People who advocate for greater action on climate change are very often daubed “activists”
“Activism: The policy of taking direct and often miltary action to achieve an end, esp. a political or social one” >activist
Sound like you?
The reason that this word is used is to associate activism with physical confrontation and agitation. To “other” the activist and dissuade people from becoming one or supporting them.
But it also raises an important question. What do we call everyone else?
I’m not a great fan of War analogies but….
Climate Change has invaded and occupied us. This is a useful when considering our terminology. When a country is invaded and occupied the population divides broadly into two groups.
The Resistance
You didn’t have to blow up a railway track or ambush a convoy of invading troops to be a member of the resistance. There were many entry level options. Passing on a message, having your tractor “break down” to delay a troop deployment, casually turning a road sign the wrong way while taking your dog for a walk.
Likewise when it comes to climate change, eating less meat, taking public transport or cycling, not flying. These are all minor acts of resistance. They won’t defeat climate change by themselves but it is important to signal both to yourself and to others that you are a member of the resistance.
When people see that the resistance is numerous the bolder members are encouraged to take greater action and that is how victory begins.
And what about those other guys?
Collaborators
Neutrality is not an option when a country is invaded. If you are not resisiting then you are either passively or actively collaborating.
Buying a big car, taking long haul foreign holidays, voting for lower taxes rather than greater climate action, are all acts of collaboration. Hooting your horn at climate protestors and telling them to get out of the road is an act of collaboration.
But when we think in terms of collaboration it puts our institutions into even greater focus. If you worked in a factory that switched over to making munitions for the invading forces, you would be pretty disgusted right? But our industries still regularly build cars and planes and pump oil from the ground, falling over themselves to assist our climate change enemy.
What would the printed media look like in an occupied country? It would suppress the horrors of occupation and provide a commentary of the benefits of our new rulers. Tell us that we will adapt.
In terms of climate change that is exactly the media we have
And what about our goverments. Are they bravely resisting occupation?
Climate change has invaded and our every leader in the west has formed a Vichy government.
Are we members of the resistance or are we collaborators? The one thing we do know is that if we manage to get out of this mess, history does not kindly on collaborators.