The social movement

In the lazy days of July, I ventured into thoughts of a viable social ethic and an effective social transformation movement. Taking myself off the mainstream of laidback summery sunshine thoughts, I reflected on four premises. If you are reading this, it might mean one of three things. You just wandered in. Or you read the previous three write-ups and are curious on how the train of thought ends. Or you are genuinely interested in the whole issue of ethics, be damned if you’d let a third rate writer get away with such frivolity as calling the various strands of progressive social efforts a “plethora of pitiful pools of private piddling,” and vow to share a piece of your mind. Welcome neighbor!

Here’s a recap: Fist premise was the need for an inclusive vision, no less than the well-being of the planet Earth itself as the primary context for the next social ethics. Identifying core blocks that focus on the reality of social contradictions and dealing with them was second premise. Being strategic in a time of emergent democratic space and a resurgent aristocratic sentiment is the third premise.

The first priority of any practical action is to build a large constituency. A critical mass of informed and dedicated people is needed to effect the necessary paradigm shifting, behavioral modification, structural and systemic changes that various social analysis have identified from a wide spectrum of ideological orientation. Attaining a critical mass is what enables change to happen. Movement building for the new ethics constituency is the fourth premise toward a viable and effective social transformation.

This constituency will have to address at least the following prevailing social contradictions: 1) inordinate power in the hands of an oligarchic few, 2) well-organized fanatical pre-modern reactionaries, 3) special-interest-manipulated information media, and 4) the inertia of the popular mindset. Now, how does one inspire and conspire, nurture and radicalize the millions of people it takes to transform postmodern global society in a lasting way?

Let me borrow some worn-out clichés. “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” We have to learn how to powerfully light up a true story, tell the truth about the current world, and tell it frequently to many. Painting in dramatic detail a vision of the future, identifying with lucid examples core blocks, and promoting one’s clarity on workable strategies inspire people to see that significant long-range changes are possible. Ordinary voices need to be heard. Books need to be written, articles published, courses and workshops held, multimedia clips and blips created, speeches made; in short, conduct random acts of dissent and raise hell in every public forum to which one belongs.

This hell-raising, inspiration-generating, education-achieving activity presupposes personally embodying the truth. Here’s another cliché: “We make the path by walking it.” The tragic nature of our current social trajectories must be seen first within oneself and pointed to forcefully to give authenticity to the simultaneous act of telling the truth. The truth about what and who is promoting these trends, the truth about the kinds of organizations and actions that have a real promise of successfully combating these trends, and the truth about the positive potentials of humankind be boldly told.

In the deeply cynical nature of our age, this last truth is at the level of a spirit crisis. In the last half century, every externally imposed standard has come tumbling down. Thankfully, social scientists are rediscovering humankind’s shared moral sensibilities and the basic human realities and experiences that shape them so that even people of widely divergent perspectives, as Saipan and other sector of the global society has become, they can address common problems anew.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Amazingly, the first step could very well just be an old-fashioned belief of the eventual triumph of truth over lies. If we believe that truth will win in the end, then our challenge is to learn what the truth is and dedicate ourselves to living it.

But any truth that indicates the need for far-reaching changes in the entire frame of society is not as popular as familiar practices. Societies are inherently conservative. A participant in the local Diabetes Coalition confessed: “I know I need to walk more often but my relative youth and state of comfort zone do not make it urgent.” Or, “My SUV is a guzzler but all my friends own one.” Even when their very survival is at stake, the leaders and citizens of many societies have chosen to remain passive rather than be instruments of change. So how can a massive constituency for change arise?

If the lessons of history are heeded, one need to create networks, establish coalitions. But of who? The hungry are never conservative; they prefer to eat. Bountiful nature gone, once the generous nutrient source, makes activists of many. The marginalized, neglected and oppressed are never conservative, they prefer some attention and dignity. And as the minimum wage toilers realize that trickle down economics is a lie, they will become a constituency for change. Local communities whose fresh water, verdant trees, clean air, and vibrant health are vanishing can consider changes that conserve such elemental values. Deprived of basic and essential services, awakened communities will cry out. Women long oppressed by deeply encrusted patriarchal patterns of social control, presently even resulting in heightened incidence of domestic violence, can see that the excessive stress on nature and the exploitation of the laboring poor also includes the oppression of most women. Women will not settle for just cosmetic measures.

Need I go on? Racial minorities barely delivered from structural racism of yesteryears can see that the oligarchies that are insensitive to the rights of women, the dignity of the poor, and the unsustainable utilization of nature are also the supporters of continuing racism, particularly in the workplace. As the ecological crisis intensifies, the middle class is squeezed. Only a few “advance” to retain their status as “kings and queens,” the promise of the European bourgeoisie upheaval. In the United States, only a percent of the population own half of the wealth, I am told. Most in the middle class, even with two heads already earning, are hovering over the poverty line. With the middle classes vanishing, no buffer between rich and poor remain, so the rich barricade themselves into protective bubbles that are ever more vulnerable to puncture. As truths like this sink in, the conservation of our present trajectories become less popular in all sectors of society.

Join a social coalition. Create a social network. The key factor in engaging all these components of the population is the public actions of those who simply love the truth. If persistent, the lovers of truth can in time build that huge constituency we need. This is a realistic hope.

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Vergara is a Social Studies 6th grade teacher at San Vicente Elementary School and writes a regular column for the Saipan Tribune.