Principles of Activism 5: Unique Advantages
by Joseph Rowlands
What kinds of activism should we focus on? That can be a tough question with no easy answer. The problem is that there are so many things you can do to promote Objectivist ideas. We could promote life-affirming art, less taxation, financial responsibility, or countless other ideas. Any of these ideas move us closer to the kind of world we want to live in.
One principle that I try to encourage is focusing on the kinds of activism that other people can't offer. As Objectivists, we have unique views and insights on the kinds of changes that need to happen in a culture to move it in a direction that's more consistent with individual happiness. On the other hand, many of our views are already expressed well by others.
For instance, the Cato Institute does fine work in the field of promoting libertarian ideas. As Objectivists, we favor a reduction in the welfare state, want a reduction in taxes, etc., but there's already a professional, well-funded organization doing an excellent job. Is there a good reason to duplicate the effort? Is that really where our time is best spent? What's our competitive advantage there? What do we have to add in that area?
The general idea is if someone else is already doing a good job, and our goal is really to change the world, we should let them continue and focus on other areas. There's plenty to do, and we should be happy to have someone else contributing. It frees us up to do something more important.
What areas are unique to Objectivism? A morality of rational self-interest is a huge one. We are uniquely capable of addressing a fundamental issue in today's culture. The near universal acceptance of altruism as the moral standard has wide-reaching effects. While libertarians may fight against one of effects of altruism (the welfare state), they are ill-equipped to deal with the moral system itself.
We not only have the tools to wage that war, but we recognize the significance of it. We understand that a practical argument for liberty is not nearly as powerful as a moral argument. Rand revitalized the movement for freedom by casting it as a moral ideal, instead of a necessary/useful evil. This is an area that needs some real activism, and won't be taken up by others.
There are other insights we have even in the area of politics. The Objectivist politics is actually quite a bit different from the libertarian politics. We root our politics in a philosophy of self-interest, whereas libertarians vary on how they get to the "non-initiation of force" idea. One possible area of activism is exploring and analyzing the differences between the two schools of thought, and trying to persuade libertarians to take a more ethics-centered approach.
There are plenty of other areas where Objectivists have unique insights. Our understanding of the importance of philosophy gives us unique insights into many issues. For instance, when we see the Intelligent Design controversy, we can see the importance of the debate to the philosophy of science, and how the most significant issue may not be whether we get religion in schools, but whether the word science is to become a catchphrase for any beliefs.
Even in areas where good arguments are presented, we have the possibility of adding more. Atheists have very strong arguments refuting the belief in gods, drawing from a variety of sources. But one major obstacle for getting someone over religion is the belief that morality is only possible with religion, without it devolving into subjectivism. It's not enough to argue against religion. There needs to be a viable alternative. Objectivist ethics, grounded in facts of reality and reason, is an alternative many people can't even imagine.
This also opens up the possibility of just trying to influence other existing activist groups. By providing them with a better set of arguments, refinements of their positions, etc., we could let them focus in that area and just supplement their work with our own additions. The point is that we don't need to compete even in areas where we may have some disagreements.
There are countless areas where we have unique contributions we can make. And there are plenty of places where we overlap with others. This principle of focusing on where we can offer unique contributions can guide us to where we can make a real difference.
Discuss this Article (31 messages)
|
