Driving Forces of Activism
Motivation
In this period of rising tensions, activism was inspired by several different factors. One of the predominant motivations was self-preservation; the development of nuclear arms and the rapid militarization of Cold War combatants led to fears of Mutually Assured Destruction if the conflict escalated. Thus, many activist organizations were motivated by this personal danger and sought to mitigate these threats to life.
However, self-preservation was not the only driving force behind Cold War activism. While some groups focused on the personal risks, others adopted a wider view and questioned the morality of the conflict; how these new weapons and threats created moral challenges which all people needed to address and reconcile. The protest efforts against Trident’s presence in Bangor by groups like the Pacific Life Community and others displayed how this human morality played a key role in the larger picture of Cold War activism. This central belief was apparent in efforts to highlight how Trident posed a threat to all people equally, justify protest efforts with moral authority, and connect religious inspiration to activism.
Citizen Diplomacy: A Connection to the Anti-Trident Movement
A prominent example of this altruistic motivation was exhibited by citizen diplomacy efforts between the United States and Soviet Union. Despite the longstanding fears of a nuclear war, these diplomats sought to:
“identify on a human level with the intended victims…. creating relationships in which…Americans and Soviets understand, empathize, and care…transforming the act of launching nuclear weapons into an act of murdering friends.”
The citizen diplomats recognized the global threat posed by nuclear weapons and took it as their moral duty, to themselves and humanity, to rally and protect people on both sides of the conflict from the shared possibility of atomic death. These acts of humanizing and understanding the ‘enemy’ as equals facing similar dangers was a powerful moral position which was co-opted by other protest groups. One specific form of this humanistic activism became a key rhetorical point of one of the most influential and visible anti-Trident activist groups, the Pacific Life Community.