A Good Animal Advocate Is ___
We all have our own definitions of “good.” Does it mean effective? Does it mean ethical? Does it mean efficient? Does it mean nice?
NYC Animal Rights has ideas of what it means to be a good animal rights activist. Here are their guidelines for “good” animal rights advocacy:
The GOOD Activist
- Tries to be reasonable, polite, and considerate.
- Is more concerned about getting results and is anxious to give credit to others as a way to encourage them to continue what they are doing.
- Is basically modest and recognizes the importance of cooperation of others.
- Wants other activists to participate in the decision process whenever possible and to understand what is being done and why.
- Is always interested in new ideas and encourages involvement by others.
- Tries to disagree without becoming personal or being disagreeable.
- Is very uncomfortable with factions and is reluctant to condemn even the worst bad activist, but will do so if necessary to limit the damage.
- Is inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt, does not get upset with inadvertent and unintentional slights, and will forgive even intentional acts if the person shows he or she regrets the action.
- Keeps criticism to a minimum and always has positive suggestions.
(source)
I agree with a lot of these ideas. I think it’s more important to be effective than to be appreciated, respected, or admired. I think it’s important to try stay cool, calm, and collected when faced with pressure or hostility. I think it’s important to think critically and use logic. I think it’s important to work cooperatively. I think it’s important to give people the benefit of the doubt and to interpret people charitably. I think it’s important to try to stay positive. And I agree that it’s important to try new things and stay flexible.
I don’t agree that politeness is especially important. In fact, I have a strong aversion to the notion of politeness/ etiquette. I think it’s a fake, frustrating social custom that is more concerned with triviality than with the things that matter. I think I’m attracted to the notion of bucking social custom and that’s exactly why etiquette frustrates me so much. That said, I didn’t grow up in bubble and I have indeed been influenced by society. I have unconscious bias against “rudeness,” even when being rude myself.
But, what in the world is a polite revolutionary? What is an animal activist with proper etiquette? Sounds more like an oxymoron than something worth striving to be.
What do you think? What makes a good activist?
Forgiveness and understanding is important. A lot of people might disagree with me, but I feel that if someone is not immediately set in place by images of factory-farmed animals or information about how those animals are treated, we shouldn’t condemn them. It takes a little while for someone to process information. I also feel that we should respect people. My campus is in the “Bible Belt” and we get a lot of Christian zealots in our free-speech zone yelling about how homosexuals are going to hell, everyone needs to find Christ, etc., etc., and I never want to be like that, regardless of what I’m an activist for. My goal in being an animal rights activist is to provide people with information and to inform them of how animals are mistreated in factory farming and other methods of oppression. But I make it a point never to raise my voice, treat them like a criminal, or dismiss them as “stupid.” Lifestyle changes are decisions that people need to make for themselves after long thought and adequate information, not after being shamed into it. It’s easy to relapse into earlier behavior if the decision was made hastily.
~ Recent blog post: I Love Alley Cat Allies ~
Courtesy and politeness should be genuine, not fake, and it should stem from humility, empathy, and respect and compassion for all sentient beings. Including people with whom we disagree and who do terrible things. Who knows what inner demons or environmental influences cause people to act in certain ways? Think of the worst scoundrel imagineable. There but for the grace of God or good fortune go all of us.
Granted, being compassionate toward all is not always easy to do. It is an ideal. But it is something that can be cultivated, worked on, and improved over a lifetime, and when we do that I believe we become less prone to angry or defensive reactions and more adept at remaining calm and empathicaly listening to others.
Emphatically - being polite does not mean diluting one’s message, or being one iota less committed, honest, or forthright about the message. In fact, often when you turn the volume down, people can hear the message with more clarity.
What is a polite revolutionary? One who gets others to change by inspiration, not coercion; one who gets others to *want* to change. One at whom members of the revolutionary’s target audience look upon and think to themselves “I can relate to that person. I can do what s/he is urging me to do.” One who embodies the good s/he wants to see in the world.
~ Recent blog post: Carnival Against Vivisection: A Small Sample of Recent, Ongoing Abuses and Welfare Violations in Animal Labs ~