If an organization still has political naiveté, that is what makes them great, in some ways. To be politically naive is a vulnerable place to be, but also a beautiful place. To be naïve is to be unsilenced, like a child who hasn't yet learned to sit still, shut up and play nice. Like a woman who hasn't yet learned to let men interrupt her. Like a person of color who hasn't yet learned to talk the way white people do.
It's as important to have politically innocent groups as politically savvy ones. To be savvy in our psychiatric survivor movement is to air the voices of dissident psychiatrists, those who have mainstream credibility BECAUSE they have blood on their hands, or did, BECAUSE they were once unsophisticated humans. They either believed in the Psychiatric Industrial Complex, or saw affiliation as a way to achieve personal goals and turned a blind eye to its harm, but they woke up and saw firsthand what Psychiatry is all about. Now they have the status, resources and cred to give our movement political intelligence.
But politically innocent people have the straight up voice from the iron fist of Psychiatry's grip. They are often unresourced and poverty stricken. They have been knocked down by society and don't have the privilege to double check that no one who has ever had any association with Scientology ever enter their realm or be discussed in their presence. Many, many survivors of Psychiatry are “politically naive.” In fact to believe in Western Psychiatry is inherently naive, but the definition of naiveté is also political.
To call a person or group that has minimal resources, has survived incredible abuse and oppression and is generally low status and low power on the social totem pole “politically innocent,” may be quite accurate, though they are also why we have politics at all: to protect the vulnerable. The vulnerable people are the ones most affected by the political climate, even if they are in fact naive to it. So while being diplomatic and discerning to gain mainstream media credibility surely has its place, those who are politically clueless deserve the utmost respect and regard.
They are the bottom feeders.
They are the ones who suffer the most from the mistakes and short-sightedness of the politically savvy. Diplomacy combined with a good cause is quite powerful, but political sophistication without noble intentions is of course one of the most harmful forces we have to reckon with. Let's listen to the politically naive; let's include them in the conversation and hear what they have to say, for they've actually lived the stories the sophisticated media has the privilege of talking about with such clarity and intelligence.
And of course none of us are purely politically savvy or naive—we are all human and have both within us, so this discussion is not meant to polarize, but rather to honor the human survivor in each of us that has a story to tell.
Political strategy for the good of humanity is a wonderful thing. Let's remember, though, that it is a privilege and is often associated with a certain race, gender and class or those who can mimic that race, gender and class well enough to pass as “credible.” And there are many many people, really the ones we are fighting for, that are far from that privilege, that are in the early stages of waking up from Psychiatry's stupor. They are hungover from psychiatric drugs and false promises. They are just picking up the pieces of their lives or those of their loved ones, stolen from them in the name of medicine. They are struggling to make it through the day, and while this is entirely political, politics are the last thing on their minds.
Having privilege and awareness combined with good motives is a power and responsibility that I am grateful some groups are taking on. There are many politically naive people out there who will benefit. Yet the political landscape is ever shifting and evolving and while in many ways we see ourselves as victims of it or recipients of it, we are also co-creators. Everything I say, do and think contributes to politics and the same is true for you.
At the risk of sounding politically naïve or idealistic, I must say that those without political sharpness are holding the most powerful stories, and our salvation lies in their liberation.
We are coming upon a time where even the least sophisticated and lowest status individuals can have a voice, and the longer a voice is silenced, the stronger it becomes when it is finally set free.