-
1 vote
-
As I get older, I get more and more disillusioned with "activism", and I'm fine with this
Long story short, I grew up believing that a great deal of worth of someone's life was effecting change, especially politically. That's why I valued activism. It took courage, especially...
Long story short, I grew up believing that a great deal of worth of someone's life was effecting change, especially politically. That's why I valued activism. It took courage, especially considering I don't live in a developed country.
The older I got and more problems I faced, I started to realize how unsatisfactory, even hollow this was. Modes of activism I engaged in didn't seem to fulfill me emotionally anymore, they were mostly impersonal, and they didn't seem to change anything. I have a lot of views that are extremely unorthodox for the place I live in, and I don't see any political movement that internalizes those values. I am extremely alienated from the "nation" I am supposedly part of, and from the political movements within it.
Another angle is that I recently realized how misguided I was. I was mostly doing mental labor, believing in the axiom that ideas can change things. But after some time and readings, I started thinking activities that aim for collective action and concrete changes (e.g. syndicates) were much more important. These are not available to me.
I feel like I have wasted a lot of my time. I pursued ideals more than my own emotional needs, believing they would make me happy and fulfilled, and they didn't. I pursued a way of engaging in politics that felt good but didn't effect change.
Don't get me wrong, while this is exasperating, it's also extremely liberating, joyful even. I enjoy the moments of quiet destruction that bring about the new. I no longer feel ashamed to admit I want comfort and stability in my life, and I don't want to take unnecessary risks. I have enough problems as is.
With this being said, I haven't given up on effecting change. I think it's much more convoluted and different than what I imagined when I was younger, and it's not generally about "going out there and showing up" or writing political texts and such. There are also levels to creating change, as it's not a binary thing.
At this point, I want to primarily live for myself, participate in some kind of change without risking myself to the point of overwhelming anxiety, and make more personal and real connections with people in general, including during effecting change.
What I've written here is a bit rough, but it's still an ongoing and raw process for me, and this post is more of a conversation topic, rather than a properly structured argument. I am interested in hearing your opinions. Has anyone had similar experiences, or things this post reminded you of?
44 votes -
Norwegian court finds police acted unreasonably in fining activists who blocked government buildings
15 votes -
Climate movement elders revive monkey wrench tactics to save an old forest in Washington
12 votes -
Trans men enter Miss Italy pageant in droves after trans women are told they can’t compete
76 votes -
Plans for regulator illustrate inherently political nature of football
4 votes -
Olof Dreijer on the Knife, Swedish nationalism and dancefloor activism
4 votes -
Avian teachers: on what we can learn from birds - Excerpt from Birding to Change the World
4 votes -
Remembering trailblazing LGBTQ+ civil rights activist James Baldwin this Black History Month
16 votes -
Greta Thunberg and four other climate activists are due to appear in court today after being arrested at a protest outside a gathering of fossil fuel bosses in London
22 votes -
Greta Thunberg marched with activists to protest against Farnborough Airport expansion, which mainly serves private jets – planned increase from 50,000 to 70,000 flights per year
20 votes -
Michael Bloomberg's funding keeps US gun control advocacy on a tight messaging leash
7 votes -
Norway is to allow mining waste to be dumped in its fjords after the government won a court case against environmental organisations trying to block the plan
29 votes -
How social justice activists lost the plot
40 votes -
Stop planting trees, says guy who inspired world to plant a trillion trees
27 votes -
How to stop an Icelandic whale hunt – Elissa Phillips and Anahita Babaei on chaining themselves to the crow's nests of whaling vessels for thirty-three hours
9 votes -
Why anonymous sperm donation is over in the US and why that matters
20 votes -
Bangladesh police have arrested nearly 8,000 opposition figures including party leader in a nationwide crackdown since officers broke up a major rally in the capital a week ago
7 votes -
Björk: ‘I always wanted to be David Attenborough’
10 votes -
Mass arrests target LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria while abuses against them are ignored, activists say
23 votes -
Vivian Silver, a Canadian who dedicated her life to peace, is feared kidnapped by Hamas terrorists
22 votes -
Björk and Rosalía have collaborated on a new song to benefit activists fighting against industrial salmon farming in Björk's native Iceland
6 votes -
Chick-fil-A plans UK restaurants opening after previously facing backlash from LGBTQ+ rights activists
23 votes -
Norway wants to begin deep sea mining in the Arctic – here is why it's a bad idea
6 votes -
Why the US left's version of the Federalist Society failed
16 votes -
The conservative push for “school choice” has had its most successful year ever
44 votes -
Study shows some Swiss residents changed behavior in response to Fridays for Future youth protests inspired by Greta Thunberg
24 votes -
Foreskin reclaimers: The ‘intactivists’ fighting infant male circumcision
27 votes -
Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance
71 votes -
Iceland allows whaling to resume – activists say that whales will still suffer agonising deaths despite new regulations and monitoring
23 votes -
To mark the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, activist Crystal Eastman described the path to full freedom for American women
15 votes -
Huey P. Newton, the misunderstood visionary behind the Black Panther Party
9 votes -
From solo protest to global movement – five years of 'Fridays for Future' in pictures
3 votes -
Naomi Wu and the silence that speaks volumes
32 votes -
Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision
46 votes -
Andy Ngo loses civil lawsuit against Portland activists
16 votes -
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has pulled out of an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival over its links to the fossil fuel industry
27 votes -
Campaign launched on Thursday to boycott the Faroe Islands over their highly controversial slaughter of pilot whales and dolphins
38 votes -
How to ensure you won’t have public transportation
27 votes -
How Signal walks the line between anarchism and pragmatism
45 votes -
Chinese man convicted for building bridge for village ignites public debate over judicial power
26 votes -
Danish environmental campaigner Merijn Tinga has windsurfed up the Thames to return plastic bottles from the UK which he found in Sweden
10 votes -
More than 1,500 US fossil fuel lobbyists serve as “double agents”
23 votes -
The history behind Orkney's vote to ‘join Norway’
9 votes -
Meet the guerrilla bike activists in Chicago installing bootleg infrastructure for safer streets
32 votes -
Cops are already treating self-driving cars as 'surveillance cameras on wheels'
16 votes -
When flight attendants fought the airline industry and won
10 votes -
Anthony Fauci on Larry Kramer and loving difficult people
12 votes -
No, climate activists are not coming for New York City pizza
16 votes -
How one American mother’s love for her gay son started a revolution
11 votes