194 Activism Series: Episode 1 – Laying the Groundwork (Defining Activism)

We are THRILLED to kick off an activism-themed series for the fall! Turns out, we have a LOT to say on the topic (shocking, we know). Today is episode one of the series, where we lay the groundwork for rest of the series by digging into our philosophies around activism, resistance, decolonizing, The Matrix, and more!

In This Episode

Inspired by all the questions we received from listeners, we decided to turn one episode into many and do a series on activism! Today, we’re discussing activism itself – what is it, how do we define it, how important is it, do we need to do it?

We give general advice for three common categories of questions:

* Who do I donate to? What groups should I support/join?

* I have ____ disability/condition/concern – what kind of activist activity can I do?

* How do I do direct action?

We talk about resistance and decolonizing your mind – activities we feel are arguably more powerful and important than what we typically consider “activism” and yet often undervalued in the activist and social justice communities. Callie describes how this process can lead you to becoming Neo in The Matrix, and Nichole LIVES for it.

Lastly, we dish about capitalism (yes, again!) and discuss why capitalism still has a hand in the evils that occur around the world even when they happen in countries that do not have capitalist economies. Also, that capitalism has happened in conjunction with monstrous dictatorships, so acting like it is somehow superior to other forms of government/economies is erroneous.

Additional Resources

For more info on direct actions and Collectively Free, listen to episode #173 with CF founders Raffi Ciavatta and Lili Trenkova

We recommend recent episodes by The Bearded Vegans and The Vegan Vanguard on the topic of activism as well!

Joke in the Middle

A mathematician, an accountant, and an economist apply for the same job…

Links and Information

News

* Christine Blasey Ford, accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, agrees to Senate testimony about sexual assault claim (CNBC)

* More than 3.4 Million Farmed Animals Killed During Hurricane Florence (VegNews)

Organizations/People We Support

* Food Empowerment Project – About

* PEP Foods

* Collectively Free – Values

* Christopher Sebastian – Patreon

* Dr. A. Breeze Harper – Patreon

* The Freedom Education Centre – GoFundMe