Open mindedness, and its conspicuous absence...

national | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis

Tuesday March 23, 2004 18:56

by ábhar machnamh

This is just a short piece to voice a growing disquiet, and to find out if others had considered it...

I have come to the conclusion that many individuals involved in activism in this country are in fact very conservative, despite saying the opposite. Closed-mindedness is very much in evidence at many of the meetings that I attend, and this can only be a negative thing.
At the recent Grassroots Gathering in Cork a new method of meetings was tried called "Open Space Technology". This consists of a number of different rules such as "The Rule of Two Feet" which means that if you feel that you aren't contributing to a meeting or workshop, then you should leave in favour of another.
Im not seeking to promote this way of meeting, only to highlight a number of incidences of dismissing this out of hand.
One person dismissed it before even leaving dublin, while others took one look at the guidelines on the wall and spent the rest of the weekend giving out about how they couldnt work, rather than trying to make them work. Im not trying to promote open space technology, only show how people dismissed it without even a second thought. When the Cork social forum was mentioned at the weekend grassroots meeting it was met with derisive laughs. "West cork hippies" also came in for some "constructive criticism".
This isnt the only example (just the one that pushed me over the edge): when it was mentioned that people from the convergence festival could get involved in the mayday events (at another meeting), as they coincide, people dismissed them as people who have a lot of money, and as such, not worth talking to (though this was rebutted by one or two attendees).
Where is this going? My point is this: for a movement that professes itself to be attempting to offer an alternative to mainstream society, a very strong sense of myopia can be seen, a fixation on the current way things are done as the right, and indeed only, correct way to do them. This also succeeds in excluding others, while people talk very earnestly about "broadening the movement", they are working against this at the same time!
These are not the only available examples of same, but they were the ones that came to mind, and they are most certainly NOT isolated.
And unfortunately, I don't have the coverall answer, just a little more open mindedness, willingness to accept different ways of operating and thinking, and a certain flexibility would be a good start!