Photo credit: Mickey Z.
Mickey Z. -- World News Trust
Sept. 26, 2016
DISCLAIMER: The original Facebook post (and ensuing comments) that provoked this article were written by people I know. This article is not meant to be a personal attack. They are most certainly not being singled out for our disastrous collective failure. We (myself very much included) must all shoulder that blame together.
It all began with a FB post, basically asking: “Where can you buy cardboard poles for signs?” The original poster clarified that they’d be willing to “compromise principles” to shop in chain stores like Home Depot, Staples, or Target, because: “It's for a good cause.” (Some of the “advice” offered: The Fashion District, fabric stores, cardboard recycling with specific details on garbage pick-up schedules in Manhattan.)
Let’s break this down into three parts:
1. Cardboard poles for signs.
This is what today’s “revolutionaries” been reduced to. If it wasn’t bad enough that they still adhere to the sign-holding model of “dissent,” the State rubs it in their face by arbitrarily outlawing the use of anything more “dangerous” than hollow cardboard poles to hold up their futile, ineffectual messages. Yep, if you go to a “protest,” you’ll be surrounded by uniformed, heavily militarized men who would apparently feel threatened if your colorful handmade and oh-so-radical puppet was being held aloft via a thin wood pole. In the name of challenging (sic) power, we apply and pay for a permit to stand in designated free speech zones, clinging to our non-threatening cardboard signs stapled to non-threatening cardboard poles. The reality is obvious, should we choose to recognize it: What we call “activism” is actually a crucial component in maintaining the status quo.
2. Compromise principles.
As I discussed in this article, our “principled” refusal to patronize businesses we perceive as being distasteful is virtue signaling in its purest form. Nothing is accomplished by boycotting Staples just as nothing would be accomplished by purchasing cardboard “protest” poles at Home Depot.
3. It's for a good cause.
Define “good cause.” If it has anything to do with modern “activism,” please rethink that definition. However, let’s say you encounter a homeless woman outside Target and she tells you she’s in urgent need of personal supplies. Putting aside your radical (sic) grudge against the store to buy this woman what she needs? Yeah, I think we can all agree: good cause.
HUGE First Step
Way too many people imply that unless a critic expounds a specific strategy for change, their opinion is nothing more than worthless negativity. This reaction misses the essential role critical analysis plays in a society where problems -- and their causes -- are so cleverly disguised. When discussing the future, the first step is usually an identification and demystification of the past and present.
Besides, of what value would my alleged "solutions" be while we are still in the midst of myriad global crises? I like to imagine if we began detaching ourselves from this necrophilic system, we'd create a space in which we could recognize paths and options currently invisible to us.
That said, I have been suggesting a HUGE first step for quite some time now: Recognize how ineffective we are and how badly we need new perspectives, voices, and ideas.
Until we collectively undertake such introspection and soul searching, our alleged “solutions” are worth even less than the non-threatening cardboard they’re printed on.
Mickey Z. is currently writing two books, a memoir called How to Lose Friends & Influence Nobody: My Life as an “Activist,” and a novel entitled stain red. In the meantime, he can be found here.
SIGN of the times: Cardboard 'activism' helps maintain the status quo by Mickey Z. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://worldnewstrust.com/sign-of-the-times-cardboard-activism-helps-maintain-the-status-quo-mickey-z.