Columnist Daniel Kington discusses how activists' actions reflect their love for the world and their desire to better it.
Love is a very hard thing to define but, as love is the subject of this column, I think a definition is an important place to begin. I fear speaking too expansively, as I do not wish to include in my definition any forms of violence so often mislabeled as love and used, in reality, to breed possession or harm. Marriage, as the state would have us practice it, is one such form of violence, in my opinion (see Friedrich Engels’ The Origin of Marriage, Family, Private Property and the State for more on this – it’s a strikingly accessible essay, as far as political theory goes).
This is not to say that marriage is always practiced in the domineering, patriarchal and decidedly one-sided mode of exploitation and possession. But if we define love as the lifelong commitment that marriage offers, we include in our definition such forms of domination. Instead of the state’s idea of love, which includes and even incentivizes such relationships, I will define love as follows: the creation of beauty for the sake of beauty, as well as: for the good of another, the people and or the world.
I like this definition, in part because it is specific enough to exclude the patriarchal relationships discussed above. However, this definition is also broad enough to include not only the romantic love that most of us will feel or have felt, so overwhelmingly, at one point or another. It also includes the love that Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, describes when he argues that the revolution shall be the deepest act of love.
Freire means that the oppressed are so profoundly impacted by horror created under the oppressors, and so profoundly impacted by their love for humanity and the world, that they can do nothing but strive to create beauty in the world through the creation of a more beautiful society. In Freire’s eyes, the oppressed are driven, in their need to rebel, by their love.
Although oppression is experienced far differently here at Ohio University than it was by the illiterate Brazilian peasantry about whom Freire was primarily concerned, many people on this campus still experience the reality of oppression. Many people on this campus also experience love. For some who feel it, this love serves as a primary motivator in life, usurping immediate, personal benefit.
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Love, as I have defined it, is a verb. To love is to create beauty. And this creation is action. Like revolutionaries in Brazil, the student-activists on this campus – so often scorned for their anger, seriousness, and idealism – are driven by that love. And, in their activism, they perform that love.
I, as well as all the activists I associate with, love OU. We love the world we live in. We try to love all those who occupy it. We may not express our love in the best way, or in the way that we intend to. Occasionally, we may lose sight of our motivation, so overcome by our anger or the outside stresses in our lives. Too often, we make mistakes. However, our aim in all of this is to create a more beautiful world.
The activists I know on this campus strive deeply to care for one another. We eat communal meals together. We party together. Sometimes, a couple of us will sleep together. We laugh, we talk, we play music and we take breaks when we need to. These are all means of performing our love. Our activism is another manifestation of this performance, as we strive to extend our love beyond the reach of ourselves and spread it throughout the campus and the world.
We are not the only ones who feel this love, and activism is not the only way to express such love. But know that this is where our anger and our activism come from. When we stand in the streets, shouting “F--k tuition!” it may seem to many like we’re angsty teens and twenty-somethings who don’t appreciate what they have. However, we do appreciate what we have. We appreciate this education so deeply, in fact, that we are willing to stand in the streets shouting “F--k tuition!” as the rain pours down and as the Board of Trustees awkwardly shuffles in and out of its meeting without looking at us. We want this education, which we are so privileged to be able to experience, to be accessible not only to ourselves but also to all those who want or need it.
As the semester draws to a close, I am questioning the efficacy of a lot my work in the Student Union this year, as are many. However, I’m still in it, because I have never experienced a community of people so dedicated to their love for each other and for the world. I trust that we won’t let ourselves be stopped by the setbacks that have presented themselves so far, and I trust that we will continue to fight. If we need to, we will return to the drawing board and carve out a new plan, but we will always continue in striving to create a better world and to love. I’d appreciate it if you joined us when we return to school next semester. The Student Union meets on Thursdays at 8 p.m. in Ellis 111.
Daniel Kington is a sophomore studying English and a Student Union organizer. Interested in joining Student Union? Email him at dk982513@ohio.edu.
