May I just ask, what is up
with Australians’ distaste for all things activism?
When I first came to university,
the very first piece of advice I had received from a so-called “peer-mentor”
was:
1. Getting your timetable preferences is simply a
matter of sneakily arranging your preferences so that 2nd and 3rd
preferences clashed with other classes (actually sage advice); and
2. You should hate all the activists on campus and
try to avoid them (not sage advice).
Her hot tips: you should
scream things like “NO THANK YOU!” and angrily storm off, or find an alternate
route to class so as to avoid things such as:
Marriage equality petitions
Socialist group flyers
Christian groups
Groups advocating lower
fees/less education cuts etc.
Needless to say, I was
taken aback. Wasn’t that what universities were supposed to be like? Full of
young and passionate individuals trying to stand up to the man? Trying to rally
up support of their cause through their fellow students? Interspersed with
classes, of course...
Clearly, students of today
have a much more laissez-faire attitude towards activism.
Why, just last week I was in
a tutorial when another student said, in relation to Australia’s constitutional
implied right to freedom of communication, that he simply didn’t care, he just
didn’t want people shoving flyers down his throat when he was trying to enjoy
his day.
All of this came to a head
with the infamous “Kony 2012” campaign. If you have been living under a rock,
and are unaware of what Kony 2012 was (or is), it was basically a 30-minute
video rallying support to bring down Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony. The
theory was, if they educated enough people about Kony, then the world would
‘work together to stop him’.
The video went viral. In
fact, it was the fastest growing viral video of all time. Millions were
‘pledging’ their supports to bring Kony down.
The video itself began by showing
the immense power the internet has to connect people and incite change, but the
makers had no idea that their video would be the greatest of it’s kind so far.
Or at least, it was at
first.
About 24 hours after the
video went viral, the cynicism started pouring in. People were finding flaws
with the Kony video and it’s creators, the Invisible Children organisation.
Not only that, people began
blatantly expressing their dislike for these types of videos in general. I heard many comments along the lines
of:
‘Doesn’t everyone realise that by just watching
a video and sharing it on facebook, you’re not actually achieving anything?!’
‘Don’t think like you’ve done all that much just
because you watched the Kony video’
‘C’mon people let’s get real, this Kony video
isn’t going to do anything.’
I was shocked. Ironically,
the video probably wasn’t going to achieve anything if everyone’s attitudes
were like that.
So what was happening? In
my opinion, it was one of two things (and probably both):
1. People were reacting to this video as they do
any other form of media (music, movies etc), once it becomes too popular, it is
obviously not ‘cool’. Therefore they should try to be ‘individual’ and dislike
the video. To be blunt, standing up for children’s rights isn’t really
something you should think is ‘cool’ or not.
2. People didn’t believe in facebook activism.
Facebook activism, aka
armchair activism, involves sharing and discussing issues on social media
platforms, such as facebook.
According to Urban
Dictionary, armchair activism can be defined as:
‘One who sits in
their armchair or desk chair and blogs or posts Activists issues on facebook
without ever really doing anything about said issues’.
Without ‘really’ doing
anything?
Personally, I completely
disagree.
Firstly, what does it mean
to ‘really’ do something? In many cases, change will happen once people are
educated and informed about the issues.
Take a look at battery hens
and the plight of free-range farming. If nobody knew about the conditions
battery hens were in, nobody would feel obliged to fork out the extra dollar
for free range eggs. In many cases, one does not need to fork out extra money
at all and simply go to the effort of finding a carton of eggs labelled ‘free
range’.
But over the past 10 years
there has been a steady increase in the number of free range eggs being
purchased over cage eggs. Why has this happened? Because slowly, more and more
people have been educated about the issue.
Sure, you could ‘really’ break
in to a battery hen barn, and ‘really’ set free all the hens. But that would
not break the chain of demand, and would probably only amount to a criminal
record for you.
Of course, not all issues
are ones that can be voted with a wallet, so to speak. Some issues, like
marriage equality, require government intervention.
But the government
(theoretically) represents us, and our opinions. Therefore, if enough
people express a particular view, then eventually something should be done
about it.
In any case, change starts
where people are educated, and social media represents an incredible platform
with which to reach people. I, for one, have had my views formed, challenged
and changed, by social media.
So why so much cynicism,
people?
A friend of mine has a
particular grudge against ‘volunteer trips’. These trips usually involve
students from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the USA, travelling
to countries such as Thailand, Cambodia or South Africa to volunteer. They
might volunteer for 2-12 weeks helping at a conservation park, teaching at a
school, or building houses.
She thinks that people who
go on these trips actually contribute very little to nothing, meanwhile they
clock up mileage in air travel, and come back with an air of self-righteousness.
I disagree. While I do
concede that air travel is terrible for our environment, people will want to
travel regardless, and in Australia, there’s not much of a choice besides going
by plane.
So if your options were:
- Going to Cambodia to get wasted on the beach and
destroy the local environment; or
- Going to Cambodia to assist teaching children
English;
Which would you think is better?
Sure, helping out teaching English for 2 weeks is
probably not contributing an awful lot. So perhaps the answer is neither, but
what kind of ignorant country would we be if nobody ever left our shores and
experienced other cultures? The benefit of volunteer holidays is not only to
those being assisted, but also gives the volunteer themselves a deeper
understanding of different cultures, as well as the world’s many social and
environmental problems.
Personally, I believe that because people want to
travel, why not allow them to make a difference to themselves and their
visiting country while they’re at it. And in the mean time, let’s all be a
little nicer to people who are just trying to do their best at making the world
a nicer place.
TD;DR: Activists, including
the armchair variety, are just trying to fit more helpfulness into their day.
They should be applauded, not crucified.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Meade
the reckless philosopher
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