Activism
I have many friends actively involved in some form of Activism or another, and Eugene seems to particularly attract Liberal Activists of all sorts. Many of them seem somewhere between confused and infuriated that I am not also an Activist, particularly of their own personal pet topics. If I don't meet other people's Expectations of me, I guess that's between them and their Expectations, not me. In a nutshell, although I think that the role of Activist is an important one, that is not a role that I have any interest in.
"You can have anything you want in Life, you just can't have everything."
We are finite beings with limited resources (Time in particular), and I simply have far too many things that are much more important to me than to try and convince hordes of strangers of something they often don't care about. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally contribute something to a cause I see as worthy, but it is far from my Life's focus or interest. I see people dedicate their entire lives to getting social changes made, getting thrown in jail, etc., all for little (if any) return. No thanks, I've got far too much else I'd rather do than even begin down this road.
I'm sure part of the aversion to Activism for me is my complete apathy toward anything that is political. The fact that I personally dislike confrontation doesn't help encourage me to be an Activist, either. Also, it would be hard for me to narrow down any one particular pet cause, although I would most certainly pick something far more relevant and dire to overall humanity than something like $cientology, that is for sure, e.g. "Universal Healthcare", "World Food Shortages", or the "Iraq War/US Recession" connection.
But really, even if all these things were different, so long as I must work 40+ hours per week, sleep, etc., I will continue to spend my precious Free Time on only those things which I choose to, and Activism is sadly low on that list.
*shrugs*
"You can have anything you want in Life, you just can't have everything."
We are finite beings with limited resources (Time in particular), and I simply have far too many things that are much more important to me than to try and convince hordes of strangers of something they often don't care about. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally contribute something to a cause I see as worthy, but it is far from my Life's focus or interest. I see people dedicate their entire lives to getting social changes made, getting thrown in jail, etc., all for little (if any) return. No thanks, I've got far too much else I'd rather do than even begin down this road.
I'm sure part of the aversion to Activism for me is my complete apathy toward anything that is political. The fact that I personally dislike confrontation doesn't help encourage me to be an Activist, either. Also, it would be hard for me to narrow down any one particular pet cause, although I would most certainly pick something far more relevant and dire to overall humanity than something like $cientology, that is for sure, e.g. "Universal Healthcare", "World Food Shortages", or the "Iraq War/US Recession" connection.
But really, even if all these things were different, so long as I must work 40+ hours per week, sleep, etc., I will continue to spend my precious Free Time on only those things which I choose to, and Activism is sadly low on that list.
*shrugs*