The Art of Activism: Chapters 2-3 - Scott Bram

 Chapter 2

    "Capitalism is based upon things: producing things and consuming things. What’s overlooked when we focus on things is an understanding and appreciation of how things are made and who makes them; that is, the process of creation."

    Consumerism blinds a buyer from the work put into making a product, whether it be from exploitation or genuine hard work and passion. Buyers can become hypercritical of what they're buying, not knowing the reason why it has a certain quality or price without knowing the work that was put into it.

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    "Our creativity won’t thrive if the only time we make for it is an occasional weekend, or between phone calls, emails, and “important" meetings. We need to set aside blocks of time... Even once the necessary time and space has been created, there’s more we can do to clear our heads for creative work."

    This comes to me as personal advice, as I realize I only ever have creative time when I don't have class or on the weekends, or when I'm about to sleep which leaves no time for thoughts to properly flesh out. Weirdness and being able to be different from the average person are incredibly important to me, and I attribute that to my creative ways of thinking. 

Chapter 3

    "As any good teacher can attest, rote learning lasts only about as long as the next test. If you want your students to remember the lesson, and to integrate it into their lives, they need to puzzle through it, process it, and make it their own."

    The main thing that grabs a listener's attention is prompts that make them think. If someone is able to think through or relate to a prompt, they're more likely to continue listening for an answer or for other relatable comments. People love familiarity, feeling comfort in shared interests/experiences.

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    "We are always drawing from repositories of words, images, and meanings that already exist. This is what makes changing society so hard: we are working within the very culture we are trying to change. But within even the most oppressive of societies there are pockets of counterculture and of resistance that provide a cultural foundation—stories, songs, and institutions—upon which we can build."

    Working against the system when the system is so engraved in everyday life proves challenging to the point that it's near impossible to challenge it without using products of the system. Even so, art is inherently counterculture, going against what real life depicts with the ability to distort and portray concepts are artists see them.