On 20 Nov 99, at 0:20, ForestHaven wrote:
>
> 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;
I don't have a hard definition of activist, but can use this analogy
and several others to give a sense of my definition. I do not own a
car and rarely accept rides in cars. That is the expression in my
own life of a very strong set of values and opinions that I hold about
cars. I have friends in an organization called Auto Free Ottawa (
http://www.flora.org/afo/ ). They organize a commuter challenge
each year aimed at reducing the use of cars for commuting, they
organize periodic information nights on the importance of reducing
and eliminating car use, and they lobby local, provincial and national
governments on issues around car use. Some of them are strident
and aggressive and some quiet and persuasive. I define these
friends as activists in this cause. I am not an activist in this cause.
What I do in living without a car is important, and vital to changing
society but it is not to my mind activism.
Another for instance is breastfeeding. A woman who breastfeeds her
baby in a world that makes that very hard to do, is doing something
very important to change the world but is not what I would call a
breastfeeding activist. The woman or women facilitators in the local
breastfeeding support group that help women through difficulties,
provide advice, and support are somewhere in between. Members of
INFACT, http://www.infactcanada.ca/ , who research and publish
material on the importance of breastfeeding, organize boycotts,
lobby governments and the united nations are, in my way of looking
at this, activists.
I could make similar distinctions about homeschooling, but this is
getting long and probable enough to give an idea of how I think
about activism.
I make no judgement on one or another way being more or less
important than any other. What the individual breastfeeding mother
does is as important and effective in the long run as what the
organizer of the nestle boycott does. But the latter I would give the
title of activist, the former has no title that I know of, and that is
probably good.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
