well, chai, at least you tried to learn and understand. most people don't.
to me, easiest learning comes from comparison. i couldn't retain much about my country's political system, but when i started studying how things are in britain, italy, israel, u.s., belgium, wherever...there were a lot of AHA moments. And a lot of it boils down (for me) to two things: electoral system and the way elections are run, and the public-private ownership. A lot of "apathy" and/or active "civicness" can be decided by those factors.
i have no illusions about masses either. that's why i try to focus on individual people. it's a tiny drop in the sea, but hey. there's this story about a hummingbird that i love and hope to live by:
The jungle caught on fire. All the animals ran to the river and stood in the water as the trees burnt all around. The lions, zebras, hipos, wolves, giraffes...all were watching the forest burn. Suddenly they see a small hummingbird swoop down from the sky, take a bit of water in its tiny beak, and fly over the fire, dropping the water on it. They laugh and tell him: "What do you think you're doing? It's useless, you're never going to put that fire out!" The hummingbird shrugs (or whatever hummingbirds do): "Well, I'm just doing everything that I can. If we all bring the water to the fire, we can put it out." Animals were shaking their heads, watching the little bird fly to the fire again and again. Finally some monkeys decided to take some water into empty coconuts and starting pouring it on the burning shrubs around. They were joined by others. Big elephants spraying water onto the trees, everybody did what they could. In a few hours, or perhaps days, they put the fire out together.
Naive? Oh sure. Naive as hell. But one has to believe in something. It's also about how we set our goals. I can't change the world. But I can live up to whatever I believe in and strive to inspire others. It may be 5 people, it may be one. It may be for a week only. But it's not useless. If we all just give up and stand in the river, watching the fire burn the jungle down, it will burn down.
That does not mean everybody should go protest and wave flags. We all choose how to contribute our small part. Rather than preaching, this is meant as encouragement to people like Amigo. We all go through a burnout. It's natural. But it's not useless, everything has it's value. We have to be naive in our ideals, but humble and realistic in our goals and estimates of impact.
Dagmaraka wrote: "The jungle caught on fire. All the animals ran to the river and stood in the water as the trees burnt all around. The lions, zebras, hipos, wolves, giraffes...all were watching the forest burn. Suddenly they see a small hummingbird swoop down from the sky, take a bit of water in its tiny beak, and fly over the fire, dropping the water on it. They laugh and tell him: "What do you think you're doing? It's useless, you're never going to put that fire out!" The hummingbird shrugs (or whatever hummingbirds do): "Well, I'm just doing everything that I can. If we all bring the water to the fire, we can put it out." Animals were shaking their heads, watching the little bird fly to the fire again and again. Finally some monkeys decided to take some water into empty coconuts and starting pouring it on the burning shrubs around. They were joined by others. Big elephants spraying water onto the trees, everybody did what they could. In a few hours, or perhaps days, they put the fire out together.
Naive? Oh sure. Naive as hell. But one has to believe in something. It's also about how we set our goals. I can't change the world. But I can live up to whatever I believe in and strive to inspire others. It may be 5 people, it may be one. It may be for a week only. But it's not useless. If we all just give up and stand in the river, watching the fire burn the jungle down, it will burn down. "
I love this Dagmaraka. I do believe it is true. It is not hopeless...look at the small picture. It is so easy to get overwhelmed with the big picture. But by jumping in and doing a small thing...and others joining in and helping...great things can be accomplished. I love that picture.
why thank you. i heard the story from an Indian pastor who works in conflict resolution and it rang so true to me. i remind myself of it very often.
I believe that almost all parents want the "best" for their children. Unfortunately many parents have no idea what the "best" is or how to achieve it.
Example: Reading to pre-schoolers. Story Hours at Day Care or Pre School or the local library is an inferior substitute for two or three stories (and conversation about those stories) from a loving parent.
Programs like Head Start cost tax money--and pay off in long-term literacy.
CHAI, MISMI !
I don't know the deference between a congressman, a senator and a representative either.
I don't have any kids or bills. Maybe thats why I created my purpose saving the people! in between beers
I hope I wasn't indirectly or unconsciencely putting you down. If I was something IS wrong with me.
My sister has two kids 3 and 6 and my mother raised us by herself. I respect what you women do very much.
The reason you don't understand politics is because For one you are raising kids and balancing a budget, you don't have the time or energy and two the way men talk politics it is just another way of swinging their dicks around.
It's Bull$hit. They learned a bunch of words nobody uses and they talk fancy and YOU ARE RIGHT. It doesn't amount to $hit!
I know because I went out and learned how to talk the same way and learned the same big fancy words.
I didn't find men making a difference. I found a bunch of punks talking fancy and using big words nobody f#@ken uses.
It aint gonna lower the price of daycare for my sister. So f#@k It!
Any time you guys want to know anything about politics I swear, I will tell you in a way you will understand it because that is the way I understood it. Just PM me (I won't hit on you and I won't get carried away). And if you guys did maybe it would mean I didn't learn all this $hit to talk to a bunch of assholes, Simone?. Really you already know it you just don't know it.
If I tell you what some word means you will say to yourself "Thats all that means? all this time and thats it?". Thats what I said when I learned it.
I debated a professor from Texas A&M and I won!!!!! What the ****??
I remodel houses for a living??
We are the masses, we are all in the same boat.
So, explain it here amigo....there are more like me for sure (BTW, don't have kids)
how is protesting and handing out literature supposed to help anything?
You say because all "the people" will one day gather and all protest, and "they" will then have to do something?
Seriously, what if you are just not into that sort of thing? For instance, having to be with a group of people like that would take me about a week to recover.
While some people think it's doing something being with 10, 100 or 1000 others waving signs, others are quietly living their lives, and making it happen themselves.
To illustrate how I view my existance, here is a quote from George Eliot, one of my favorite, if not my very favorite writers of all time. I think this is from Middlemarch....
for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
I guess I just took offense at being called lazy and complacent, because yes, I AM the people...but not everyone is suited or even useful standing on the steps of a gov't building waving a sign.
I'm among those living a faithfully hidden life. My dearest wish is that something I have done, which will forever be unknown, will result in something not being so ill with you that they might have been....
The catch of course is, you will never know it was because of me. The protesters faces get noted, and get credit for the work....that's ok.
how is protesting and handing out literature supposed to help anything?
Handing out literature and protesting is a very small part of "Dissent".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_dissent
Protesting is a "Demonstration" of dissent. People demonstrate because they have no other outlet for their complaint except to do it in public. Then the public and the media take notice and the ball starts rolling from there. People that are interested can get literature from the people at the demonstration.
Before the war broke out a demonstration in the street was the only place where the truth was being told. That truth is now everywhere and is now entering the American court system. The information in that literature that is passed out on the street is the same information that will be in the judges hands five years later. The man inside the building looking down at the demonstrators saying "look at those clowns" will also be in court five years later defending himself.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Valerie Plame Wilson told Congress Friday the leak of her identity as a CIA covert operative "has jeopardized and even destroyed entire networks of foreign agents."
For the first time since the 2003 leak, the central figure of the resulting scandal revealed her side of events that led to the conviction this month of a former vice presidential aide.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/16/cia.leak/index.html
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The only place this story was being heard and seen was in the street at a demonstration.
From the street to congress.
The Boston tea party was a demonstration of dissent.
dunno. i read the same posts and never had the impression anyone was being called lazy or complacent. note, this post is not addressed to anyone specific. just going on tangents about things that stuck in mind.
i agree that demonstrations are necessary, but also that they are and should be the last resort, the extreme. there is a lot of other work active citizens can and should be doing. and many are. from local initiatives, whatever they are- environment, maybe hiring practices, use of public space.....whathaveyou (and those are to me among the most crucial, for they actually deliver, they represent the power of the people, set precedents), through piping up when a piece of legislation is disagreeable to me or if i want the congress to take an issue on, through actually writing a letter to the editor, to even just educating oneself and talking with friends, calling them on things they do (say, if any of my friends bought an SUV or didn't go to vote...they'd sure hear from me) ....
i think that most successful activists have a cause, one or few issues that are important to them and pursue those on all levels. preferably legally. 'rampant' activism can discredit those that are trying to work within the system and actually contribute towards worsening of the situation, whatever that is.
of course, as with everything, it's a choice. there's no legal duty to be active in a public sphere. many people choose to abstain from anything remotely political altogether. i'm just certain that if we all live hidden quiet lives, there will be no check on any government, no accountability, and ultimately, no democracy, since they all require our participation. sure, we all vote (i hope!), but that's not enough to keep governments on their toes and responsive to people. actually, many don't vote (it's useless, my one voice doesn't change anything, i'm not happy with any of the candidates....mweh mweh mweh...many many excuses. In the end the turnout in this country is so abysmally low). it's the same with activism, i think.
then again, i chose human rights for a profession, so i am far from being objective. i have an agenda (fostering peace and deepening democracy) that is crucial in my life and work, so i see everything through this lense. it's partially a selfish interest.
