#practical activism

[thefloralmenace]

If you've followed me for a minute, you've probably gathered that my big thing is practical anarchism/activism, and I've realized that a huge portion of that is just "activism informed by natural human behavior," i.e. guilt-tripping can't sustain a movement; no one likes to be belittled or screamed at for not knowing things; if you're trying to change someone's mind, you really do have to handle them gently even if it's annoying; being too intense about things is an overall detriment to your cause because it drives people away from you, etc.

What I've also realized is that extremism is just activism uninformed by human behavior; it focuses on absolutes like "all people should do ___, think ___, care about ___," etc. and refuses to acknowledge what people naturally will and won't do by instead demonizing normal human behavior/failings or deeming anyone who displays them as dirty/unworthy. And the reason extremism just isn't effective in the the long-term is because instead of anticipating and accommodating the behaviors that pretty much everyone will express or give into at some point, extremism can only maintain its goals via threats and force, and once that threat/force-level reaches a certain point, the people experiencing it are willing to either run or fight to be rid of it, which will then erode the extreme ideology.

While extremist ideology can get people wound up to do something in the short-term, if you want to build a world that is both better and sustainable, you have to account for the way people are rather than just being edgy about the errors of mankind and all that shit.

[fairandfatalasfair]

The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world

Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never

Looking at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, Chenoweth found that nonviolent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns. And although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change. ... This was partly the result of strength in numbers. Chenoweth argues that nonviolent campaigns are more likely to succeed because they can recruit many more participants from a much broader demographic, which can cause severe disruption that paralyses normal urban life and the functioning of society.