Justice Globalism

Photo: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Every time I drive by Austin City Hall there is someone protesting against something. Sometimes it’s as little as three people, braving the cold in sleeping bags while holding signs that hope to spark outrage. But sometimes, sometimes it’s a movement, and one of the biggest one to spread to Austin was Occupy. That was a couple of years ago though.

Admittedly I’m a bit confused on the topic of globalization. It’s such a huge topic with many different facets to it. My understanding of justice globalism as a movement is to bring awareness to the wide gap in the economy due to corporate greed and its spread into political sectors and promote financial fairness and equal economic resources.

Now, with James Surowiecki’s TED Talks still in my head I’m wondering about the fine line between awareness leading to action and blind activism. And by blind I’m talking about activists, some of who don’t realize what is fully happening. I’m actually starting to see some of them as ants marching in a circle. Before I’m misunderstood I want to say that I support non-violent protests. However, I do believe that some people go out with only a handful of facts—strong, powerful facts—but they don’t see the larger picture.

Perhaps I’m a jaded individual and have a difficult time seeing the effects of protesting. But perhaps that is the danger of in-activism. If nobody speaks out against injustice, then things will remain how they are.

A few weeks ago met up with some friends at Opa! Coffee & Wine Bar to check out a band. I had the good fortune to meet a young woman from the Ukraine, Svetlana. Svetlana is actually working on her masters at St. Edward’s and while we talked about how her move here went and the differences she’s encountered, she told me about the unrest that is happening now in the Ukraine. Sometimes governments need to be kept in check by the people.