Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical

Seth Godin analyses the screaming in Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical when the status quo is challenged:

But there are two ways to do it, and one of them is ineffective, short-sighted and threatens the fabric of the tribe. The other seems to work.

It may appear that demonstrations are just a lot of screaming people with simple slogans. The slogans are the agitation. They are designed to break through the status-quo quickly to people. The screaming is necessary because of the restrictions on amplifiers.

The theory is that agitation leads to propaganda. Unfortunately, the following is too often true:

The screaming is a key part, because screaming is often a tool used to balance out the lazy ignorance of someone parroting opposition to an idea that they don't understand....

The main danger is that activists find:

It's easy to fit in by yelling out, and far more difficult to actually read and consider the facts. Anytime you hear, "I don't have the time to understand this issue, I'm too busy being upset," you know that something is wrong.

The best thing for activists is to be the best informed through readings and discussions. This is what propaganda is about - one-to-one indepth discussions with another person:

If you want to change what your boss believes, or the strategy your company is following, the first step is to figure out how to be the best informed person in the room.

The best way to do that would be subscribe to Green Left Weekly.