ACTIVISM
101 POSITIONS
Activists are opinionated. What if anything are we doing if not seeking to make our opinions reality, e.g., that the remaining wild nature of the planet should be completely undeveloped, and further that it should not even be disturbed? (This implies that even eco-tourism should be limited.) Anyway, that's one opinion: the opinion, or position, of the founder of Activism 101. As a guide, this section of the website presents numerous positions on important issues of the day. You of course are free to hold different or competing positions: we are not trying to dictate to anyone. But we do believe that our positions are supported by the available evidence, and also by logic, and this section lays out our arguments. We have done our best to be convincing.
The positions
presented are extracted from a section of the Society chapter of Freedom
From Form. They make use of a technique described in the book called
“form analysis.” The complete idea of form that the book presents
is abstract and universal, but its use here is more down to earth. Form refers
to social influences, thus the form analysis of a particular issue explores
the various influences that attempt to shape public opinion on that issue; and
which parties, or social institutions, are responsible for the influences, and
why.
To clarify the ideas of form and form analysis, the first five chapters of the
text are provided below. Copies of the complete work are also available. It
is ironic, though, to say the least, that although the book has been available
through the Dictator Watch website for going on four years, which website has
received one hundred thousand visits, and hundreds of expressions of agreement
and support, only two copies have been sold (and to the same person!).
3.
Human nature
4. Form
5. Fighting form
A101 positions
“At this point we can move on and consider the future of society,
modern society, both in the short and long-term, but my goal here is not so
much to predict it as it is to shape it (or at least discussions and intentions
about it). To begin, I want to consider the many irresolvable social issues
that we have, those problems on which we cannot even agree to disagree. But
I do not intend to give a full exposition of these issues. Rather, I will do
a brief form analysis of them, to distinguish the underlying “existential”
dispute (if one exists at all), where no certainty attaches to a specific view,
from the form surrounding the dispute and which has been added to it including
through the use of such things as volatility.”
(Note: When I use the term “volatility,” this refers to individuals
or parties, typically politicians and journalists, who incite hatred, anger
and violence as a means to suit their own selfish purposes.)
1. Civil rights, human
rights, discrimination, including via sexual preference
2. Sexual harassment,
prostitution
3. Poverty
4. Persistent
conflicts
5. Violence on TV and
in film
6. Guns
7. Drugs, including tobacco
and alcohol
8. Corporal punishment,
leniency to criminals, capital punishment
9. Abortion, birth control
10. Suicide, legally assisted
suicide, euthanasia
11. Animal rights,
hunting and fishing, wearing furs, eating meat
12. Nuclear weapons and
power
13. Genetic engineering,
cloning, eugenics
14. Great wealth inequalities
Other positions
Foreign aid
© Roland O. Watson 2005