Here's a giant step toward creating change: Stop doing "activism"
On “Black Friday,” I was out walking to find two particular homeless women (and one particular homeless man) when I gazed upward to see the sign in the photo above.
In case anyone is unclear, the reference is to a U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that houses a notoriously torture-friendly detention camp nicknamed “Gitmo.”
I’ve already written volumes on the particulars of that perpetual U.S. war crime so, for now, I’ll focus on the “activism” part.
Some random person living in a random third-floor apartment on a random sidestreet in Astoria, Queens, NYC placed this random sign where almost no one will ever see it (except for their IG followers if they post a photo).
Does that person, for a moment, believe that such an act will frighten the Pentagon into action? I doubt they’ve thought it out that far. They’re just partaking in low-effort “activism” as a way to gain social currency amongst their equally ineffective and delusional peers.
And since I was out helping homeless people when this line of thought hit me (yet again), please allow me to introduce the meme below as Exhibit B in my latest case against impotent exhibitionism:
“Unhoused.”
I have worked within the homeless community for decades. Not once — never — have I encountered a homeless person who deemed “homeless” to be an insult. No one — I repeat, no one — prefers the politically correct term “unhoused” (except “activists,” of course).
The far more helpful option, of course, would be to offer some support to the people who are getting their tents removed.
Yet again, this is an example of how well-intentioned souls are easily derailed into performative virtue signaling instead of thinking independently and garnering tangible results.
If you seek meaningful and sustainable social change, I have an excellent 2024 resolution for you: STOP doing “activism.”
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Locally, so many would-be reformers and radicals get sidetracked into what amounts to performative moral outrage. They see it as raising consciousness and appealing to conscience. Some of them, to their credit, also engage in direct engagement and direct relief. But they are the minority and they have to contend with people who claim that direct relief and engagement papers over the problem. So we've ended up with a tiny minority that has hard-earned, practicable insights, and a vast majority that, for all their good intentions, only makes a lot of noise.
I remember becoming very aware of this phenomenon during the "Bring back our girls" campaign some years back, when the 200 Nigerian students were kidnapped.