Mild in Manner – Bold in Matter

Jane Cutter is the Director of A.N.S.W.E.R. Seattle, a coalition of anti-war organizations with affiliates across the U.S. We first got to know Jane when she participated in our 2009 panel discussion during production of Palace of the End. Jane was going to speak during our November 5 panel “The Activist as Extremist”, but her work for the Seattle Occupy movement has understandably taken priority. She sent along the following remarks on the subject of Extremism.

“Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice… and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

Ironically, this oft-repeated sentence was uttered by right-wing politician Barry Goldwater as he accepted the Republican party presidential nomination in 1964. Since the topic for the panel discussion is “The Activist as Extremist”,  I think that this is an appropriate theme for us to ponder. I have no doubt that my definitions of liberty and justice would diverge from those advanced by Goldwater. And yet, when we seek freedom and justice, when we fight oppression, is it not correct to go to any length, to use any means necessary, to achieve the desired end, which is the creation of a more just and peaceful world?

There are different perspectives, for instance those that believe that the ends do not always justify the means. That is a theme also worthy of exploration, but I think it is often the one that people go to first when the idea of “extremism” is discussed. I would like to take this discussion in a different direction.

We have a stereotype, of the rabid, extreme activist, alienating others around him, only able to see his perspective, acting like a steamroller and squashing those who stand in his way, verbally and emotionally. Such an individual may inspire others to action, may be the person who “makes things happen.” But is there a hidden cost? To the families and loved ones—as I suspect Sean’s play explores? What about to those “others” in the movement for social justice, the others who make it a movement? A movement is not about one activist—it is about the masses of people taking history in their own hands, as has happened around the globe in this remarkable year of 2011, and acting, sometimes in extreme ways, to make dramatic changes.

Within such a mass movement, there is a need for those who can unify and bring folks together, who can help those new to activism make sense of events, who mentor and train a new generation. A mentor of mine once advanced a simple slogan for radical activists working in the unions and working class communities: “Mild in manner, bold in matter.” One can advance radical and bold, perhaps even extreme ideas but for everyday people to want to take them up, they must trust you. A mild manner goes a long way in building a relationship of trust—a wild and extreme demeanor is off-putting. It is when the ordinary people take history into their hands, pitch their tents in Tahrir Square, or Zucotti Park—it is then that history is made, not by individual extremists, but by the masses acting in their own interests.