229 / Activism

This posting should, perhaps, be titled, "Peter Douglas #2." I have previously quoted Peter on "The WHY To Live," and his philosophical ruminations are continuing. Here are some thoughts on "activism" from his Screed 4. My experience is absolutely the same.

"In countless discussions with colleagues on the frontline of activism, my philosophical perspective and personal style of engagement have often been questioned. Some find it especially difficult to understand and reconcile my spirituality and mantra of fierce equanimity, compassion, love and dispassionate passion with the sharp "realities" and nastiness of our unending struggle to "save the coast" or any precious piece of Mother Earth. To avoid "burn out," I counsel emotional engagement in the doing of ethically right things and emotional detachment from the outcome. By eschewing the later I sustain the former. I have seen this attitude a difficult concept for many to actualize in their own activism. Colleagues question whether one can truly be an effective activist without being emotionally attached to outcome...."

The "pull quote," from my perspective, is this:

I counsel emotional engagement in the doing of ethically right things and emotional detachment from the outcome.

This is, as Peter notes, perhaps easier to achieve in theory than in practice, but one corollary is that politics needs to be about "policy," not about "personalities."