An open letter to my non-political friends, and the political friends that need to welcome them in
This is not the time for activist one-upmanship, or sitting on the sidelines
I know that, like me, you wish we lived in a world that is better than the one we have today. One that’s fair, flourishing, peaceful and just.
But we are entering dark times. There is a tonne of research that shows when ‘leaders’ normalise (e.g. talk about in mainstream media) or worse legalise racist, Islamophobic or xenophobic policies, the number of hate crimes by emboldened angry citizens go up. Not just in the country in which that law change or media story happened, but in countries influenced by the media and politics of that place. This happened after 9/11, the Paris bombings, the Sydney siege and Brexit. It’s happening now with Trump.
If we do not individually and collectively rise up and be braver, more compassionate and more politically active, the hate will win.
This is not the time for sitting on the sidelines.
Here in Aotearoa, we have an election this year, which means we have an opportunity to have a national conversation about the kind of country we want to be. What kind of example do we want to send to the world? Will we choose multiracial and multicultural solidarity and coexistence, or will we choose fear, hatred and anger? My hope and drive to action is we choose the former.
We’re going to hear about a lot of awful things Trump is going to do. He’s already signed executive orders to ban people from certain Muslim-majority countries entering the U.S (except of course the ones America have big oil business with), made healthcare unaffordable for millions of Americans, made safe abortion harder to access for millions of women in developing countries, made plans to ‘build the wall’ of isolation, is pushing ahead with climate killing and indigenous rights stomping oil pipelines, and cut funding to arts, culture, public broadcasting and all other job funding for government depts other than the military. This is week one!
We will continue to hear stories like these and we will start to think it’s normal and inevitable. Like how we think poverty and war are normal. They are not. Both poverty and war are man-made, fuelled by government decisions. The honest truth is we could end global poverty today if we shifted the way we operate our society, but that would require you and hundreds of thousands of others to demand it.
There is almost no humanitarian or environmental crisis that we face for which evidence-based solutions do not exist. What we have instead is a crisis of imagination, people-powered demand and political courage.
The current New Zealand government are desperate to be in the U.S good books because they want to be in the ‘big boys club’ and to land a trading relationship because so many Americans buy stuff. While the second part might bring some benefit, it will also have massive trade offs. If you think the TPPA was bad, whatever backroom deal Trump offers us will be invariably worse, and we need to be prepared to fight it.
The flow on effects of the racist rhetoric Trump thrives on has and will hit our small nation and we need to be prepared to fight that here too. We are better than this.
To my non-political friends:
We desperately need you to get active in the realm of the political. Because the stakes are so high. Because our response to the urgency and bigness of the problems we face must be equally urgent and big. Because you have power waiting to be unleashed.
To my political friends:
Please make the non-political feel welcome. We politically charged folk can be pretty intimidating, and — let’s be honest here — off putting. I have friends who have tried to join activist circles but left because they felt not vegan, not feminist, not intersectional, not whatever enough. That’s wasted potential and power. The time for activist and political one-upmanship is over. Inclusivity has to be more than korero.
It takes a mass movement to solve our massive problems. I hope you’re all ready and willing to be part of it.
Here’s a thought experiment:
PS. If you would like to get a taste for what it is like to be a Muslim in today’s world, listen to RNZ’s excellent three-part podcast series: Public Enemy here. It looks at the growing Muslim communities in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and how elections, counter-terrorism policies, war and xenophobia have impacted their lives.
