There are different ways of ‘seeing’ history – as linear, circular, a combination of these, or more scattered or random – and you can take your pick. The ‘progress’ of humanity is sometimes much trumpeted and there have undoubtedly been huge advances in technology which benefit humanity – and huge advances in technology which has the opposite effect. There have also been great advances in human rights while there have been advances in systems to control and corral citizens.
There have been advances made in the rights of women through feminism and in relation to sexual abuse but then along comes the negative-masculinist manosphere, and even apart from that a shockingly low number of rapes end in a court case and guilty verdict. It is not that to every action (change) there is an equal and opposite reaction but there is certainly a reaction and sometimes that reaction takes things backwards – as we have seen in relation to human rights in the USA. The world of the 21st century is a complex place; the world has always been complex but the current polarities are something new or different to those pertaining previously.
The impunity with which a superpower can act is amazing, and it was always thus – think of Britain imposing opium dealing on China in the 19th century. Today the USA can attack, kidnap, kill, bomb, and conduct war with no international legal backing or moral justification and when ‘the west’ does not actively participate it is a matter of a few countries doing or saying something minor but there are no effective international protests or sanctions.
And a state favoured by ‘the west’, Israel, can destroy the entire territory of a whole people, Gaza Palestinians, and slaughter indiscriminately and there are no repercussions; even piracy and kidnap in international waters of citizens from many countries produces a relatively mild reaction from governments. The Irish government response to Israeli kidnapping in international waters in recent weeks and subsequent ill treatment of Irish citizens has been limited to dusting off a limited Occupied Territories Bill which should have become law years ago. And in an autocratic state like Russia, upwards of half a million deaths is considered an acceptable price to pay for a leader who tries to save face after the massive blunder of invading Ukraine.
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle” said Martin Luther King.
We – peace, political and social change activists and other – are in for a long haul. Sometimes a struggle is to retain rights which risk being lost as leaders and states try to find new ways to control their people. And even where there is at least a concept of democracy there can be a failure to deliver because vested interests and tribal (in a wide sense) loyalties prevent effective change – think of Northern Ireland.
We can only do what we can do; sometimes that may seem pathetically small, as in relation to the need for green policies and practice to prevent further catastrophic climate heating. But one and one and one do eventually make a million, as in Pete Seeger’s song – “One man’s hands can’t tear a prison down / Two men’s hands can’t tear a prison down / But if two and two and fifty make a million / We’ll see that day come round / We’ll see that day come round.”
There is a cyclical element to political movements, not a simple ‘one decade down, next one up’ kind of thing but something more complex. It is not a matter of holding off on activism until the going is easier because then things are ‘never’ going to change. The activism of a couple of people in getting something going, or keeping something going in adverse times, may be more important in an eventual achievement than a thousand people later on when a change movement is on a roll. (For this see e.g. Bill Moyer’s ‘Movement Action Plan’, word search and https://innatenonviolence.org/workshops/strategising.shtml ) All contributions to change are valuable however.
Celebrating even small achievements can be inspiring to keep going and try new approaches but we are seldom likely to get all we want and must plough on. The Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland was a very significant achievement, imperfect as its working out has been and it did not end divisions or bring about a meaningful way of making decisions on tough questions (not even thinking here of the constitutional issue) or means of dealing with the past. Resting on some of our laurels is not a recommended option.
At the very least we can keep hope for change alive. Accepting our limitations is difficult but means we can act more realistically and, at times, surprise ourselves and a lot of other people too. To think that ‘history is on our side’ can be a cliche and wishful thinking but if humanity is to survive in the longer term without us being slaves or automatons, or both, then justice, peace and sustainability are not optional extras for humanity – they are the basis for meaningful survival. There is of course a kind of power that grows out of the barrel of a gun or the explosion of a drone but that power destroys rather than creates. It is nonviolence and nonviolent struggle that has the power to positively transform our world – and knowing that should quicken our step and give us courage and strength for that – at the moment – uphill struggle.
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