I’ve fallen out of love. I’m probably the last person I expected this to happen to and it’s particularly embarrassing given all the things I’ve posted here over the last few years – passionate and committed stuff that made it sound like I have it all together.
But here’s the truth: I no longer love activists.
Wait, what… activists? Hairy, sign-waving activists? Yeah, kinda. Activists, for my purposes here, are people who passionately champion causes. Saving whales. Asylum seekers. Gay marriage. Christianity. Removing the GST on tampons and anything else that holds women back. People who are homeless or who have disabilities. Gay homeless whales who… okay, you get the idea.
You’ve met them, right? Maybe you are one. Activists CARE. And they want others to care too. Mostly, they want change. And they often want it now.
I’m probably over-simplifying things, but to me activists have often fallen together into a kind of personality tribe, one I’ve been pretty happy to dance with. I loved how defiant and certain we were! We activists were so funny together in an acerbic kind of way, so cutting when we needed to be! (Wink, nod… hey, we know what’s going on around here cause we’re pretty smart, aren’t we? Check out this latest hilarious political cartoon I found!)
And we believed stuff! Not just that, we weren’t afraid to tell people about it. Facebook posts – Twitter – letters to the editor – earnest conversations – we had our opinions and we surrounded ourselves with people who thought the same. We preached to the choir and we loved the Amen. We shouted “SHAME AUSTRALIA!” and everyone shouted back. Very therapeutic, actually.
Except I think that’s where the relationship has gone off the rails.
I can’t help noticing how angry (and smug) a lot of activists are. It’s like all the bad stuff that government/big business/white middle-class men do attracts snarky activists like ants to the honey pot and BOOM! It’s a bit of a fury-fest. With lots of criticism and disgust and head shaking…. And dare I say it? Not a lot of progress.
It’s taken me a while, but I’ve fallen out of love. I’m looking for a slightly different way to change the world and wondering who to get in bed with next. And I’ve been thinking a bit about what I’m going to call “reformers”. They seem a lot more sexy to me right now.
Here’s why.
Their Facebook, Twitter feeds and conversations aren’t full of depressing, shouty news stories about how hopeless our Government or life in general is. They celebrate the small wins, even if those wins come on the side of the fence they normally wouldn’t identify with. (In fact, especially if they come from that side of town).
They’re willing to accept compromise, which is something we probably all try to teach our children but somehow manage not to practise ourselves in regard to the issues we care most about. Especially in politics, they seem to realise you have to give a bit to get a bit. Sometimes what you have to give isn’t attractive, but reformers are willing to play for the long game.
They don’t believe they’re morally or intellectually superior to everyone else and you can tell this by the way they speak to (and about) other people. Sarcasm – rarely. Hyperbole? Not much. They tend to be cautious with their language and avoid generalisations. They give people the benefit of the doubt.
They stand up for what they believe, but they hold their truths lightly. They understand that no single system, political viewpoint, religion or belief has all the answers and they listen before they speak. They sometimes change their minds, and they respect when others do the same instead of wardancing about the ‘backflip.’
They have friends from all over the place, even people they disagree with. And they listen to those people without needing to try to change their minds about everything, every conversation. They’re committed to learning from people who are different to themselves…and even just hanging out with them!
All this means they rarely ‘write off the system’ and the system doesn’t write them off in return. As a result they can sometimes genuinely help bring about change from within instead of throwing stones from the edges. People still listen to them instead of just shaking their heads… (“Yeah yeah… heard it all before…”) Maybe it’s because they’ve shown grace. Maybe because people haven’t already learnt to predict exactly where they’re coming from. Maybe it’s just because they’re rare individuals. But for whatever reason, they aren’t labelled or dismissed in the same way as typically vocal activists and their opinions can sometimes make a real difference.
See what I mean? Reformers. Wow. Swoon. Maybe I’m not the only one sick of extremism and shouty types, on both the right and the left? Seems like we’re all just preaching to our own converts, banging away in an echo chamber where no one really changes their minds on anything. We need people who can bring transformation by standing somewhere in the middle – even if their own views take them left or right – and reaching out.
What do you think? I’m part of a tradition – both the progressive church and the political left – that prides itself on standing up for social justice, for the voiceless, for the weak. We’re typical activist stock. So how are we doing? When was the last time you had a respectful conversation with someone where either of you changed your minds? How does the general population view us? (Personally, I fear they think we’re a bunch of whiny, opinionated nutters, but that could be just me…) Bottom line: how much change are we actually bringing about?
Committed activists – I’m happy for you to convince me to stay! But I think my heart is won by the reformers. How about you?
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