h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

do you realise you have one of only a few other sites to mention activism? that's pretty sad i think. Where are all the activists? And I live on the other side of the world (NZ) too. What kinds of social activism are you into?

HELLO

Sorry for the delay, but I had given up on the site actually getting hit and was looking for other sites to pass my time with.

My activism is exercised through the show I produce and the conversations I have with others. Its an odd way to go about it. I guess that if I'm given the opportunity to put a half hour of TV on I may as well use it for something other than slogging the corporations.

my activism takes form in agitating for direct democracy, people's control over their schools, workplaces, living areas.. direct action against neonazis, being a part of the syndicalist union SAC and most importantly: talking and discussing with my friends and with people i met along the road of my life.

Here's an interesting note.
Working as a journalist I have had a lot of surprises. This last provincial election I decided to get involved. I washoping one party was different than the other. I guess not. Just as much pork-barreling with them as any other. Oh well.

So here is a question.
Do activists serve change better by presenting radical ideas and thoughts in a near fanatic way in order to propel change by moving the centre line over.
Or
Do they serve change better by getting on the inside and trying to affect change more slowly from the inside. It may gain more permanence but they run the risk of inadvertantly buying in and lending credibility to a process contrary to their beliefs.

Just a thought.

simple - BOTH - to me activism is not just about protesting on the streets or revolution, its also about all those little everyday actions including voting, petition-signing, and even discussing this kind of stuff like we are doing - thus it should be from both within and without and for effective activism every type of activism is essential.

Interesting.
Back to what you originally posted spammer. Where do you see activism in modern society heading? Is it thriving or being supressed by a general state of apathy in the public?

Well I could write a book - simply put I think the society I live in (urban NZ) is killing activism through our sedentary nature as spectators rather than participants. Neil Postman wrote an excellent book about this called Amusing Ourselves to Death (one of the few text books I ever bothered to read). Students, the traditional fighters of injustices in NZ, are becoming apathetic and pre-occupied with just getting by. I could go on and on about this. But read Postman's book if you get a chance

BTW we are in the middle of APEC mayhem here - police everywhere, army guys just driving around the inner city. big movable barriers too. I won't be around a great deal later this week as I'll be at the nearly non-stop protests hoping like hell that they don't use pepper spray (as an asthmatic with chronic respiratory problems this is a BIG worry for me).

Hello again
I'm Back after protracted coverage of our provincial election, and the re-launch of out station. Its been interesting and fun, I'm also back in the Union exec. (just when you thought you were out......)

So how was APEC, I heard very little about any protests, what with East Timor taking the spot light in Canadian coverage. Any pepper spray or other problems?

Cheers

hey sorry - i was a slack arse

apec was okay - i was sick so i only managed to go on one protest and spent the rest of the time watching it on telly - getting very inspried by A16 and looking forward to M1 though

the coverage did mainly focus on east timor, but then so did a lot of the protests - it was fascinating and frustrating to be watching the protests through the mainstrea media, knowing what was really going on - there was absolutely NO analysis of the causes of concern for nz protest groups - it was just easier for the media to concentrate on the overseas groups eg east timor, tibet, etc - they are lazy arses, our media

span

Very odd thing happened.
I haven't been hitting the site since I started my new work,
And now all of a sudden I come back and here I am.
So.....
Where you bin what cha been up to.
Its been a ball of fun and excitement over here.

Most recent high lite is watching Counter Spin on CBC live from Washington and watch the host take on the IMF and World Bank.
Budget is May 10 YEEEHAH

our budget isn't until late june, which is a pain in the arse - doesn't give us much time for education etc it will be released in our holidays probably but it should be a doozy anyway, show just how committed the new govt is to delivering (or not as the case may be)

i heard about the counterspin thing - it's frustrating, one of the channels we have here plays the promo but not the programme (don't ask)

have been basically living on the internet over the whole thing, trying to keep up


span