I assume that anyone who spends time on Daily Kos is interested in the political system and its impact on our lives. Most of our dialogue is focused on how we change that system in order to improve the lives of people and the planet.
Sometimes I like to take a step back to question how change happens in order to ensure that I'm using my time and resources as effectively as possible.
I think one of the things that gets in the way of a truly progressive movement for change is that we keep thinking we have to change everything that's wrong with the world. That usually means we want to change what others are doing. In those attempts, we need to be clear about the difference between "control" and "influence." The reality is that the only person we have control over is ourselves. To try to exert control over others is what we so often fight against, whether its the neocons or the fundamentalists of any religion.
We have to realize that our goal is to influence - something that most often happens through trust and relationship. That can often mean putting ourselves on the line - not just our ideas. Its much easier to keep our distance and hide behind a rational argument. Sometimes we can be successful with that, but its an uphill battle for sure. The most lasting and powerful change comes through relationship combined with dialogue.
Another thing that I think gets in our way is that we can feel small and powerless to actually have any impact. We get trapped into feeling like we can’t alter the course of history with our small efforts and then get immobilized to do anything at all. That's why I added one of Gandhi's quotes as my sig line. I need a constant reminder that:
Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it.
Finally, I think that we often get impatient. And its understandable why. There are lives in the balance. But if we look at history, we learn that the kind of change that we need now takes time. That’s not a call to complacency, but to sustained efforts with patience. I think that’s what Rubem Alves was trying to say in this quote about hope:
So, let us plant dates, even though we who plant them will never eat them. We must live by the love of what we will never see.
This is the secret of discipline. Such disciplined love is what has given saints, revolutionaries, and martyrs the courage to die for the future they envision; they make their own bodies the seed of their highest hope.
One of the places on the net that I have enjoyed the most is a site called No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. At one point he wrote about optimism vs realism. I think it summed up all of this beautifully.
When I was child, and I first heard of war, I was appalled. My mother had taught me hitting was wrong. I categorically understood that people should not hurt each other. Then I grew up and I became realistic. Peace, feeding the hungry, a healthy planet, an end to war, these things just aren’t realistically possible, a mature mind understands. Well, when it comes to these things, I’ve been both an idealistic child and a realistic grownup, and I think I was a better person when I was an idealistic child.
I believe too that every action each of us takes makes a difference. Every time each of us rejects a disposable bag brings the world one step closer to being the kind of place where sea turtles don’t die from eating plastic. Every time each of us sacrifices a car ride brings us the world one step closer to being the kind of place where there is no global warming. Every time one of us tithes our income brings us one step closer to ending world poverty. Every time one of us calls a member of congress brings our representatives one step closer to caring more about voters than campaign contributors.
Perhaps people will think I’m too optimistic. But this is for certain: these things can’t be true if no one takes the chance of believing they’re true. Because if we don’t believe they are true, we won’t act as though they’re true. And if we don’t act as though they’re true, they can’t come true. That’s why realism does little but protect the status quo.
Being optimistic, on the other hand, is the most radical political act there is.