Here I am sitting across the table from someone who was once an activist. Older, grey hairs, Mexican descent and now working in a corporate job. She talked about how she was an idealist and how during her youth she advocated for woman's rights and the right to be treated fairly in employment. During her time and in her community women were not always treated well and she got tired of it so she took action.
As this conversation blossomed, I brought forward the idea that people change and they do so over time. For example, I used to be 100% for police and how they could do no wrong under any circumstance. Then I learned over the years that its not that simple and some members do wrong things and they are protected from the consequences of those wrong things. Society suffers.
The conversation continued and we further found that maybe the things we advocated for were not important to society even though they were important to us. A fair society where all members are valued is not the goal of most people, all politicians or all the people we meet in our daily lives. Most just want what they can touch and feel today. Those problems are seen as problems for other people to deal with at another time.
We are wrong for assuming that people can be better simply by raising awareness of certain societal ills. While women did eventually have full rights and eventually all Americans will be treated with justice, It just takes so long and so many people to make us realize that change can be a good thing. Most can't see beyond today let alone 10 years down the road.
We can't change some things and we can't help people see things they don't understand or don't care about. Its like distracting them away from their favorite tv show. What we can change is the very small things that we can touch, feel and provide guidance on. We cannot tell people to have values and we cannot tell them to do what is right and just.
Society isn't necessarily looking for justice or fairness. Its looking for something in the here and now. A quick fix to the long term problems. A pill that eases the pain. So we have to accept that we have no power to change at this time and there is no will at the present to change it even if we somehow recognized the need for change. We have the option to solve it, or give up on it. Its a choice. Just like everything else.
I will tell you what I feel. While most people just sort of floated through life without taking responsibility over anything, people like us moved the needle. Just a little. We mirrored back what other people couldn't see. We pushed society to be better then it thought it could be and I think it can help create a better tomorrow. Our nation needs more people like us who cared beyond filling our pockets. Thank God for people like us! Thats how I feel at the moment.
As a light Right Republican, I think advocacy is just gravy, good thing, and helps our nation grow. It is something that helps us think and make adjustments. As long as that advocacy is done with good kharma and in good intent then it will be a positive contributor to our historical development. In our great great grandparents time they abolished slavery, maybe in our time (with the help of big data) we can abolish the leftover legacy of that kind of thinking.
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