Putting it out there

As one who works for social change, I’m often involved with affecting the worldviews of others.  I’m involved with spreading ideas, philosophies, and perspectives.  (For anti-oppression veganism, I think this means presenting the vegan ideal and challenging its antitheses—exploitation, human supremacy, and speciesism.)  Victor has written in another post about opening our minds to everyday forms of activism that all vegans can do.  I want to focus now on forms of everyday activism that help to spread the ideas of veganism and anti-oppression in order to affect the worldviews of others.

If we can break down traditional barriers for how we spread ideas through activism—maybe even adopting another name for it, like simply “putting it out there”—then the possibilities for presenting the vegan worldview are endless.  Every day, most of us have at least a few different means to spread such a message:  If we talk to co-workers, friends, classmates, or family, we can speak up about social or ethical issues when relevant.  If we have a bike or car, we can apply stickers to them—same goes for buttons on a bag.  If we have access to bulletin boards at work, school, or anywhere else, we can hang fliers.  If we use e-mail, we can add a signature to our messages with online links or quotations.  If we have Facebook, Myspace, or similar accounts, we can utilize both our profile space and our comments to others, writing about our beliefs as well as posting videos and pictures.  If we’re taking classes, we can speak up about relevant issues, bringing a vegan perspective into the picture when it may be otherwise ignored.  If we’re buying a friend a gift, we can consider a thought-provoking book or film.  If we’re near a college campus or attending one, we can chalk anything we want on the sidewalks (which is, of course, very fun also).  And many of us can use other, more specialized means to “put it out there,” depending on our individual opportunities. Even if we’re shy or we have little activism experience—or if we don’t have much money or time to put toward activism—many simple options for getting our message out in the world are available to us right now.

To help bring about a vegan world, we can each work continually to utilize more of these simple options for “putting it out there”—even if we don’t consider ourselves “activists” in the traditional sense.  We can inject (or at least tint) these communication opportunities with messages that spread an awareness of (and aversion to) power imbalances, violence, hate, force, exploitation, and use without consent.  And we can spread positive alternatives, as well: an appreciation for the Earth and fellow life, a perspective that looks critically at inherited attitudes and practices, an excitement toward creating change in peaceful ways, and a worldview that embraces freedom and respect.

I think that this view of activism, or “putting it out there,” can be a source of continual hope and reassurance for us.  Maybe the world is full of oppression right now.  Maybe we disagree with much of what happens in the world.  But as individuals—“activists” or not—we have every chance to make a difference.  We have every waking moment to work at being who we want to be—to embody and radiate the values in which we believe.