You don't know how.You don't have time.There are just too many issues.You're just one voice.
I totally get it, and there are days when I feel that way too. Taking action on every issue that matters to you can be exhausting, especially since most issues require multiple actions by multiple people for change to happen.
I understand.
But, here's the deal, if you just aren't going to take action at all, then stop talking about the issues you are concerned with. Stop posting to social media about them. Stop being outraged.
Because if you aren't DOING anything, then you aren't DOING anything.
Taking action does not have to be a big, long, difficult process. Between your family, your job, taking care of yourself, your pets, and so many other factors, you just don't have a lot of time left in the day, right?
But, let's take a look at the time issue:
>> How many times did you post to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, or any number of other social media platforms yesterday?
>> How much television did you watch yesterday? YouTube? Netflix or Hulu?
>> How much time did you spend just browsing the internet or Googling random stuff?
If you spent more than five minutes doing any of those, then you have time to take action on matters that you care about.
Honestly, I'm not even concerned if YOUR values and issues are the same as mine or different. What I care about is that you DO something.
A friend kept complaining to me about voter regulations for convicted felons after their release from prison. He talked, and talked, and talked. I asked if he'd called or emailed any of his elected officials. NO. Had he written a letter to the editor of the local paper? NO. Had he written to the elections board? NO. NO. NO.
When I asked him how he expected change to happen, he couldn't really answer. I responded by telling him that change would happen when enough people took action and encouraged him to do one of those things.
A co-worker kept complaining about the homeless moving from the city into his suburb. He went on and on and on about property values, safety, disease, and more. I asked the same questions, as well as asking if he'd thought about running for city council. NO. NO. NO. NO. No to all of it. So, what and how did he expect to happen to resolve the issues? He couldn't tell me. I told him to stop talking to me about it until he was ready to take one of those actions.
Here's the thing, unless you actually do something, complaining is just empty words falling out of your mouth. If my friend and co-worker had taken those words to a city council meeting, that would have been different. If they'd used their words to write a letter, email, op-ed, or to make a phone call, that would have been different.
But people don't bother because they are busy.
So, I decided to see how long it would take for me to do actions on the websites of several organizations I follow regarding issues I believe in. I've been doing this type of thing for 25 years, but I'd never taken the time to see how long each action takes.
In less than 15 minutes, I was able to take action on 10 issues of importance to me. That's an average of 1.5 minutes per action!
Now, what do I mean by actions on these websites?
Most non-profits have "actions" on their websites -- these are usually online petitions that the site emails to the targeted companies, officials, and so on, but they may be letters for you to print and mail, or phone numbers to call with a script to read over the phone. Usually, you have the option to send the messages as is OR to add to it with your own message.
But, does it work? It's just one letter, email, call, right? Nope. It is NOT just one -- it's hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands and THAT Is why it works. These online actions amplify your one voice along with others by the volume of actions taken in an organized manner.
Organizations like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and many, many others have all harnessed the power of these actions -- really micro-actions since they are so fast and easy -- to effect actual change.
I'm not asking you to take the same actions I take or to care about the same issues I care about, but I do want you to do SOMETHING.
Not sure where to start? Choose one organization you support and go to their website. Look for a tab or link titled something like "ACTION". Follow the link and the rest should be pretty self-explanatory. Choose an item from the Action page or tab and follow through on it.
If you would rather take action on a particular issue, you can try a Google search like, "actions on xyz" or "petitions on xyz".
Just keep in mind, these actions likely will result in a lot of email responses. Either just deal with it (read them, do any additional actions in them, or delete them), unsubscribe as you get them, or set up an entirely new email address just for your actions and activism.
The first time you take action through an organization, it might take a few seconds extra to fill in a few details, but after that, if you sign up for the site, or take several actions in a row on the same website, most details will be autofilled.
And, if your curious, in my time keeping experiment I took actions on environmental issues across these four organizations:
>> National Resource Defense Council -- click HERE to take action
>> The Sierra Club -- click HERE to take action
>> Earth Justice -- click HERE to take action
>> Greenpeace -- click HERE to take action
I've been doing this type of activist work weekly for years -- it takes minute, and when you add your voice to the many others also taking action, change DOES happen!
If you think you don't have time, well, you can easily sacrifice some of your time on Facebook and other social media to make your voice heard...