Participation

So it seems Amy Crehore's blog isn't just a great place to find art, there's also a couple of things to make you think there. One thing she's got me thinking about today is a quote from Einstein she posted up, saying;

"I believe that Gandhi's views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time.We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil."

Now, with respect to the comments (both private and public...use public if you can guys, conversation's more fun with more people involved in it) from my mostly jokey post about slave labour - which was actually meant to get you thinking about things a bit - I'm not entirely sure I agree with these two rather popular figures.

Whilst I'm not the kind of person to petition outside Coca-Cola's offices (in fact, I'm so morally bankrupt I happily go out and buy it), I do fully believe that if you care about something, anything, then you need to take pro-active steps. If you love someone, let them know, if you want something, make sure you get it - and if you're massively opposed to a movement, a company, a policy, anything...then should you not do something more? Is non-participation really going to be effective?


_{Gandhi's famous stance against carbs made him a role model for teenage girls everywhere}

I think that non-participation can certainly work, in a limited number of cases - but my marketing brain also tells me that it must be a certain kind of non-participation. It must be public, it must be seen. That way you're not just 'doing nothing' or 'avoiding' the issue, you're actively taking a stance against it by refusing to participate.

I don't think this can solve all problems though - worrying trends of voter apathy don't impact the overall results of an election and the boycotting of a multinational by an individual won't affect their sales drastically. If you care, then tackle the problem head on, and be seen to be doing so - if not, then are small sacrifices in your life really worth the tiny impact? I mean this as a real question, not rhetorical...let me know.

Finally, physical violence is never the way forwards, but I think this part of the quote should also apply to mental violence. Often, bullying an individual is rarely going to change the thinking of an institution - so please guys, be nice next time you phone up a company that's as morally bankrupt as I, to tell them what they're doing wrong. The guy at the other end may not be totally blameless, but he certainly didn't drain those reservoirs (or whatever) on his own one summer.

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There's also an interesting letter from Einstein to Gandhi on Amy's blog, but I'll let you click through to that, instead of stealing all the traffic from her post here :)