Commentary by Sea Shepherd founder, Captain Paul Watson (Recent picture included from a Deserted Island)
One of the things I often hear from activists especially young activists is that they are hurt by comments and criticisms for their activism.
Now I've been an activist for the environment, for conservation, for indigenous rights and for animals for half a century and I've been called many names and I've been attacked by thousands of people worldwide and over that time I have discovered something that allows me to deal with the name calling and the ad hominem personal attacks and it is rather simple.
“Ignore them.”
There are three types of criticism:
- Positive criticisms from friends, peers and family.
- Negative criticism from people you know.
- Negative criticism from People you don't know.
The positive criticism from people you know are helpful and constructive but there is nothing to be gained from listening to or responding to negative criticism from anybody.
The world is full of people you don't know. Their opinions are plain and simply irrelevant.
You can't be bullied if you ignore the bullies and they are easy to ignore.
The only person you need to prove anything to is yourself. The only person you need to impress is yourself.
And if you can't say anything encouraging or supportive of someone else than it is best to not say anything at all unless you make the conscious choice to regard someone as an enemy. Once you do that by all means go on the attack but remember you must be prepared for retaliation and if you can't take it, you should not dish it out.
Also remember if your actions make people angry enough to attack you that means you are being effective. No one criticizes someone who does nothing, unless of course all they do is nothing.
The more critics you have, the more effective you must be.
I love having critics. I love having people who hate me. It means I am effectively opposing something they support like whaling, sealing, illegal fishing, destruction of habitat, hunting, exploitation of indigenous peoples etc.
I even have the luxury of having entire nations, provinces and states hate me, like for example the Faeroes, Newfoundland, Japan, etc.
But although I like the fact that I have so many enemies I don't feel they are worth responding to. I simply accept them as a fact of life and ignore them.
Hate mail has it's uses. For me it is great for starting camp fires when in the bush. I certainly never respond to it and unless it amuses me to do so, I rarely even read it.
When friends say did you hear what person A said about you or did you see what person B wrote about you, I simply say “no.” I did not not hear them nor did I read what they said and I'm not interested in doing so.
Life is too short and I am far too busy to worry about other people's opinions. I don't debate whalers, I oppose them. I don't debate supporters of whaling either, it's a waste of time. If someone posts a pro-whaling or anti-animal comment on my social network pages, I delete it and block the person. I am simply not interested in anyone's pro-whaling or anti-animal or anti environmental opinions.
When young people say they are stressing because people are talking about them and being critical I simply remind them about what Oscar Wilde once said on the subject:
Oscar Wilde once said “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
When people attack me for my looks or my weight or because they don't like my qualifications or feel I am not qualified to act or speak, I deal with them the same way. I ignore them. I know that if they did not attack me of one thing then would simply find something else to attack me on.
We do not have to justify ourselves to critics and we do not have to prove anything to them. If they don't like the way we look or what we do, that is their problem and not ours. We do not need the validation of others to act upon what we believe in.
I think that Teddy Roosevelt said it best when in a speech about critics he said:
“It's not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled. Credit belongs to the man who really was in the arena, his face marred by dust, sweat, and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs to come short and short again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. It is the man who actually strives to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasm and knows the great devotion, who spends himself on a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement. And, who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and cruel souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
If you are an activist, it is for the cause and not for the approval of others. I do what I do for my clients, the whales, the seals, turtles, birds, dolphins, fish etc. I don't do what I do for people.
If people don't like what I do that is their problem and not mine.
I have never injured another human being in my entire life and causing injury or death in my opinion is the only thing that someone can legitimately condemn someone else for. To be condemned for saving a life or protecting an eco-system is just plain non-sensical and thus such a criticism has no validity.
And you have to expect that people will make up and spread stories about you. The best way to deal with that is also to ignore the stories. The number of stories about me are amazing. I find some of the stories to be so outlandish as to be amusing but in general they are not worth paying attention to.
When some people say I heard this about you or I heard that about you, I just smile and say, well people talk, what can I say?
When people say I'm not a qualified captain, I say, well if that is the case it sure as hell has not stopped me from commanding some three hundred voyages on numerous ships.
When they demand that I produce my qualification I ignore them. I need not prove anything to anyone except to the the authorities who require that information.
We do not have a responsibility to answer to the criticism and denunciations of others. Quite frankly it is a waste of time and accomplishes nothing.
Know thy critics and ignore thy critics is my motto and it is easy to know who they are. Quite simply if someone who is not your friend or a member of your family or someone you work with makes a criticism of you than they are the ones to be ignored. And if the criticisms from friends or family or people you work with are negative, ignore such criticisms also.
As an activist you don't need people bringing you down, telling you what you can't do, belittling your qualification or undermining your self confidence.
You need people in your life who will empower you, support you and give you encouragement and if your friends and family don't provide this then ignore them also.
You can accomplish anything you desire if you are passionate enough, courageous enough and confident enough.
When I was in high school some of my teachers said I was too much of a dreamer and an idealist to amount to anything. When I told them what I wanted to do, they told me I was aiming too high or being unrealistic. My own father told me I was aiming too high and to be more realistic in my goals.
I simply ignored them and followed my own dreams, marched to my own music and did the things that I felt that I needed to do and wanted to do. And I have never had any regrets for doing so.
Have I made mistakes? Yes plenty of mistakes but mistakes are how we learn to not make the same mistake again.
I have never gained anything from critics nor will anyone else. They are the people pulling you down when you try to climb, they are the people stifling your dreams and throwing cold water on your ambitions. And as such they are to be ignored.
I said to my daughter when she was seven that she was the boss of her own life, not me. I was there to guide her and encourage her but I was never there to criticize, scold or discourage her. It was not for me to tell her what to do with her life or how to do it. As a result she is a highly successful, talented, and confident woman and I could not be more proud of her than I am.
I see the biggest obstacle to young activists being a lack of self confidence. Many are overly concerned about what people including friends and family think of them or their actions. They are stressed about what people say about them and as such they allow others to bully, manipulate and control them.
My only answer to this is simple. Satisfy your own desires, follow your own dreams, live your own life and damn anyone who tells you that you do not have the imagination, the courage, the ability or the passion to live your life the way you want to live it.
And remember your greatest source of strength lies within yourself and not in the opinions of others. Say what you think, act upon what you believe in, dare to be yourself and never stop dreaming, never stop doing and never stop caring.
This world is a beautiful place once you unshackle your heart, mind and soul from the expectations of others.
