Engaging with our surroundings and being stirred by injustice is an essential part of the human experience – but could activism and idealism be taken too far?

“Often, the desire to save the world is fuelled by the desire to rule the world.” 

I once came across this saying – which was unattributed and impossible to unearth again after I had lost track of it – while trawling the internet and it forced me into that uncomfortable position we face when our beliefs don’t relate to the real world. At first, it made me feel indignant and angry. As an idealist and dreamer myself, I had always viewed my strong need to make a difference in the suffering of others and the injustices in the world as indubitably good. Could I have been wrong all this time? Of course, with such a strong sense of moral responsibility weighing me down, I had to investigate.

Why so active?

It is a good practice, made famous by philosopher Rene Descartes, to question all our beliefs before we accept them into our lives, letting them affect our decisions, relationships, values and goals. I have recently decided to switch from a vegetarian diet to a vegan lifestyle, and it has opened my eyes to the foggy confusion surrounding moral and ethical questions such as the treatment of animals. Personally, I refrain from eating or using animal products because of my relationship towards animals and my view of my position in the natural world. That is my reasoning, but I see many people who use their belief in various causes as a social lubricant or as a tool to gain superiority over others. It is imperative to critically question the decisions you make in life, as well as the reasons for these decisions.

It’s all relative

We often feel as though the only possible way we can bring about change is if everyone else thinks in the same way that we do. How often in our daily lives, though, do we write off what someone else tells us as ‘mere opinion’? Our feelings about the way the world should be do not necessarily correlate with those of the people around us, and this does not mean that there is only one answer.

Alienating others

In the course of my life, I have found myself locked in constant battles because of my beliefs and my complete certainty that they were right. Finally, at some point over the course of the year, I came to a realisation about life while being gesticulated at wildly with an oily chicken drumstick on the topic of animal rights. The harder I tried to convey the suffering and inhumane treatment animals endure in the name of human nutrition, the harder she would chew on that drumstick. It is humanly impossible to argue someone into submission when it comes to differing beliefs – on the contrary; what happens in most cases is that the people around you will cling to their beliefs and values even more, as you will to yours when attacked. When we are backed into a corner, we are forced to justify our beliefs – and justify them, we will. By attacking those who don’t share our beliefs (however justified we believe the attack to be), we end up alienating them from the cause we are fighting for so strongly.

Ultimately, it does not matter how hard we fight or how strongly we believe. Always keep in mind what exactly it is you want to change, and why? It is of no use to force our opinions on each other – all that you can do is just that: all you can do.

“Live and work to make a difference, to make things better, even the smallest things. Give full consideration to the rights and interests of others.”  - Eugene C. Dorsey

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