October
1996
Editorial:
Some Definitions of Political Action
By Martin Rowe
|
|
|
As if confirmed by the mainstream press's reporting
of the presidential race, we tend to have too narrow a definition
of political action, social change, and democracy. Indeed, as Paul
Clarke's indictment of President Clinton's environmental
record in this issue shows, it seems that neither Democrat nor
Republican candidate for president has an overwhelmingly sound
pro-environment, pro-animal record. While Satya does not endorse
any candidate for any particular office, it does attempt to show
in this issue that "democracy" takes many forms outside of the
horserace which ends this November.
What are the forms of democracy?
One is the kind of personal change that John Robbins talks about
in his interview. It's not very exciting, and perhaps not immediately
noticeable. But, taking personal responsibility for your actions and
making a commitment to change continually sends shock waves into the
body politic, making the monster jerk into action. If more and more
electricity runs through that body, then we could really make a difference.
Another is the kind of compassionate direct action so movingly described
by the activists at the Hegins pigeon shoot. Their stories of
satyagraha remind me of the 1960s civil rights heroes of Freedom Summer,
who experienced death threats, intimidation, hosepipes, arson, and
worse as they campaigned for justice and dignity for those who had
been discriminated against, abused, and murdered just because they
were supposedly "different" and "inferior."
Another form is the kind of local political action exemplified by Craig
Seeman: working his turf, living in his constituency, and trying
to make a difference through a grassroots political system. And this
month's How to Be An Activist column offers a few tips on perhaps
that most elementary form of democratic activity -žthe free exchange
of information between two people when one hands another a leaflet.
The environmental and animal advocacy movements need all
these facets of democratic action. We need to vote for those
who are the least bad
and make them better. We need the people who, this summer during World
Animal Awareness Week, walked through the "People's House" (Congress)
talking to representatives and senators about animal issues. These
people may not have been wearing alligator-skin loafers, but they make
elected officials there feel comfortable with what many still see as
a radical agenda and I know they're going to make a difference.
We also need people who take direct action: who rescue animals while
a gun is trained at their head, who disrupt complacency by not shutting
up, who get into places where they are not wanted and throw a light
on suffering, cruelty, and environmental destruction. Just as we need
people who write letters and make calls, we need people who push the
envelope and call the oppressors' bluff. We need people like the Los
Angeles Three, who disrupted a fur-selling Federated Department Store
and were sentenced to time in prison when they refused to pay bail.
They went on a hunger strike, drew attention to the horrors of fur-farming,
and even changed some jail regulations to restore a bit of dignity
to our penal system. And we also need people to wake up to their own
power, to get off their butts and make a commitment to change, to stop
whining about how bad things are and unleash their ability to determine
their own lives by choosing compassion over violation, sustainability
over desertification, and pluralism over separatism.
So, go vote. Go vote. Vote knowing that if you don't you've
got no right to complain. Vote because right now people in
other countries
are being imprisoned, tortured, forced into exile, and killed because
they want to do what you're not sure you feel like doing today because
it's too much effort. Vote because apathy is the enemy of freedom.
And vote knowing that you're engaged in just one part of the greater
experience of being in a society that -žfor all its faults - at least
allows you to express an opinion. And, on all other days of the year,
work in your own way to make social change real, for you, your community,
your country, and maybe even the world.
 |
|
|
 |
