Strategy in Activism

"No one is even listening, forget acting on it. It's so important for them that they ought to stop anything else they're doing and pay attention. It is in their interest." 

Sound like coming from parents, teachers, artists, philosophers and activists, isn't it? 

Contrast this with people who have been super-successful at not just gaining their attention, but influencing, even directing the actions they take - religious leaders, politicians, marketers, film-makers and others, who don't care much about the interest of the target audience. It's their own interest that supercedes everything else.

Why is it the way it is? Take the case of ecology activism. It isn't social service in the sense of charity. Doing what is right for the ecology is for one's own good (as well as collective good). Time and again, we get shocks of natural calamities, pandemics and repercussions of placing financial interests above environmental interests. But nothing places activists, experts in ecology at the top of the pyramid. They know it all. They can even explain. They also have solutions. But generally speaking no one listens to them. Their writings and research studies aren't common knowledge, aren't discussed over family dinners and get-togethers. Why? What they speak is more important than national security! 

How about the activists trying to answer the question! Why do.people with lesser capability, lesser passion and more vested interest succeed in getting mindshare on issues which are frivolous in comparison to theirs? 

Audacious, as it may sound, sharing some possible reasons.

1. Unwillingness to Collaborate 

2. Lack of Strategy

3. Inability to find alternative solutions

4. Missing fire in the belly to succeed

Nothing succeeds like success. If activists need to take lessons in success from religious leaders, politicians, businessmen or film-makers, so be it. 

Khalil Gibran says, 'When you work, you fulfil a part the earth's furtherest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born'.

It maybe the earth's furtherest dream that people be led by intelligent, selfless and perseverent activists. If success requires the activists to learn from the mediocre and self-centred, what is the problem? 

Better late than never.


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