I have quite a few friends who are passionate and feel responsible to become activists. I am thankful that questions opened by serious issues have inspired involvement and activism on a whole new level.
But really, I hate politics. It's an arena where cultural cliche`and manipulation is at its worst. I do not listen to the news on purpose, because of the sensationalism. I regularly impose a "news-fast" state for myself, mostly through music listening - often music without words.
Becoming burnt out on the subject of politics is the challenge and trap of activism. There exists no verifiable feedback that anything you do really has an effect, because you have only one voice.
The only drawback with my self-preserving, protective urge to isolate myself and refuse to be involved at all is that it IS interpreted as a sort of silent endorsement or mandate that I accept the prevailing coercive state of affairs. That bothers me.. A huge loss of rights is exactly what happened when the public was lulled into submission that everything was going OK or they just too busy or needed to protect themselves from being concerned with BAD topics. A wake-up call about how bad things have gotten is exactly what has made people riled up now enough to urge others to become politically active. This "riled" state isn't very pleasant - it's angry...it's as if I am the target of an emotion that's just "blowing off" randomly without being directed to whom is really responsible.
Obviously, this anger/activism needs to be more effectively directed. Really what bugs me about activism on social networking sites like Facebook is people are merely "preachin' to the choir" and imagining they are making some sort of difference = which is EXACTLY what serves whom activists object to who are in power!
So, as far as politics goes, I prefer to target certain specific issues that involve my deliberately selecting a directed effort. This way, I determine what I will and will not do. AND I'm more likely to really DO those things. My actions that I've very selectively decided to DO then become invested with personal meaning. These actions become for me a symbol of my ability to act as a citizen.
Then, because I'm in action, I can surrender my hopeful expectations of these actions and just do them as a discipline, without seeking evidence that I am being effective. Because I'm in action, I can protect myself from becoming overwhelmed by the desperate calls to action of my friends who are casting about, trying to DO SoMeTHiNG.
As an example of an effective action, I like the suggestion: put the numbers of your representatives in your phone, Call them weekly as a discipline, after asking your political mavens to let you know what needs to be complained about. Done.
...but it is up to you to decide what actions can have meaning for you, of course.
I also want to suggest all my activist friends to join www.brax.me. There we can plan our political strategies and interact without being under threat of very REAL public surveillance that exists everywhere else online... Because if activists do start becoming really effective, then you will become a target!
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