Social Movements essays
Hey! I haven't been here in a while, but I am wondering if I can get some feedback on an essay I'm writing for my Social Movements class. I went on a feild trip to this social forum where representatives from different movements spoke and held workshops. The assignment given is to write my reaction. My teacher is a social activist, so I'm wondering if she'll be mad at me for handing in such a negative review because I'm sure most people are saying what she wants to hear, like "it was amazing! i loved it! peace is in our future!" Can you please read it and tell me what you think? Thank you in advance. :)
I was fortunately able to spend the entire day at the Lower Hudson Valley Social Forum on Saturday. I really had no idea what to expect because I had never been to anything like LHVSF before. Honestly, I was not very excited to be going because I thought it might revolve around a bunch of old, idealistic hippies who are still talking about making love, not war. But when I got there, I realized that it’s not just hippies who are talking about a better world these days. People of all ages, shapes, sizes and colors are doing more than just dreaming of a better place. And they all come together collectively to talk about doing their part in the global change that they so passionately believe in. The general consensus at the forum was that we want a world where everyone is truly equal and racism is a thing of the past.
At LHVSF, I attended the Spirituality and Political activism workshop. In the beginning, the other attendees and I were quieted and grounded by the meditative ringing of a gong. We then had a group discussion on how we personally feel about spirituality and political activism. It was established that most of us went into the room not knowing exactly why spirituality and politics were put together in the same workshop. The two kinds of activism seemed unrelated to many of us. The leaders of the workshop attempted to convince us that spirituality and politics are not two separate things and that they have more to do with each other than commonly thought.
Religious spirituality means opening yourself up to what’s truly going on deep inside your heart and mind. To become a part of the spirituality movement, is to learn to let go of all external things that cause harm. You learn about yourself and learning to trust not only yourself but everyone around you. You discover the meaning of life within yourself and you devote yourself to political activism, with a clear mind and open heart.
The leaders told us that spirituality tried to prove that spirituality and inner peace is a vital requisite for political activism. They said that in order to fight for a cause, you must understand yourself and society. Its best to understand what the situation before you can understand the why. With a deep sense of spirituality, you can use your anger in a positive way, rather than being inadvertently destructive.
It’s possible to turn your anger over the injustice that is the root of your fighting cause, into compassion for other people. To always be calm, and accepting and nonjudgmental. You are a good influence on people and lead them to aware of the true state of things. You can learn to see the situation clearly, through meditation and deep introspection.
I don’t think old or new age philosophy and spiritual practices can impact the world’s population as much as it would need to in order for world peace to be possible. In Buddhism for example, it may take 10 years or an entire lifetime to achieve a state of nirvana that allows them to view the world in a way that’s different. It is hard for to understand how society has constructed everyone’s views of how the world should be. Once its understood, one must go through a grueling process of deconstructing their own reality which has been built by society. In a “take charge“ and “quick fix” kind of world, it takes a lot of meditative training and perseverance. Such an intense spiritual undertaking is not for everyone. Many people are under the impression that the world is completely flawed, but we should “leave well enough alone.”
Activist groups can band together and create change and get many others involved in their struggle for equality. I believe that they have and will continue to make headway, but an entirely different world seems impossible to me. I would love to believe in world peace, but I think the extent of most all of these political efforts will result in new laws that force equality upon a racist world. If equal rights is all that activists are going for then I say that they may have a fighting chance.
But there will always be anarchists that go against the grain and stir up trouble in the racism and hate crimes department. During the question and answer part of the beginning discussion on Saturday, people at the forum admitted that everyone on earth has their own prejudices. I like seeing them try to rid every person of their prejudices. It’s not going to happen.
Those who spoke agreed that everyone, in every country dreams of a world where there is equal wealth distribution, peace, love and acceptance. I know that people with opinions opposite mine argue that if we all want the same things, why not work together and make this better world happen? My response is, however wonderful that would be, it is above all, an idealist wish that may never come to be. Even with a modern holistic approach to handle politics within and outside of America, there is only so much that can be done. After a certain point of progress, there will be no more that political and spiritual activists can do. They also run the risk that everything they have worked for can regress at any moment, due to worldly issues.
As pessimistic as I sound, I think that realistically, humanity is capable of truly getting along enough to support this idea of world peace and anti-racism and gender-biases. Feelings of hate and defensiveness and stubborn pride are in every person’s nature. Yes, we have all made progress since the beginning of time, with our world-wide social agreement to abide by a general standard of rules and morals.
There is a difference between equal rights and world peace. I’m not sure if the people at LHVSF are going for one or the other or both. But I think that because of cultural differences, each nation has different views of what “getting along” and “helping others” means. People all over the world have different moral standards and ideas about how things should be. Any tiny, cultural miscommunication can lead to a disturbance of peace and tension, which is likely to have a snowball effect that deviates from the plan and causes chaos.
Another reason I don’t think the world that the people at LHVSF envision, doesn’t have a chance is the existence of selfishness. Every person, no matter who they are and what their status is, is selfishly motivated. Altruistic actions are rare, and altruistic lifestyles and even rarer (if they even exist at all). Humans all have the instinctual urge to put their own needs before anyone else’s in order to survive. I believe in Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory and people return to their natural states of chaos and selfishness in their darkest hours. Its almost essential to a person’s ego that they are made to feel important. As long as people are putting themselves before others, there will be tension and bitterness, ultimately leading to biases and possible vendettas.
I am happy that I was able to attend and walked away with a greater understanding of many social movements. I really admire the efforts the people involved with LHVSF have been making, but even after listening to them for an entire day, and taking this class, I, with my world knowledge at this point in time, remain unconvinced that another world is possible. I know that revolutions and changes have taken place in the past, but so have regressions.
I was fortunately able to spend the entire day at the Lower Hudson Valley Social Forum on Saturday. I really had no idea what to expect because I had never been to anything like LHVSF before. Honestly, I was not very excited to be going because I thought it might revolve around a bunch of old, idealistic hippies who are still talking about making love, not war. But when I got there, I realized that it’s not just hippies who are talking about a better world these days. People of all ages, shapes, sizes and colors are doing more than just dreaming of a better place. And they all come together collectively to talk about doing their part in the global change that they so passionately believe in. The general consensus at the forum was that we want a world where everyone is truly equal and racism is a thing of the past.
At LHVSF, I attended the Spirituality and Political activism workshop. In the beginning, the other attendees and I were quieted and grounded by the meditative ringing of a gong. We then had a group discussion on how we personally feel about spirituality and political activism. It was established that most of us went into the room not knowing exactly why spirituality and politics were put together in the same workshop. The two kinds of activism seemed unrelated to many of us. The leaders of the workshop attempted to convince us that spirituality and politics are not two separate things and that they have more to do with each other than commonly thought.
Religious spirituality means opening yourself up to what’s truly going on deep inside your heart and mind. To become a part of the spirituality movement, is to learn to let go of all external things that cause harm. You learn about yourself and learning to trust not only yourself but everyone around you. You discover the meaning of life within yourself and you devote yourself to political activism, with a clear mind and open heart.
The leaders told us that spirituality tried to prove that spirituality and inner peace is a vital requisite for political activism. They said that in order to fight for a cause, you must understand yourself and society. Its best to understand what the situation before you can understand the why. With a deep sense of spirituality, you can use your anger in a positive way, rather than being inadvertently destructive.
It’s possible to turn your anger over the injustice that is the root of your fighting cause, into compassion for other people. To always be calm, and accepting and nonjudgmental. You are a good influence on people and lead them to aware of the true state of things. You can learn to see the situation clearly, through meditation and deep introspection.
I don’t think old or new age philosophy and spiritual practices can impact the world’s population as much as it would need to in order for world peace to be possible. In Buddhism for example, it may take 10 years or an entire lifetime to achieve a state of nirvana that allows them to view the world in a way that’s different. It is hard for to understand how society has constructed everyone’s views of how the world should be. Once its understood, one must go through a grueling process of deconstructing their own reality which has been built by society. In a “take charge“ and “quick fix” kind of world, it takes a lot of meditative training and perseverance. Such an intense spiritual undertaking is not for everyone. Many people are under the impression that the world is completely flawed, but we should “leave well enough alone.”
Activist groups can band together and create change and get many others involved in their struggle for equality. I believe that they have and will continue to make headway, but an entirely different world seems impossible to me. I would love to believe in world peace, but I think the extent of most all of these political efforts will result in new laws that force equality upon a racist world. If equal rights is all that activists are going for then I say that they may have a fighting chance.
But there will always be anarchists that go against the grain and stir up trouble in the racism and hate crimes department. During the question and answer part of the beginning discussion on Saturday, people at the forum admitted that everyone on earth has their own prejudices. I like seeing them try to rid every person of their prejudices. It’s not going to happen.
Those who spoke agreed that everyone, in every country dreams of a world where there is equal wealth distribution, peace, love and acceptance. I know that people with opinions opposite mine argue that if we all want the same things, why not work together and make this better world happen? My response is, however wonderful that would be, it is above all, an idealist wish that may never come to be. Even with a modern holistic approach to handle politics within and outside of America, there is only so much that can be done. After a certain point of progress, there will be no more that political and spiritual activists can do. They also run the risk that everything they have worked for can regress at any moment, due to worldly issues.
As pessimistic as I sound, I think that realistically, humanity is capable of truly getting along enough to support this idea of world peace and anti-racism and gender-biases. Feelings of hate and defensiveness and stubborn pride are in every person’s nature. Yes, we have all made progress since the beginning of time, with our world-wide social agreement to abide by a general standard of rules and morals.
There is a difference between equal rights and world peace. I’m not sure if the people at LHVSF are going for one or the other or both. But I think that because of cultural differences, each nation has different views of what “getting along” and “helping others” means. People all over the world have different moral standards and ideas about how things should be. Any tiny, cultural miscommunication can lead to a disturbance of peace and tension, which is likely to have a snowball effect that deviates from the plan and causes chaos.
Another reason I don’t think the world that the people at LHVSF envision, doesn’t have a chance is the existence of selfishness. Every person, no matter who they are and what their status is, is selfishly motivated. Altruistic actions are rare, and altruistic lifestyles and even rarer (if they even exist at all). Humans all have the instinctual urge to put their own needs before anyone else’s in order to survive. I believe in Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory and people return to their natural states of chaos and selfishness in their darkest hours. Its almost essential to a person’s ego that they are made to feel important. As long as people are putting themselves before others, there will be tension and bitterness, ultimately leading to biases and possible vendettas.
I am happy that I was able to attend and walked away with a greater understanding of many social movements. I really admire the efforts the people involved with LHVSF have been making, but even after listening to them for an entire day, and taking this class, I, with my world knowledge at this point in time, remain unconvinced that another world is possible. I know that revolutions and changes have taken place in the past, but so have regressions.