Day 7, Hunger Strike against Formosa Plastics

So how is the strike? I’ve had a few people ask me that and almost always they say that they are concerned about the strike because I’m 75 years old—I AM OLD— and they hope I do not compromise my heath. They sincerely hope I know when to quit. This thinking always puts me straight up against my philosophy for how I fight--whether it is to stop pollution or the wrong doings of companies against the workers, fishermen, communities, and the environment.

My experience of 35 years has taught me a few things. One, I do not believe companies or countries give us what we want willing. We have to fight for justice, and I don’t believe that occurs with a “please, thank you.” A famous man once said the reasonable people adapt to the world, but unreasonable people make the world adapt to them. And that’s where progress occurs.

Two, change can occur when we put our bodies out on the edge. And not a safe, cozy edge with two dozen safety nets under our feet. I believe it’s a secret of the universe that if we walk out to the edge and step out, things can change. Action happens. Elanor Roosevelt once said that we should do something that we fear every day.

Overcoming fear can be very liberating. For me, this means that my actions are not limited because they are risky. Risk, in fact, can be a good thing. And that’s where this hunger strike is. It’s risky and I know it. As I have said since I drove my truck Into Formosa Plastics, Point Comfort Texas’s ditch. This hunger strike for justice for the Vietnamese fishermen is in Formosa Plastics Group’s ballpark. They know how long I will be out here in their ditch.