I've never been politically active and I have my reasons why. and i won't bore you with them like all the political activists that rant on and on with the same three sentences.
First of all, i am not politically informed enough, or up to the level of information, to allow my to call myself "activist." And in my opinion, neither are two thirds of the so-called activists. I just don't buy that updating your Facebook status means that you are taking a stand and being "active." It's a poor excuse for trying to pull of something that you are not. I'm no angel here, I'm not saying I'm right and everyone else is wrong (even though i am) but seriously, when it comes to political activism, a status update doesn't cut it. If that makes you feel better, to call yourself an activist or to think you have any kind of influence by updating your status, then that's just pathetic. Bombarding people with forward messages and requests to be "active" only belittles the thought behind the act.
Also, most political activism is subjective. And no one takes subjectivity seriously. Plain and simple as that. As soon as emotions and misinformation driven by emotions are involved, that's the end of anything real. Look at this this way, you can always listen someone better if they're decently articulating, but if they're yelling and screaming you can only hear and don't necessarily listen. When subjectivity and emotion are brought to the table, it inevitably turns into yelling with no articulation of neither thought nor speech.
Personally, I agree with everything you wrote. But I think you're neglecting something that should be taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteI'll assume that this post was triggered by today's events, and the consequent activism frenzy. You do, however, live in a country where freedom of speech and expression is oppressed. It's the sad truth that the younger generations cannot freely express their opinion. So while the European youth stormed the streets today, the majority here would not even think of doing so, even if the shock had a bigger impact on them.
Moreover, condemning what happened today should not be affiliated with any political movement; it's a case of an awaken human conscious condemning an act of inhumanity towards mankind; the injustice of killing innocent lives and making thousands more suffer.
It may be a pathetic way to express it but still, it's good to know that these supposedly natural feelings still exist in a world that has been scarred by immorality in almost all its aspects.
stranger, i love your comment and i completely agree.
ReplyDeleteYes, my post was triggered by yesterday's events but i had not meant it in response to the attacks but to people's reactions. i agree with your point about human conscious but let's not mix that with activism
The point i was trying to make is, people shouldn't push what they are not well-enough familiar with, especially if they choose to do that through persistent, annoying forward messages