
or within alternative forms of
education, such as Waldorf,
Montessori, or performance
arts-based schools (to name
just a few.) Protest and
education are by no means
mutually exclusive, but there
seems to be more emphasis
these days on direct action
than there is on education.
In
terms of education, the last
few months have taught me that
there are lots of people out
there who want to create a
better world for each other,
and for future generations. At
different points in my past, I
lost sight of this fact and
assumed that the situation was
always one of US (people in
the know) versus THEM (the
ignorant, or na�ve masses),
when in fact I was the one who
was truly na�ve. I had been
inspired by countless authors,
speakers, artists, and
teachers who taught me to be
critical of the world, but I
never managed to be
self-reflective about my own
ideals, passions, and
political positions. As a
result, I ignored nearly
everyone who believed in the
necessity for compromise, the
capacity for people to reform
society without total
revolution, and I discounted
the opinions of people that
didn�t agree with me---
naturally assuming that they
weren�t as informed. But at
some point I started to
genuinely listen to people
around me, and I opened my
eyes to a world of people that
were striving for social
change without thinking just
like me, i.e. they weren�t
anarchists, they didn�t ride
bicycles, they weren�t
vegetarians, and they
weren�t punks. By exposing
myself to different ideas, and
genuinely listening to other
people, I developed a healthy
perspective about my own
relationship to activism that
allowed for self-reflection
and self-criticism. For these
reasons, I feel justified in
making critical statements
about the activist community I
relate to, because I recognize
the need for all of us to make
this community stronger. At
the same time, I recognize the
need for our community to
forge lasting bonds with other
communities of activists,
educators, artists, and
parents.
The
most important thing I�ve
learned over the years is that
it takes all types of
individuals to make social
change possible, from the
masked anarchist in the street
to the local union organizer
on the worksite. And while we
should always raise our fists
and voices in defiance of
injustice, we should also open
our ears and listen to those
who disagree with us.
Peace
and solidarity,
Zack
|
