Peace and Justice Fools

Graphic by JB with Simply Maggie

Activists are often accused of being idealistic, unrealistic fools. Sure, people say, it would be lovely to have peace, justice, community, equality, all that—but it’s just not feasible in the real world.

Smart people choose profit over justice, peace, and planetary survival, right? Realistic folk know cutthroat competition is more practical than mutual support and sharing.

It’s obvious that this whole brilliant system is highly functional—for the super rich. Even in a pandemic that has thrown millions into poverty, the super rich get super richer.

Of course, the cleverest people strive to rule over others—the more ruthlessly the better. They leave worry about our vulnerable planet to the fools.

Many of us on the short end of this stick (a short end that has to accommodate 99% of planetary beings) have accepted that in real life we have to put up with this. Even though it might at times seem monstrously irrational and utterly stupid, we feel resigned because, well, that’s how things are, right?

Activists didn’t get this memo. Or rather, we did, since it is constantly stuffed into the brains of all of us, after all. But, foolishly, we have decided to disregard it.

Activists rashly interrupt soothing speeches, contradict platitudes, block pipelines, and sit down in the streets. We toss dangerous truths at captains of industry, commerce, media, and state. We cry wolf… and owl and whale and butterfly.

We can be very tiresome to the captains of capitalism with our foolishness: unfurling banners, singing, objecting, marching. We create weird new communities where everyone has a say! Where no one uses money! Can you imagine?

We’re foolish enough to find it incomprehensible that trillions are spent on weapons and war while people starve and Earth wilts. We’re foolhardy enough to try to stop this and to do things differently, all over the world, although it’s risky, even dangerous.

Yay for activist fools! I would love to see a cool blanket of foolishness settle over our world, wrap us in its gentleness, tangle and trip our frenetic feet so we fall into its softness and just…stop.