Passive Activism

The World as we know it has been subject to change over years. It’s either adapt or die. We as humans, have built civilizations, burnt them to the ground, made kingdoms, felled the king, and now ultimately nations with boundaries. All these changes only occur out of our actions, to bring about the best, and our response to revive efficiency of the best when they are failing. Today we call the people who stand up for change and work towards it as Activists. Such as Human Rights Activists, Freedom Activists, Environmental Activists and so on and so forth.

However, A new trend, a new wave of Activist have come to the fore, and they are changing the way we look at activism.  With the rise in the span and reach of the internet almost 2.92 billion people around the world can access and utilise the large data pool. But as we say, the more we know, the more we question, and the more we question, a change  occurs. Internet Activists, or E-Activists are the new wave of Activists, not just activists, they are Passive Activists. Oh! By questioning what we know, I’m reminded of one such activist! How many of you have read the Ramayana? Or well atleast know the story? Yeaaah. So In one of his letters to his daughter, This man once asked, The Ramayana states that Ram was helped by vanaras of whom the strongest was Hanuman, on the way to lanka, What if it was the story of the war between the Aryans and the Dravidians? The fairskinned Northerners walking down to the south where the darker and hairier Dravidians resided? Get’s you thinking doesn’t it? Well that was Jawaharlal Nehru in one of his letters to his daughter.

Yes, we’re all human beings, and by our genes, we’re social beings. We feel the need to communicate, judge, debate, choose etc. Similar to our other social responses, we feel the need to stand up against the seemingly wrong occurrences in the world. And we are slowly but steadily shifting our real world battles against such unfortunate events to the virtual world. We’re getting more views on our YouTube channels, we’re getting more likes and shares on our Facebook posts, and re-tweets on our twitter, and most importantly we’re getting an exposure of the whole world at our fingertips. But are we really ushering ourselves into a better world or are we taking a turn for the worse?

So what exactly is the Connection between these Passive Activists and how do they affect our lives? Well, Let me get there. Let me name a few people. Gandhi? Jinnah? Abraham Lincoln? What connects them all? Well, apart from the fact that they built their respective countries from the scratch, they share something very special, their ability to influence people by a mere presence of their name. People are able to relate to their thoughts and reflect them upon themselves. They were able to do so by actually walking with the public,talking with them, and initiating change from ground zero. They were the real ACTIVE-ists. Makes sense?

Well yes. We associate certain feelings and assumptions towards certain people. And that isn’t always a good thing. When was the last time most of you logged on to facebook? Or Twitter for that matter? Did you read what was on your newsfeed? It’s been psychologically proven that our subconscious mind remembers all that we ever read and reminds us about it even when we think we aren’t paying attention. Here’s exactly where Internet Activism comes in.

Passive Activists bring about problems to the fore, they are able to grab eyeballs, and hit everyone’s newsfeeds. But is it as beneficial as it sounds? Yes, I understand the fact that recognizing the fact that a problem exists is the first step towards solving the problem. But the real flaw is the fact that it stops right there. Unlike the real activists, passive activists are just happy with only acknowledging their support but not really doing anything about it. What exactly does this lead to? We become weak as a society in the long run. We fail to understand that virtual reality is seldom akin to physical reality.

But like any other scenario, there’s a flipside to it. Everyone around the world is coming together to solve the problems of a few,  and the boundaries that once existed are no longer a hurdle in the path to a greater unity of all of humanity. We are able to donate to a noble cause somewhere in Africa sitting in our offices. We are able to tear down the false facade of corrupt governments with the click of a button. But we all must stop and think too. How much is too much? We’ve all heard the age old story of technology taking over our lives, but trust me, we should be warned when it starts messing with our basic freedom, freedom to stand up for what we feel is right.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that technology won’t affect you if you don’t use it. Don’t be fooled into thinking that taking some action is better than inaction. Don’t be fooled into thinking that simply raising your voice is the start of change. Even dogs can bark when they are hungry or when their teeth itch. We aren’t any different. We post half a dozen statuses, and a couple of hastags and go to sleep with a feeling of content-ness. Well, don’t fool yourself. Call me brash, brute, pragmatic even? Change isn’t change when it starts with a tap of your keypad and ends with a repost. Change is when we plan, try, fail, plan, try, fail, plan, try, fail, plan, try, fail, plan, try and keep trying till change happens. Funny how we can calm our stomach’s hunger with a plate full of food, but we can’t calm the hunger for justice with a day full of work.

I believe we can bring about change, by either being an Activist, or a Passive Activist. All that we really need is a push. A strong reminder, for we all tend to forget when it isn’t up close and personal. Well, here I am. Making this up close and personal for all of you, take up a challenge, get behind it with all your soul and energy, and trust me; That’s all you need to bring about a change so huge, the world will stand on toes and watch. Plan in advance but, pace out your aims, and mix it up with social responsibility. Do anything but let the plan fail. The main reason any plan fails is that isn’t executed properly. Today our plans are becoming digital, their execution digital, and our sympathies? Sadly. Yes. Our support to these causes virtually has been limited to a couple of Hash tags and fancy talks. People are losing their sense of connection to their communities and each other, and the exponential growth of social media is the canary in the coalmine, not the culprit. People are desperate to feel connected to other people, which is why Facebook added 100 million new users in 9 months, and if it were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest. If that doesn’t speak to people needing other people I don’t know what does. Social media is good for many things—maintaining connections and communicating information to a wider audience—in its current state it is not transformative.

We are disconnected from each other, but plugged into our iPods and cell phones. We are less trusting of our neighbours, colleagues, and acquaintances—and don’t even think about talking to strangers. Before I leave, a little food for thought, Let’s imagine a problem at hand. Someone person among you is being subjected to harassment at home, or maybe someone is victim to biased accusations, or maybe, you’re all being bullied online, What will y’all do? Do you really think just putting it out to your 100-200 odd friends on facebook or 300-400 followers on Twitter will solve your problem? You really think posting a status on how dirty your streets will magically clean it up for you? I guess that says it all. Passive Activism is, in my belief an imperfection of the society, maybe one day the only passive activism we’ll all follow would be Idolizing those real Active-ists.  It’s never too late to mend.

We’re our own gods; we’re our own devils;

The day we get this; would be the end of all our perils.