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[stormdog]

The namesake character in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series is a several-thousand-year-old druid. He has tremendous magical power that would allow him to commit major acts of environmentally-motivated guerilla warfare. He is bound to protect the spirit of the planet he lives on. He could destroy mining equipment at open-pit excavations in the

Comments

[anais_pf]

I know I could be doing more, but I also just do what I can, when I can, and let everything else go. It helps me that I'm part of a (semi) organized political party that's working collectively for the common good. It seems futile sometimes because we are such a tiny and disorganized party, but I know I am pushing us in the right direction, nonetheless. You do what you can.

I'm past the place where I feel like I'm doing a lot of stuff out of obligation, but I still feel as though I spend more time and effort trying to help my loved ones with their goals than I do pursuing my own. Part of it is that I don't HAVE enough concrete goals, even at my advanced age.

These things are definitely good to think about and examine.

[stormdog]

You do what you can indeed. Thank you for your work.

I don't know what I can do. I don't know what I want to do and what I feel obligated to do. I'm not sure much gray area there is between those things. I'm just confused these days.

[murstein]

The way I like to think of this, is to decide where my effort is likely to produce the biggest positive change for the time and resources I can devote.

Experience has also forced me to realize I cannot do it all. And, if I try to do too much, I lose whatever ability I have to be more than one more face in a crowd of protesters.

I know someone who seriously tries to be a full-time activist. She is also episodically homeless, because the next big protest is often more important to her, than showing up at work when expected. If I properly understand her lifestyle, others devote resources to keep her going, that might otherwise be spent in ways that I expect would have a greater positive impact on the issues she protests, than her presence at the next rally.

Or perhaps I'm underestimating the impact of protest rallies, and overestimating the impact of living the change one wants to see in the world. Because I expect that living the change, and encouraging others to do likewise, has more impact than almost every protest in almost every

[stormdog]

Danae thinks that protests are not very useful anymore. I'm not sure. I'm not sure about a lot of stuff these days.

Thank you for what you do.

[murstein]

I realized that protest rallies had become useless, when a friend who works in DC explained their impact: Two or three days a week, WTOP (the station she listens to on her commute) tells listeners what streets are blocked off for the day's rally . . . and never mentions who is rallying for what cause.

At this point, the only function most rallies fill is gathering like-minded people to bond over this or that cause. I suppose those bonding experiences might help people identify others to cooperate with in the work of making change happen. But if all one does is protest and go home, expecting someone to make the changes for them because they paraded with a placard and chanted some slogans, it's ineffective.

[resonant]

I look forward to when you write about it.

[stormdog]

It's nice to know that people are interested in what I'm thinking and writing. Thanks.