Is activism just "ritual"?
I'm curious what you think about this article on activism as "ritual worship" at Winds of Change. While it does focus on the problems of activism in the left, the author mentions that this phenomenon happens on the right as well (especially the "religious right"). In keeping w/ our discussion on ethics, as well as a general idea of argument as meant to A) persuade others and B) think about accomplishing something for the greater good, not just ourselves (as individuals or groups), I'd like to see what you think about this.
Is political activism (on the left & right) today mainly a ritual performance? Is there a sort of "branding" of political activism? (On that, think about all the Che t-shirts, or pink ribbons, or pro-life pins, or whatever.)
Also, though Katzman's argument centers on the current left-wing activism, he does make the case that this applies to the right wing, too. Can you think of examples of right wing activism that looks like what Katzman is describing?
If you're not familiar w/ the Winds of Change blog, it's a self-described "liberal" blog (but it mostly means liberal in the "classical" tradition) that tends to be critical (in the good sense) of both the right and the left on various issues. It's also written by numerous people (this post just happened to be by Joe Katzman).
Read Katzman's post before leaving a comment. You can also leave a comment directly at Winds of Change, if you'd like.
3 Comments:
Political activism has become ritualistic in today's society because America is more egotisical. When the left or even the right has issues or ideas of how to make this nation better- it is more of making themselves better off, then making this country better. Actisism has changed and altered and people who are left and right have trouble understanding other parties issues due to extreme self-centered attitudes that the parties take on. Maybe this ritualisitic fighting over what is better for themselves can be sovled by getting rid of a two-party system>?
What would you recommend instead of a two-party system? How would we establish that? What would be the implications/consequences?
As a slightly left of center moderate (whatever that means) I can definitely say that I'm guilty of ritual activism. I sneer whenever someone mentions the war in Iraq, and I like to think that attending anti-war rallies with others like myself is actually doing something. But the more people like myself I meet, the more I realize that none of us really know anything about activism. We can all claim to know that the war is wrong and that the Bush administration has made the United States a global outcast, but so many of us couldn't explain why. Maybe activism has become more ritualistic in today's society because we can never seem to trust what little information we get. Young democrats know they're frustrated with the way Americans are being represented, but we fail to do much more than shout, "Well don't look at me, I voted for Kerry."
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