Keep It Alive--and Yourself--This Year Through Activism

I heard a familiar voice the other day: Jane Fonda.

Yeah, that one: Hanoi Jane. She's never lived down her outward support for North Vietnam, even though indirectly aimed at ending the war. She picked a poor way to do so. I interviewed an American POW, and he told me she was one of the two people he and his fellow prisoners absolutely hated (the other being Ted Kennedy).

Fonda has been involved in support for lots of liberal causes since, and not nearly as antagonistically so. I heard her discuss her latest passion on NPR the other day: climate change.

She's been rather depressed lately, she said. The reason? She hasn't been as active on the issue than she believes she should be.

This is after she's been arrested more than once for her political activities, mostly centered around demonstrating to bring attention to climate change in place the police don't prefer. In fact, she went out of her way to describe the process by which she was legally processed after her arrest.

Her voice, ever resonant and naturally portentious, underlined the seriousness with which she's taking this. Just hearing it over the radio makes one take the subject with the gravity it deserves.

Consider this, though: Jane Fonda is 83 years old.

At 83, not only is she not finished bringing attention to our number one existential issue, she made it clear that she's just getting started. At 83.

She's doing it, in fact, to ward off depression. It's a signal to all of us, regardless of age.

Activism makes one feel vital.

Activism makes one feel relevant.

Activism brings attention to a cause worth battling for.

Activism makes one feel as if they're making a difference.

Activism gives one energy and sends it out to others.

Activism brings people together and projects hope.

Activism creates communities.

I'm not recommending that you go out and get yourself arrested--she says, for instance, that although her group of protesters didn't resist, they were handcuffed very uncomfortably and got herded into a kind of garage for seven hours while being processed; doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me--but showing up for protests and informational gatherings gives oneself, and others, the attitudes that there might just be a chance to overcome this strange and cultish mentality with which we seem to be confronted.

With that, there's the inspiration to do it again and again. Sooner or later, we'll be looking around at each other and seeing many more people than we thought would ever arrive. And that, my friends, is a mass movement.

Fonda's efforts are being characterized as being kind of a boutique brand of protesting because other famous people like actors are joining her--thus it's turning out to be a place to see and be seen (Like the garish, snarky inclination noted by Mark Leibovich in his book This Town, when newsman Tim Russert's 2008 funeral turned into a chance to get close to Morning Joe and Mika--this before they became a "thing" unto themselves), as the Washington Post says today. Maybe that claim's being done to diminish its effects, or at least that's the effect that it might have. But her example seems genuine and she really is getting herself arrested and is thus sincerely involved in the climate change movement.

In the meantime, start your own. Get behind candidates you favor, get involved in a presidential primary if one comes to your state, and get some talking points ready to discuss and counteract the nonsense you might be hearing. Try this one: snowflakesfightback.com. It's put together by Yale students. You could do worse.

Above all, stay active this year. Stay involved, keep reading. Attend something at your public library, or a discussion group. Someone out there wants you to stop thinking, just listen to them instead, and do what they say. Be a good American citizen and don't do that. (For instance, there's room to respond to what you're reading here. I'm good with that. You're likely to hear back.)

What we're confronted with won't be wiped out, nor will it even disappear. But it can be turned back. That means an approach to democracy that we're not used to adapting--one that's definitely non-passive. That's for a bit later, but meanwhile, this is a pivotal year. When we come back here in another 365 days, let's be sure to say we did what we could.

Jane Fonda will sure be saying that. And she's not getting any younger either.

Be well. Be careful. I'll see you down the road.


Mister Mark