Activism

I read some pretty political blogs so it's inevitable that I'll read a post by a frustrated activist. These posts are easy to remember because they always make you feel angry after reading them, and not in a sympathetic way. The post is dripping with self righteousness, self pity, and condescension. Anyone who disagrees with them is just one of the oppressors/corporatists/the establishment. They may feel better after this post, but the fact they wrote it makes me wonder if they have any idea what an activist really is.

The way I see it, the point of activism is to leverage the power of the people to affect change. In a democratic society, if enough people are willing to spend their time and money to get something, they will get it. Despite all the body blows that system has taken recently, I still believe it holds up. Therefore, an activist should try to get as many people to spend their time or money on a cause.

However, what I see instead is a digital totem measuring contest to see who is the most right. Believe it or not, yelling at people that they aren't pure enough doesn't convince anyone to join your cause. If a man tries to write something in support of feminism and is a little off base, cussing him out on the internet does not advance your cause. You convince very few people to join you, and many more to oppose you.

Of course, the activists them shout back (and it is always shouting) that they are sick of taking a positive tone, that they shouldn't have to submit to the humiliation of correcting other people's mistakes. After all, THOSE people are wrong, and they deserve every bolt of lightning the activists can muster from their quiver of indignation.

And it's true. If someone is doing something wrong that actively hurts someone, they probably do deserve some opprobrium. But it doesn't matter. If you don't convince people to join your side, you are not helping your side. All the righteous fury in the world is useless if your cause is still defeated. You are no closer to your goal than when you started, ind in all likelihood farther behind.

Activists also dangerously intermingle their own sense of self into their cause. This makes it hard to accept new people as members of the cause, which is the whole point of being an activist. I read an article about a black woman helping a white administrator educate some white teachers about defeating black stereotypes. "We showed them," the administrator said to the black teacher.

Did the black woman accept the white administrator as a member of the cause to eliminate racism? No. She instead thought to herself "No, you are not one of us. Fighting racism is my identity, not yours." This sort of rejection may preserve the self but in the end hurts the cause. For an activist cause to succeed you can't kick people out just because they don't meet your definition of what such a person should be. You must grow the cause even at the expense of your own comfort.

Most so called activists are not what I would call an activist. They are martyrs. Their identity is wrapped up inside of the cause they champion. So much so that they are unable to do what is necessary to advance the cause. Any attack on them becomes an attack on the cause. Anyone who is not them is an enemy to the cause. And thus the cause falters, and the so called activist thrives on the bitter leaves of self righteous indignation.