Jeff said:
>On a related topic... I've been worried about my use of the
>word "activist". The definition keeps shifting by the
>context.
Now you've got me wondering what exactly an activist is. My dictionary
defines "activism" as: "A theory or practice based on militant action."
and "militant" as: "Having a combative character; aggressive, esp. in
the service of a cause."
That seems a bit harsh. I think of an activist as one who actively
works to affect some sort of social change in a public arena (as opposed
to "monkeywrenching," for instance). In my view, this doesn't
necessarily have to occur in a combative or aggressive way.
I think of Gandhi as an activist, and yet he was non-violent to the
extreme. But on the other hand, one could make the case that he did
aggressively pursue Indian independence. So perhaps that's not a good
example.
I'll try again with something closer to my own life. A Christian friend
involved in the transmission line struggle I mentioned previously has,
compared to myself, a very different way of responding to the
occasionally very severe criticism and unfair characterization of
transmission line opponents leveled at us by those who have bought into
the utilities' arguments. She gently reproves them, never using harsh
or inflammatory language, whereas I sometimes abandon the reasoned
argument and resort to sarcasm or a more aggressive exchange of verbal
blows. And yet I consider her an activist.
Another friend, one of our best spokepersons to the media, is always
reasonable and never openly argumentative or aggressive. All who have
heard her speak marvel at her effectiveness. She's an activist. She
has every right to be angry because the project threatens to destroy her
family's farm. But she never loses her cool.
I think of many everyday acts that anyone can do as being akin to
activism. Things such as driving a small, economical car while the ads
all scream that bigger is better; or quietly making compost in the
corner of one's garden or planting and saving seeds from open-pollinated
plants, when the majority are spreading chemical fertilizers and buying
Monsanto's hybrids. Even shitting in a sawdust toilet instead of
flushing it all into the nearest lake or river can be a revolutionary
act.
Practically any small act can be an act of defiance. As in Wendell
Berry's Mad Farmer's Manifesto*: "So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute."
Sorry for rambling.
Doug
*You can read it here: http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC30/Berry.htm
