Good Vibe - Issue 7 - Feb 22nd 2019

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 - ISSUE 7 GOOD VIBE

A Common Cause?

This week was a busy one but two things stuck out for me. One was the pumping waves in QLD where Surf Meal is headed to in a couple of weeks, the other, which I will discuss was the social-media activism against the proposed offshore drilling operation in the Great Australian Bight. There are many fascinating issues that come out of this beyond the obvious. At first glance it takes on the well told of narrative of a money-hungry overseas based resource company, in Equinor, profiting at the expense of the environment; Of corrupt government officials kow-towing to 'Big Oil". Where there is smoke there is fire. Whilst these issues are plain to see and have dominated the discourse on social media, there are other issues that have also struck my curiosity. I preface this by saying that Surf Meal has been a signatory against the proposal from the beginning, when I met one of my favourite surfers David Rastovich, as he began campaigning over a year ago; my prior understanding of the issue has allowed me to avoid the 'shock of capture' of the recent events and observe the wider community's response. A few of my observations are as follows: Social Media still wields an incredible ability to mobilise huge numbers of a wide cross-section of people upon an issue. I'm not just speaking about 'going-viral', let's leave that label the videos and photos that spread one entertainment value alone and whose intrigue does not extend beyond the clicking of the 'share' button. I'm talking about issues that prompt people to do things that they normally wouldn't, that inspire them into uncommon action in support of something important to them. For example, the gathering and mass sharing of detailed information. We saw people with 200k+ followers sharing content created by those with 200 followers because the message was important rather than the messenger. Also, people contacting and therefore connecting with people they would never have otherwise, asking for help and support. With this in mind, my next observation: The variety of people’s reactions to an issue of which they will likely be impacted equally. As it would have it, many of the people that I follow on social media are surfers - go figure. I would have thought that surfers, generally speaking (never wise), would be against anything that, as studies show, is likely to spill oil into the ocean.

I am going to go out on a limb and say 99% of surfers would be against spilling oil, but, it was the difference in outward reaction that fascinated me. As discussed above, some became engaged by the issue into uncommon action, in order to make the issue known and increase the likelihood of stopping it, others posted a comment on a thread at the suggestion of another, somehow knowing that someone with more time than them would do something about it; similarly, others complained loudly and pointed the finger at broken society addicted to money and phones, proclaiming that someone else better take up the fight because they already did their job and pointed it out. Others remained silent, perhaps believing the issue too big and too complex for them to make any meaningful impact and returning promptly to where the sand covers one's head, referring to apparent success of the tried and tested ignorance policy. We even had people citing the obvious hypocrisy of speaking out against drilling for oil in The Bight because 'their cars too need oil don't they?'

All of these responses are normal and each one of the examples, will be forever free of my judgement, for I believe we can never judge a person until we've walked in their shoes, and even then. I know that I have engaged in every one of those above responses in the past, it is how I know what they look and feel like. I believe our reactions are related to our proximity, perceived or real, to the subject and its likelihood for impact upon us, thus giving rise to our 'care-factor'. This 'care-factor' or attitude towards a subject is commensurate with our knowledge of said subject or in lieu of a desirable amount, our capacity and willingness to gain sufficient information so that we may act in measure to our disposition towards the matter. Likewise, a thorough understanding of an issue will likely bring one nearer to the a topic, however remote the two may physically be. Therefore, I believe that there is no inherently bad or wrong way to respond, that they are equal to the amount of information that person has on the subject and their ability to make application upon it. I know that all of that is pretty heavy, so I want to leave you with this, because Surf Meal is not in the business of spreading fear. There is already too much of that. The challenges we face are here to get the most out of us and bring us together. We choose our attitudes, and a positive one will always be of great service especially when overcoming obstacles. The truth is the world is full of amazing people and there are so many activities and adventures just waiting for us to join in!