14 Days of Freedom: Day 8
Something a lot of people say to me to encourage me to remain passive is that action doesn't work. Since those same people also say to me that action is dangerous (and since it wouldn't be dangerous due to government crackdowns if it didn't do something, no matter how trivial), I am forced to conclude that they really need to take a look at the flaws in their argument...but I digress.
There are many problems with the "action doesn't work" line, but really they can be boiled down to to major ones: 1) what does work and 2) the mass of evidence flatly contradicting this position.
Action is, put in the simplest possible terms, doing stuff. If doing stuff doesn't work, what does work? Wishing really, really hard? Depending on the kind of action taken, where you live, how many people are doing it with you, etc., yes, some actions may be more effective than others. Some actions may be ineffective or counterproductive, but any action is pretty much guaranteed, just by definition, to have more of an effect than doing nothing would.
Well, that's sorted! Now to get to the second and far more major flaw in the argument...
...I'm assuming that if you can read this, you are literate and you have a working internet connection. I'm also assuming you know enough about the internet to be able to use a search engine properly.
If all this is true and you still hold that action does nothing, your ignorance astounds me! Have you not heard of the civil rights movement, of Occupy (at the very least, it's got people talking and put good old-fashioned anti-capitalist leftism back on the map again), of the GoDaddy boycott (it shows that a great number of outraged people can make a powerful institution withdraw its support for a measure and, while it might not help to stop SOPA on its own, if the same thing happens with other companies that'll probably put a hole in SOPA's support), hell, have you been asleep for at least the past year if not for longer? Get enough people to do a certain thing and you can change the course of history. Hell, even if one person does something it can change the course of history. Now, I know a lot of people aren't historians and I know a lot more people hate the subject to bits (can't figure out why), but the way I see it history is evidence, which should appeal to the more scientifically-minded people out there...
...what do you mean I've managed to confuse everyone and now nobody's paying any attention?! Guess I shouldn't have mixed two of the most complex and demanding subjects out there. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic here, but the point is that one can use history as evidence and precedent for seeing how and why things turn out the way they do. At least, I use it that way, and it's served me pretty damn well. If you actually bother to look at the evidence - and these days you've got no excuse for not doing so - it quite solidly points to action being effective.
If you want something to change, stand up for change. I hope I've laid out my case for action working, and I hope that if I haven't convinced you maybe the wealth of evidence I keep talking about will.
Action works, so take it!
There are many problems with the "action doesn't work" line, but really they can be boiled down to to major ones: 1) what does work and 2) the mass of evidence flatly contradicting this position.
Action is, put in the simplest possible terms, doing stuff. If doing stuff doesn't work, what does work? Wishing really, really hard? Depending on the kind of action taken, where you live, how many people are doing it with you, etc., yes, some actions may be more effective than others. Some actions may be ineffective or counterproductive, but any action is pretty much guaranteed, just by definition, to have more of an effect than doing nothing would.
Well, that's sorted! Now to get to the second and far more major flaw in the argument...
...I'm assuming that if you can read this, you are literate and you have a working internet connection. I'm also assuming you know enough about the internet to be able to use a search engine properly.
If all this is true and you still hold that action does nothing, your ignorance astounds me! Have you not heard of the civil rights movement, of Occupy (at the very least, it's got people talking and put good old-fashioned anti-capitalist leftism back on the map again), of the GoDaddy boycott (it shows that a great number of outraged people can make a powerful institution withdraw its support for a measure and, while it might not help to stop SOPA on its own, if the same thing happens with other companies that'll probably put a hole in SOPA's support), hell, have you been asleep for at least the past year if not for longer? Get enough people to do a certain thing and you can change the course of history. Hell, even if one person does something it can change the course of history. Now, I know a lot of people aren't historians and I know a lot more people hate the subject to bits (can't figure out why), but the way I see it history is evidence, which should appeal to the more scientifically-minded people out there...
...what do you mean I've managed to confuse everyone and now nobody's paying any attention?! Guess I shouldn't have mixed two of the most complex and demanding subjects out there. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic here, but the point is that one can use history as evidence and precedent for seeing how and why things turn out the way they do. At least, I use it that way, and it's served me pretty damn well. If you actually bother to look at the evidence - and these days you've got no excuse for not doing so - it quite solidly points to action being effective.
If you want something to change, stand up for change. I hope I've laid out my case for action working, and I hope that if I haven't convinced you maybe the wealth of evidence I keep talking about will.
Action works, so take it!
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