Your actions matter

Or collective action will save us all

I'm back! Thank you all for your patience!

It's been over a month since I've posted and in that time I have been dealing with, and recovering from, a double pinched nerve in my back! While doing mediation training, single parenting and working. So it's been a lot.

I am happy to say that I am back now and will hopefully be posting weekly again! The nerves are still slightly irritated but I don't think I will be back where I was before.

It's been said many times that it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. And I understand that, because so much needs to change for that to happen. But the end of capitalism is not only necessary, it is inevitable and is happening right now.

I make videos on Tiktok about taking action to end capitalism, and I am often told that there's no point. That it doesn't matter what anyone does because it won't make a difference. That the person buying Starbucks everyday doesn't affect me, or speaking up about genocide won't make a difference or how everything is so messed up nothing we do matters -- it's all just a drop in the bucket.

When people say that they can't make a difference, what they are really saying is that they believe the lie that their lives don't matter. That they are separate from all others and their actions are insignificant. This is a tragic mind state and one that keeps us in apathy, hopelessness and helplessness. In these states of mind, we only focus on ourselves, and we don't try to imagine a different future, because we don't believe we can make it happen. This is what the capitalist system wants us to believe because, alone, we are weak, and our actions can't make much of a difference.

This injury has reminded me of one thing though -- the power of collective action. While I was laid up I saw collective action make a difference in so many ways.

Most impactful to me, personally, was the way that my community showed up for me while I couldn't stand up for more than 90 seconds at a time for weeks on end. In that time, I had literally dozens of people support me in all sorts of ways. This was community (a collective of folks!) in action. If I had just depended on a couple people in that time, for all my support needs, those people would have quickly burned out from it. But as it was, a whole host of folks stepped forward, in the ways that they could, and no one was left overwhelmed by supporting me. It was so beautiful.

In that time, we also saw a significant shifting in the narrative around Israel. Because of constant, collective action, all over the world, Israel's allies’ support is starting to wane. If there wasn't consistent collective action, nothing would be happening and Israel's war crimes and genocide would go unquestioned, as it has for decades. But collective action is shifting things (even if this hasn't yet resulted in changes on the ground yet, it will).

Since November, when it's earnings report came out, Starbucks has seen a constant downward decline in its stock value -- driven by a global boycott against the Fortune 500 company because of its position on Palestine, as well as horrible labour practices (including slavery!). Starbucks' stock is now lower than it has been in the last year and it continues to fall daily.

Elbit Systems, another target of the BDS movement, has seen a huge divestment by Scotiabank (an approximate $80 million reduction in shares), the largest foreign investor in the world of the Israeli arms manufacturer due to mass pressure on the bank from thousands across Canada.

Projects like Operation Olive Branch have ensured that hundreds of Palestinians have been able to evacuate to the safety of Egypt, through tens of thousands of people working to get small donations for families seeking to escape the bombings, starvation and disease imposed by Israel.

The list goes on and on and on. We see collective action working every single day to make a difference in the personal lives and political futures of our world.

This is also why the power of community is so important. When you feel isolated, it is hard to believe that your actions matter, or that you're making a difference. But if you are connected to others that are working towards something, then you can celebrate together, motivate each other together.

We are always stronger together. Our collective power is so important to recognize and work with. Because nothing changes if we change nothing. And we can only change things together.

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In love and solidarity

Amelia