I saw a tweet about the trailer for this video, and decided to check it out.  Based on that trailer it looks like a well put together and informative film, something I think people who have an interest in chemtrails should certainly consider checking out, but it did make me wonder about the ways social activist promote their causes.

What about the people who have no idea what a chemtrail is?  Aren’t these the people we should be trying to inform, bringing the issues to them instead of forcing them to come to us.  I’m not saying we should be pushing our issues on people, but I do think that sometimes social activists forget that the general public can feel pretty helpless when it comes to environmental issues.  Far too often social activists consider the general public apathetic, when really most people feel overwhelmed and powerless.  Yet if you take an issue and show someone how it can impact them personally, people get involved.  People still feel like they have an impact on their own lives.

Today I also read an article that discusses how a well promoted and well written film can do a lot to educate people about particular issues, but I think it takes something else to give people their power back.  Even people who leave films like this and do feel like they need to do something can struggle to know where to begin.

I think part of this lies in good outreach, and providing meaningful ways to help.  I think we also need to find ways to support and promote good educational materials so that they reach the general public, and then get people talking about it.  When we see any other good movie or book, we tell our friends, but most people tend to keep quiet and political issues, and I think if we want those issues to change we have to make them personal.

I also watched another interesting short clip today intended to encourage people to live sustainably, of course you probably won’t find it on your own unless this is already of interest to you.  What this video does do well is make the issue relevant, but to get the most information you have to read the materials, which are geared towards people who are already active

I guess what I’m really asking is, how do we make activism mainstream, or should we make it mainstream at all?

I plan on exploring this issue further in later posts, but for now I welcome any comments or suggestions.