Actually, I guess it’s better to say that here’s a revised version of my comment…

Ivan, thanks for posting this. I actually brought up alot of the points you make here with regard to the effectiveness of protest to UFPJ when they were first deciding what their major (now current) focus would be. There was pretty much unanimous support for anti-iraq war action, of which there’s certainly nothing wrong with, but I pointed out that even if we were to somehow end the Iraq war, afterwards there will be another, and then another, and then another war. That will remain so until we start working for long-term goals too.

For instance, regarding the Iraq War - ending that War would be the short-term goal and Ending War, Period! the long-term.

I had also tabled, though I wasn’t too reasonable at the time, the fact that protest alone is nothing more than one of many tactics from the toolbox I call modern Activism. Many seem to think that protest alone is a definitive means of solving a problem, but historically, I think we’d be pressed to find a single example where protest has really accomplished any sustained change.

In and of itself, protest is but a venue we create to voice our own concerns, demand change, etc. but as it’s a tactic, it’s important for all serious about the work to use every single tool available to us.

But even then, while in the framework of modern activism, there’s no guarantee of success if the core issues remain unaddressed, and if our own lives do not represent the just and mutually beneficial reality we are working for.

For example, the WSF. There was a recent article by Patricia Daniel who pointed out that women are actually being raped at the WSF — what good is the WSF if it does not represent the ‘other world’ that has become so popular now? And how long can the hope of “another world possible” last for, if that other world is just another variation of the one we live in now - a world based on assumptions, arrogance, and a number of theories (like Capitalism) which have no practical application - and the ideals for which, no basis in reality?

In other words, we need to actually become the ‘other world.’ And our action must also extend beyond the notion of work to become life. For instance, doing the things listed in the essay by James Herod, called Ways to begin gutting capitalism.

Diversity in action, as you point out, is what’s important here, but this is twofold as there also needs to be diversity in results — especially considering the sheer number of issues before us, none of which are really getting addressed while our work is limited as it is now, and while as you also point out, that work is being restricted to the gutters of modern society, and even used against us — to vilify us and the solutions while augmenting and insulating the problems we are trying to address…

Respectfully,

Ahni