Action Briefing Feb 2003 - Mar 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Suits vs. hair shirts

I’ve had some disturbing things said to me about Birmingham Friends of the Earth in the recent past. Some of them, I admit, I have brought on myself.

A reference in a previous Action Briefing to “suits”, meaning some corporate b******, drew accusations that I and others here think that anyone who wears a suit is a corporate b******.

When I had got over the insult that someone who knew me could possibly ever think that I meant that, I could see that it may not have been obvious that I was referring specifically to someone whose understanding and personality doesn’t extend beyond their corporate suit. Point taken, knuckles rapped. I mean, honestly, I even wear a suit myself on occasion.

Those of us who work in the NGO and voluntary sector know how lucky we are to be doing something we believe in for a living, but it can also be a handicap. I know I would find it easier to run Localise West Midlands if I had some private sector experience. After a few years working in community planning, my brother went to work for a UK supermarket chain, to find out what life is like in the “real world”. It taught him a lot (and paid off his debts), and he’s now using the experience within the sustainability sector again.

Some time ago there was a rumour that someone stopped coming to our Monday night campaign meetings because they felt that driving here would be frowned upon. This is sad, because our meetings are open to all, and it's unthinkable that anyone would be criticised for driving to a meeting, or for not buying Fairtrade coffee, or for not ironing their hair shirt with a wood-fired steam iron, and so on.

However, it stands to reason that issues like this will come up at meetings. I campaign for organic food, but I’m generally too mean to buy it myself. I campaign against excessive car use, but I can’t drive myself and am not above gladly accepting lifts in my housemate’s Landrover. I campaign against airport expansion, but I can’t say that I never fly (and in any case I can’t claim as a virtue what is caused by penury!) Local councillors irked by our 'manifesto', Practical Ideas for a Greener Birmingham, said we should be more realistic in our aims. But as campaigners we cannot just ignore issues simply because they make people feel uncomfortable.

Ironically, the same week that the driving rumour reached us, there was a letter in the Birmingham Post from a girl saying she had left after one meeting because of the "hypocrisy" of the few people who had driven here. Personally, I suspect that Person A and Person B turned up to the same meeting and only talked to each other!

People who act and think differently from the stereotypical member (you know, dogma-driven, yoghurt-weaving, tie-dye-wearing, etc) are not only welcome to get involved, they're essential. Too narrow a mix of people working and living in a little Wednesday Guardian world of their own means even inveterate Questioners of Everything can be lulled into a false sense of security, forgetting how to discuss and argue with those from other walks (or drives, as the case may be) of life.

So, whether you wear a suit, vote Conservative, read the Sun, think globalisation is the best thing since organic hempseed bread, or even don’t drink real ale, that’s OK, we can still work together. Just don’t mention the war.

Karen Leach (climbs down from soapbox)

[Personal views expressed attach solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy of Birmingham Friends of the Earth - Ed]