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zana16I went to the raw milk rally yesterday on the Hill, because the FDA raiding small Amish farmers with no complaints against them is wrong, and besides there was a cow! And several people spoke whose books on nutrition and local foods movements I've read. It was fun. It totally confused the Capitol Police! I drank some raw milk, listened to some speeches, and walked to work after.
It reminded me, though, why I stopped going to rallies. I did a lot of antiwar stuff, and it was like banging my head against the wall. Even when sentiment shifted and I was no longer in the minority, even when everybody wanted out of Iraq and Afghanistan RIGHT NOW the way I'd wanted from the beginning -- still nothing changed. I've been able to make progress on smaller issues by calling/visiting my Congresspeople and state reps, and every once in a while the odd petition actually makes a difference, but I got burnt out on the big rallies. Even when there were record numbers of people (antiwar stuff, immigration stuff, environmental stuff), the press largely ignored it, which is a whole other rant.
But there's another part: when you go to a rally on a particular issue, you're adding your voice to other people whose tactics you're not necessarily down with. This was brought home to me when one of the speakers declared, "This is a war!"
And I'm Quaker, which is one of the peace churches, and the farmer whose persecution is Amish, which is another peace church, and the bellicose rhetoric just completely turned me off. And saddened me a bit, because I think it doesn't accomplish our goals in the end. We can be at war with the FDA, but that will alienate a lot of potential allies, and hello, also alienate the government, and then we're just a lot of people shouting. And you need a *lot* of people shouting, more than were at a little raw milk rally, before you're taken seriously.
I don't get on politicians' bandwagons, because even those whose views I like are never going to do all or even most of the things I want, in the way I want. Similarly, I can get behind issues, but the coalition aspect is difficult for me. I realize it's necessary, so I'm a bit conflicted, but it's difficult.
This morning, I got a letter from a lawyer here in DC who represented the defendant in a very difficult death penalty case that eventually lost. I wrote to him to express my appreciation that he had given so much time and effort to a cause that many people just don't understand. It's a cause that has touched me personally, and it's so important to me that I don't talk about it a lot, because I can't deal with constantly having to defend my beliefs on it; they are so fundamental to who I am that when questioned, I feel like my very person is being questioned.
Not sure whether there's a focal point to this whole thing... It's something I've been wrestling with lately, and the letter was wonderful to get because it's not often that I have contact with someone who bears the same scars and came out with the same convictions. I... "touched" isn't saying enough, but I was.
The most meaningful work I ever did was activism against the death penalty. It took so much out of me that I haven't done it for many years. I want to do more, but there's a lot of fear there, too. It strips me bare, leaves me vulnerable and constantly questioned, and I'm not certain I can hold my center through it.
Aim for the stars, though. Someday I'll get there.
It reminded me, though, why I stopped going to rallies. I did a lot of antiwar stuff, and it was like banging my head against the wall. Even when sentiment shifted and I was no longer in the minority, even when everybody wanted out of Iraq and Afghanistan RIGHT NOW the way I'd wanted from the beginning -- still nothing changed. I've been able to make progress on smaller issues by calling/visiting my Congresspeople and state reps, and every once in a while the odd petition actually makes a difference, but I got burnt out on the big rallies. Even when there were record numbers of people (antiwar stuff, immigration stuff, environmental stuff), the press largely ignored it, which is a whole other rant.
But there's another part: when you go to a rally on a particular issue, you're adding your voice to other people whose tactics you're not necessarily down with. This was brought home to me when one of the speakers declared, "This is a war!"
And I'm Quaker, which is one of the peace churches, and the farmer whose persecution is Amish, which is another peace church, and the bellicose rhetoric just completely turned me off. And saddened me a bit, because I think it doesn't accomplish our goals in the end. We can be at war with the FDA, but that will alienate a lot of potential allies, and hello, also alienate the government, and then we're just a lot of people shouting. And you need a *lot* of people shouting, more than were at a little raw milk rally, before you're taken seriously.
I don't get on politicians' bandwagons, because even those whose views I like are never going to do all or even most of the things I want, in the way I want. Similarly, I can get behind issues, but the coalition aspect is difficult for me. I realize it's necessary, so I'm a bit conflicted, but it's difficult.
This morning, I got a letter from a lawyer here in DC who represented the defendant in a very difficult death penalty case that eventually lost. I wrote to him to express my appreciation that he had given so much time and effort to a cause that many people just don't understand. It's a cause that has touched me personally, and it's so important to me that I don't talk about it a lot, because I can't deal with constantly having to defend my beliefs on it; they are so fundamental to who I am that when questioned, I feel like my very person is being questioned.
Not sure whether there's a focal point to this whole thing... It's something I've been wrestling with lately, and the letter was wonderful to get because it's not often that I have contact with someone who bears the same scars and came out with the same convictions. I... "touched" isn't saying enough, but I was.
The most meaningful work I ever did was activism against the death penalty. It took so much out of me that I haven't done it for many years. I want to do more, but there's a lot of fear there, too. It strips me bare, leaves me vulnerable and constantly questioned, and I'm not certain I can hold my center through it.
Aim for the stars, though. Someday I'll get there.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-17 02:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-17 04:01 pm (UTC)I'm also pro-raw milk. I just want to try my hand at making some raw milk products, and I don't get why I need to jump through so many hoops or do illegal stuff to do that.
Anyway, I get what you mean about activism feeling like it's beating your head against a wall. I really respect people who do that despite it having slow results, at best. I can't even handle reading political blogs anymore because it feels so futile.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-17 04:13 pm (UTC)I once spoke to a county prosecutor who was very articulate about why he was for the death penalty, and I guess seeing people commit atrocious crimes every day makes it easier for him to believe it's the solution. But there's a lot of unexamined mythos out there in the US: that it's an effective deterrent, that it's cheaper to the taxpayer than life in prison, that it's humane...
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-17 04:25 pm (UTC)