Activism for Activism's Sake

                So here I am, sitting around watching my show Community. I have a ton of homework to do but I’m in one of those procrastinatory moods, you know the one. So I’m trying not to think about my blog posts because I have no idea what to talk about. None. Zilch. Nada. Then while watching Community, it just hands me an idea. It’s like it realized my light and decided to help. Thank you Community, I never thought a show about the most unproductive study group could ever help me be productive, but it has.  So in the recent episode, a lot is going on, but Britta (the “activist” of the group) learned that a ‘friend’ of hers is part of a small group that went to Syria and got detained by the government for protesting. So this sets off a chain reaction where she basically reasserts her hippie ideologies and stages a bunch of unsuccessful, solitary protests against anything related to “the man”. The joke being, that she feels the obligation to be as “unruly” (Couldn’t think of a good term, meh) as the friend that just got detained, so she starts to protest again just for the sake of protesting and being cool. Which got me thinking about how it seems that there are some people that do do this. And those people don’t really add any legitimacy to any protests or cause they join, they just bog it down with what people see as being hippies for hippies sake. But is this so common? 

That one guy

 We all know that one activist guy, the guy who knows all the causes and raises all the fundraisers and gets involved. But what really decides whether or not they are being a poser or if they are actually helping. Because sometimes it seems to me that, while some people may in fact use it too much for their own image than for the actual benefit, activism can sometimes be purposely misconstrued to seem self-centered. When in fact, it may not be self-centered, but rather that person is actually getting involved because they want to help.  And the real reason people feel so hostile towards them is that because they realize that that person is doing more good than they are and they want to reassure themselves about their own actions (or inactions). And now even as I’m writing this I feel self-conscious and almost hypocritical, although not really, because I’m kinda righting an activist blog and I’m now writing about fake activism that doesn’t help, even though my opinions don’t really help either. Hmm.

People dislike activism sometimes because it makes them feel like they aren’t doing enough. But you don’t have to be that kid with the dreads who always passes petitions around, buys only organic food, and attends all the protests. Activism is about spreading a word, an ideology where if people are informed about something, they will make more informed decisions. And informed decisions lead to a better society. So you don’t have to be in that club with all the hippies to be an activist. Those are the people who really do the extra mile. All you have to do is be informed. Read the news; stay up to date on current issues. Most of all just stay informed. If you know for a fact a certain product isn’t manufactured in a fair environment, or a certain company is kinda sketchy, just don’t buy that brand. Bringing back that old sense of boycotting, well it really can make a difference. And it doesn’t have to be loud and in-your-face to work.