The Importance of Greenwash Guerrillas and Good Old Fashioned Ruckus-Raising.

So, last month during Climate Week in New York, a group of young climate activists and enthusiastic shit-starters who call themselves the “Greenwash Guerrillas” caused a ruckus by dropping a massive banner directly in the path of UN delegate motorcades and limousines. The offending banner denounced the UN’s support of the Cap and Trade system (which provides economic market-based incentives for reducing one’s carbon emissions) and generally stirred up a lot of confusion on the road.

Checking out the Greenwash Guerrilla’s blog, it looks like they’ve executed quite a few initiatives rooted in principles of civil disobedience and ruckus-raising (ideas shared by other public nuisance-providers such as the US’s Ruckus Society, Greenpeace, and the ever-amusing Yes Men.) They’ve hijacked the British Museum’s Michaelangelo exhibition, crashed the Carbon Traders Conference, and have even thrown two pies in the face of Thomas Friedman (yes, they actually dared. Unbelieving? Check out the video.)

I have very mixed feelings about direct-action groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas — I always find myself wondering if their actions actually resonate with those they are trying to convince, or whether they just ‘preach to the choir.’ The pragmatist in me is unappreciative of statements which dilute complex issues down to black-and-white principles of ‘corporation vs. citizen’. However, this being said, I also must add that despite my misgivings, I have a lot of admiration for them as well.

Why? Why do I admire groups of young people who start shit, who piss policy makers off and champion lost causes, who refuse to follow basic societal laws and norms, who yell out their ideas loud and clear, and who sometimes fail to accomplish anything beyond perpetuating already existing stereotypes about ‘young anarchists today’?

There’s pretty much one main reason. I respect the fact that groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas, whatever their politics, are actually doing something about this all. They aren’t sitting at home watching TV and bitching to their friends about how the world’s gone to shit — they’re out on the streets, making threadbare banners to fly in the faces of the world’s most powerful policymakers, dressing up in white suits, throwing homemade flyers into crowds, and baking pies to throw in the faces of economic folk heroes.

By putting themselves out there so obviously, these disobedient groups are getting directly involved in our civil society. Their passionate actions exhibit the anger, unrest, and anxiety that we all feel when we hear about recessions, climate change and global injustice. They are arrested, derided, laughed at, and sometimes hated — but they continue to exist.

In a way, I believe that youthful fringe civil-disobedience groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas are our generation’s representatives. They might not be able to provoke policy changes, and they might not ever be able to run for civic office. However, they conceptualize the ideas and opinions of thousands of silent young people and cause those ideas to EXPLODE in the public’s face — in offensive, abrasive, and often gloriously triumphant demonstrations of defiance.

— Kat

THE DIRT POSTER

New York Based artist Roland Eriner Tiangco provides an interactive approach to the display of an extremely applicable message in his project titled the ‘Dirt Poster’:

Here, the poster really speaks for itself. By manually applying ink on spot-varnished paper, the spectator takes a direct, hands on role in unveiling the pertinent statement.

—Viv

FINALLY, AN ACADEMIC ARTICLE THAT REPRESENTS OUR GENERATION AS WE TRULY ARE.

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I was just forwarded this article by a friend and I couldn’t help sharing it. In a time (Canada has a looming national election coming up) when there seems to be countless articles condemning people our age for ‘not caring enough,’ and for not getting more involved in this process, an article like this one (entitled “Youth Culture is Renewing Democracy, one Click at a Time” ) is truly a breath of fresh air.

Its amazing to see an academic-based public policy institute (specifically, CPRN- Canadian Policy Research Networks) take such a strong stance in actually DEFENDING today’s youth on topics like engagement and participation in society.

A few excerpts from their article which is based research they have done on modern civic engagement of young Canadians (believe me, I think you’ll find the excerpts worth reading, and maybe even a bit gratifying.)

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… “our researchers found that youth are not only highly engaged in global and local civic causes, organizations and initiatives, they are savvy communicators, sophisticated networkers and soundly and demonstrably committed to democracy.

“Young people define political engagement in markedly different terms from previous generations, focusing more on individual action than institutional participation.

“Young Canadians are more active in political demonstrations than their older counterparts, volunteer in higher numbers with organizations they care deeply about, mobilize impressive and effective social and political networks online and off, and are more likely to engage in “consumer citizenship” – boycotts and buycotts – as a form of political expression.

“The youth are not “uninformed” about civic life, as is often claimed, but gather and share information in highly specialized and niche communities and from alternative sources beyond the traditional broadsheets. In many ways, the youth of today are more informed and more media savvy than their parents or grandparents were at the same ages, and have higher specialized and more diverse sources of information from which they draw.

It is time for the political landscape to embrace youth as partners in civic and democratic renewal in this country… Youth want to know that their voices are heard and that their participation matters. Let’s take a lesson from young Canadians and work together to reinvigorate our democratic institutions.”

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I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you, CPRN, for conceptualizing our thoughts as young people so well, and then effectively disseminating them to a larger audience.

As a young person who has a lot of respect for the passion and drive of my peers — and for our potential to make this world a better place — I salute you!

—Kat

(images found by ache.)

LIU BOLIN the “Invisible Man”

I just so happened to come across a friend’s blog that featured an artist who takes a ‘chameleonesque’ twist on urban photography.  His name is Liu Bolin and he can work on a single photograph for up to 10 hours, perfecting his concealing coloration, using his body as a canvas to disguise himself into the background.

His ability to blend into things such as the Chinese flag, walls with graffiti, dilapidated buildings, old fences and even Tienanmen Square provokes one to think twice about everyday surroundings.  He delivers a message from an objective standpoint, directing focus to the problems of ordinary existence, by revealing truth sans embellishment.

Examples of work shown below:

Bolin said his inspiration came from feeling like a social outcast. “Some people call me the invisible man, but for me it’s what is not seen in a picture which is really what tells the story… I experienced the dark side of society, without social relations, and had a feeling that no one cared about me, I felt myself unnecessary in this world.” [via]

I think his story is what really makes his art distinctive.  His exposure to the “dark side of society” and experiences of social neglect is something many of us identify with. What I found most intriguing was that Liu Bolin’s work actually started as a protest against the government, who shut down his art studio in 2005. It’s encouraging to see once again how innovative creativity can emerge through a positive act of retaliation.

- Viv

ON TOWN HALL HEALTHCARE HATRED, NAZIS, AND WHY YOUTHFUL HOPE IS STILL ESSENTIAL

So, i’m sure most of you have already seen the epic clip below from one of the USA’s town hall meetings addressing healthcare in the past few months, wherein which the debate disintegrates into a yelling match about whether America is becoming a Nazi-run state.  Many of these so-called ‘discussions’ have involved equally heated (and often horrific) confrontations between policymakers and citizens, and many have ended in physical violence.

At first I found these videos amusing — in a ’haha, look at how ignorant and angry people are!’ way — but the more of these i watch, the more anxious i feel about what may be left for us at the end of this, at the end of the slurs and yelling matches.

Why am I feeling anxious?

Perhaps its because I’m seeing the distribution
of more and more incorrectly applied, startlingly
racist images like this one:

(image created by Dr. David McKalip, Town Hall Protest organizer, founder of “Doctors For Patient Freedom” and “Cut Taxes Now,” and speaker at several GOP “virtual town halls”.)

Or perhaps it is because of two
troubling things I’ve noticed about
the conduct of those who came out
to these meetings:

(ONE)

first of all, a startling number of these respondents appear to know very little about what so-called ‘socialized’ medicine really means, and how that would be manifested in Obama’s plan. as shown in the above (and now legendary) video, one woman flatly states that she believes anyone who supports this plan is “supporting a Nazi policy.” why are so many people screaming out their hatred for a plan they know nothing about? has the general north american society disintegrated to the point of irrelevance and ridiculousness, where citizens do not take the time to research initiatives before they decide to act out against their implementation? i suspect that our society has NOT disintegrated to the point of no return — rather, those who have educated themselves, who have actually read obama’s articles and increasingly panicked and downtrodden statements regarding his proposal — have decided to stay home and opt out of this issue almost entirely.

(TWO)

second, as a member of VELOCITY blog, i feel a sense of chagrin at the obvious lack of people under the age of 30 at these town hall meetings. sure, municipal politics is sometimes dismissed as a realm for the elderly — a ‘fact’ which i have found in my own involvement in vancouver’s municipal politics to be quite false — but what worries me is that these town hall meetings are being watched carefully, and regurgitated through mainstream media every day. where are the voices of those who are not coming to the meetings out of personal rage — who are hopeful for our collective north american future and proponents of a system of healthcare that is more equitable and sustainable for all citizens regardless of personal wealth? what is it that keeps people our age from coming to these events — from having our thoughts heard over the anger of the mob?

i hope that every American young person who is reading this —
who has taken the time to understand what an equitable healthcare
system could mean for the U.S. and for themselves, as students and
young professionals and members of families — will make the effort
to come out to one of these town hall meetings in their town or city —
and prove to the world that not everyone is misinformed and hateful of
change. the world is watching — and many of us who are watching are
younger (and more hopeful) than one may think.

—Kat

BC’s Recognition and Reconciliation Act

So I was just attending a regular lecture in my sociology class one day in July, when my classmate approached me to tape an interview for a project she was doing for work.

Her project was just to try and learn how to edit a video and she just so happened to choose her topic on “BC’s Recognition and Reconciliation Act” where she basically went around to 10 people asking a few interview questions.

The questions were along the lines of: have you heard of the act, what did you know, how you think it might benefit the community, that sort of thing. Results from her project showed most people are unaware of the act.  So basically, no one really knew what it was, people were confused, people didn’t know who it helped and who it would hurt. Out of the Aboriginals who did know about it, many are skeptical, few supportive.

Myself included having never heard of this before (until my friend mentioned it), prompted me to do some personal research on the matter just to learn more about it. Was the BC government actually making an honest effort to recognize the aboriginals?  Exactly who and what are the motives behind this?  Who’s in charge of carrying it out?  What are the incentives, and what ever happened to it?

According to the information bulletin on the First Nations Summit website, The Act proposes that:

“the government promised to introduce recognition and reconciliation legislation that will “further the implementation of the New Relationship” and acknowledge that “Indigenous People have long lived throughout British Columbia and that this fact does not require proof.”
In the coming months, we expect the government will fulfill its commitment by introducing legislation that recognizes Aboriginal title within our traditional territories and affirms our right to share the benefits and revenues that the resources in these territories can provide.”

It sounds like a great initiative, seemingly well planned out and convincing.  However, while reading on, what I found out was that the First Nations Leadership Council was to “secure commitment from the Province of BC to develop and introduce Recognition Legislation in the Spring or Fall of 2008”.  That obviously didn’t happen because since then proposal has been under review.  Issued March 2009, was a “Statement from the Province of BC … to delay the introduction of the Recognition and Reconciliation Act to allow time for further consultation and discussions with First Nations communities and industry.”

On top of being postponed, update on the status of the act is extremely vague as demonstrated in an interview with Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister George Abbott.  It makes it extremely difficult to assess the situation as “no decision has been made”.

In response, this is what Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, had to say in an open letter issued July 31:

“what is disturbing, even enraging, to those who raise this concern, is the Province’s inability or unwillingness to substantively change from status quo behaviour, especially since 2005… legislation is not needed for the Province to change its conduct, by providing different honourable recognition-based negotiation and litigation mandates consistent with the New Relationship Vision and decisions of the Courts… New opportunities for reconciliation must emerge.”

In short, this made me realize a couple things such as, why is this not made more public?  And why is it so hard to find accurate information on the matter?  Perhaps it’s in the nature of the topic, but as a result I’ve come to realize that this is our business as it also pertains to us as a community.

On an optimistic note, it’s good thing that there are people that are continuously taking a stand and facilitating discussion.  It’s encouraging knowing someone our age is taking on the issue and talking about it.  If it wasn’t for my friend who approached me with the subject, I wouldn’t have known about it.  Just shows the positive effects of sharing ideas, providing another effective example of how they can spread.

-Viv

“I’m always convinced that most of all of the good ideas that you ever receive come from grassroots people that live it, breathe it and know it.”

- Quote By David Senter

Coming across this quote, I’m reminded of the amount of power and magnitude of impact that can be demonstrated simply through grassroots activism. 

The encouragement of like-minded people to come together for a common cause can initiate a natural and spontaneous social movement.  What seemingly starts as a minor protest can then be spread through media and ultimately change laws.  It can be as small as expressing a point of view amongst peer groups, or in the form of a well organized event tackling a major political issue. 

It’s always comforting for us young people who feel compelled to make a difference in our community, knowing that the most powerful way of sharing of ideas are exemplified through our actions in how we live our lives.

- Viv

advice from a modern folk hero

“The first step - especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money… the first step to controlling your world is to

control your culture.

To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.”

Chuck Palahniuk