The Actions of a Few

Recently, as some of you know, we experienced what I can only describe as a debacle on social media, causing me to make a decision I never thought I would make... to close down a canning group that was 27K Plus members strong. 

To close a Facebook group is no simple process... the only way is to delete all members, then delete yourself... it took about a week for me to complete this task. During the deletion process, I received comments, private messages, emails, messages on my personal Facebook page... some supportive and understanding, some rude, some telling me how I should run things, some advising me to pass the torch to someone else and simply go away myself.The common thread on many of the comments and messages criticizing my decision usually included something like "why would you close a group this large due to the actions of a few?"

The answer? My answer? I got to the point where I couldn't tell who the "bad guys" were... I got tired of being told how to run things... I got tired of the drama, the backbiting, the arguing... I got tired of the criticism, the finger pointing, the feeling of anonymity people seem to get when on the www... where they feel they can say ugly things while hiding behind the anonymity of social media that they wouldn't dare say to a person's face. And I wasn't about to give my "baby" to someone else... I started this group, I grew this group, I couldn't simply give it away... my name, my work, my reputation was tied to this group.

Anyway... the common thread, "why let the actions of a few?" got me thinking about all the times in history where things, good and bad, were affected by "the actions of a few." I'd like to list a few examples of how the "actions of a few" changed the world...

• In 1973, Norma McCorvey, using the pseudonym Jane Roe, got abortion legalized in the United States... Roe v. Wade.

• On December 1, 1955 in Alabama, Rosa Parks decided to defy racial segregation rules by not giving up her seat for a white passenger when asked. Her actions sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, designed to put enough economic pressure on the city to listen. The campaign was so successful, it led to the desegregation of buses by the US Supreme Court. Rosa’s defiance changed the course of civil rights in American history.

• In 1963 Madalyn Murray O'Hair started a movement that eventually  led to the removal of prayer in schools in the US.

• Emily Davison was a women’s suffrage activist. She was imprisoned nine times, and endured force-feeding while on hunger strike. In 1913, her protest at the Epsom Derby resulted in her death, as she was trampled by King George V’s horse. She died of her injuries in hospital four days later. Her intention for the protest has always remained unclear, but she is remembered as a symbol of the struggle undertaken for the right for women to vote.

• Adolf Hitler, German dictator, and his Nazi minions during the 1930s were the reason millions of Jewish people were slaughtered during the Holocaust... All Germans were NOT Nazis and tens of thousands of Germans lost their lives as well by protesting the actions of a few.

• Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.

• Only 3 percent of the citizens of what is now the United States of America fought in the Revolutionary War that brought independence from Great Britain.

The above are only a few examples of how "the actions of a few" made huge changes. "The actions of a few" can be a powerful thing!

I don't even BEGIN to include myself or my small actions in the grand scheme of history... but I like to think I've made a small difference. That I've given inspiration and confidence to a small group of people that helped them to become more self-sufficient, to take the power of feeding their families into their own hands, to learn a skill that will serve them well. I'd like to think I have played a small part in that.

Can on, my friends!