Citizen Should Mean Activist
2008 April 1
A few days ago, Redstar linked to Insurgent American’s 35-Point Practical Guide for Action, a list of 35 things that you can do as an ordinary citizen to create positive change in society. I like most of the points on it and was particularly intrigued by item #16, which is to visit a Congressperson.
Many people have never done this, so they have this vague imagination of governance and who performs it…. which intimidates people (as it is probably meant to). Keep track of local organizing efforts on issues (now, the war), and join the next group of people who are going to visit this elected official in her/his office. They do this all the time. Going with them will be a real education, we assure you. You will not only see the actual office (generally unimpressive) and the actual person (often just as unimpressive), you will see how other interact with this rep as well as lose the feeling of being intimidated. Little known fact: Actual visits by groups of five or more people create real concern for elected officials.
One thing I’ve become more aware of during this election cycle is that my elected representatives are my elected representatives. They are working for me, I pay their salaries, I vote for them, and they’re accountable to me. They’re accountable every single day that they work, and I owe it to myself and to them to hold them accountable, to tell them what I want and how well or how poorly I think they’re doing their jobs. Voting for or against them every two, four, or six years is one way to let them know, but that’s a poor means of evaluating their performance, in my opinion. If I had problems with subordinates’ performance at work (if I had minions, hah), I’d let them know right away rather than waiting for the one year review and saying, “You did X, Y, and Z badly, and you’re fired.” It’s not fair and more importantly, letting people screw up for a year and then axing them is less effective at getting good results than prodding them all along the way.
I’m also tired of ranting and being angry and enduring shit; I feel much better when I’m active and do something. And small, teaspoon efforts can sometimes lead to positive actions: NAACP and NAN are feeling the heat for their stances on the Dunbar Village rapists and Jay Leno apologized for his “give me your gayest look” shtick. Do I think that the bloggers’ responses to the NAACP, NAN, or Jay Leno were the sole driver for their backstepping? No. Do I think that it mattered? Yes. Knowing and believing that, how can I justify not wielding my teaspoon?
For me, passivity and compliance–saying, “I’m just one person, so what I do doesn’t matter, so I’m not going to do anything, because I can afford to ignore this problem”–are an abdication of one’s responsibilities to stand up and do what one can. Not everyone can do everything all the time; Kate Harding has a good post today on “racism fatigue”. It’s tiring to care all the time and it’s also necessary to realize that time and energy are limited. There are only twenty-four hours in a day. However, for me, it’s important to do what I can, when I can. I’m not saying that I’m going to be an activist twenty-four hours a day, but when something interests me, when something matters to me, I’ll try. It’s not an either-or situation, where a person is either a hardcore activist and does nothing but activism, or a person is completely apathetic and doesn’t do anything at all. There are places in between those extremes and I want to move further away from the apathetic pole. So I’m setting myself a goal, which is to contact at least one of my elected representatives at least once a week. It seems intimidating at first to call or email, but hey–it’ll get easier with time. And god knows, there’s certainly no lack of things to say, “Please pay attention to this issue,” about; I could write about Iraq every single week and it wouldn’t ever become irrelevant.
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1.
Redstar | 2008 April 1 at 7:02 pm
I was with a group of grassroots activists from the Gulf Coast who spent a week on the Hill last fall. It was COOL. First of all, there’s TONS of groups that come to meet with Congresspeople, and it’s definitely a game to see if you’ll get the attention of your actual Rep, or one of their lowly staff people (20-somethings who are actually fairly important…
Our group left feeling really empowered from being up there and bending the ear of different officials, not to mention marching around the hallowed halls of our government, which are quite imposing from the outside but quite bustling on the inside.
And I forget which building it is (there’s a gazillion), but etched onto the side of one of them is this totally self-aggrandizing sentence about the genius of our politicians and political system. It’s HILARIOUS.
Yay Activism!!!
(So far retiring my blog has not minimized the time I’m spending here in the ’sphere! Sigh.)
2.
pocochina | 2008 April 1 at 7:06 pm
hear hear!
3.
Brave Sir Robin | 2008 April 2 at 6:01 am
It’s not an either-or situation, where a person is either a hardcore activist and does nothing but activism, or a person is completely apathetic and doesn’t do anything at all.
That’s a lesson we must keep re-learning over and over. Perhaps what I do individually doesn’t matter, perhaps it does, but by doing what I can, when I can, I am setting an example for others to follow, and if just one more person joins in because of my actions, I have accomplished something. (That was a long sentence) It’s like the old shampoo commercial, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Nice post.
4.
pizzadiavola | 2008 April 2 at 10:29 am
Hey, Redstar–good to see you! I wasn’t sure if you’d still be reading & commenting, so I’m glad to see you.
Going to see the Reps sounds cool! I’m still a little intimidated by the idea of going to meet Nancy Pelosi, but I’m hoping to work up to that.
5.
pizzadiavola | 2008 April 2 at 10:36 am
Hi, Brave Sir Robin–indeed! I figure that activism tends to snowball, and even just seeing someone else do something is encouraging. It makes speaking up seem more doable and less intimidating–I learned this mostly from the blogosphere, where there are awesome people writing letters, organizing campaigns, organizing demonstrations, etc. all the time. Seeing ordinary people take those kinds of actions made it a lot easier for me to think, “Hmm, maybe I could do that. And, uh, I’m definitely feeling that I should do that.”
6.
Space Cowboy | 2008 April 2 at 1:12 pm
Great post.
One of the things I’ve always felt when calling any of my reps/senators is that I always was full of purpose at the beginning of the call, but by the end of the call I become cynical. The reason is because I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment after talking with a staffer who may/may not be taking notes of the call and may/may not communicate any of it to the rep in question.
I completely agree with your points about performance evaluation and timing of consequence. The folks in DC can afford to be on the lax side when they don’t really have to answer until the next election cycle. And then even at that point, they’re putting all of their effort into winning that election, which means that for however many months their minds are elsewhere.
Ugh.
7.
pizzadiavola | 2008 April 2 at 1:27 pm
I always was full of purpose at the beginning of the call, but by the end of the call I become cynical.
Me, too. Even with writing letters, I wonder if anyone reads them or if they ever come to Pelosi’s attention. Still, there’s the chance that her aides will skim them at some point, so I have to try. I find calling more difficult than writing, though, because it’s just so discouraging to hear someone try to defend something that’s indefensible. The last time I called Pelosi’s office, it was about her vote on designating the Iranian National Guard a terrorist organization, and her staffer spent ten minutes explaining why the vote wasn’t belligerent, unnecessary, and caving in to the Bush administration, and how it was really just symbolic and didn’t mean anything, and how it was a good policy. *headdesk*
8.
Links Roundup: Basic Huma&hellip | 2008 April 17 at 5:38 pm
[...] is also more broadly relevant as a call to arms. Activism is important and we, the People, need to reclaim our dysfunctional government. These folks are already getting enough financial support from me when they’re in office for [...]