On The Guilt And Duty Of The Average Person
It’s important to find a balance between activism and having realistic expectations.
Even if we threw ourselves into The Cause(tm) 100%, there’s no guarantee of change. For many people, that’s disheartening. If they sold all their worldly possessions, worked 16 hours a day 7 days a week in the most radical ways they could imagine, the world still might not change because of them. But I prefer the mirror view - you don’t have to be a martyr and an ascetic to support revolution. Every revolution in history was made possible by a much larger cadre than just the key figures and (now nameless) instigators.
Don’t ever give up an opportunity for low-risk high-reward activism, nor for activity which can make a large difference but consumes very little of your limited resources. Yet also understand that the world isn’t your’s to fix. Focus on playing your part.
Vote, especially if you have mail-in voting. That’s dirt-cheap cost in time and energy. Harm reduction is… as we’re seeing today, worth literal millions of lives. Protest? Certainly, whenever the opportunity arises. One more voice in the crowd is one more voice it’s harder to drown out. Activism? Absolutely. Donating your time multiplies the efforts of everyone else. Throw a brick in your local riot? Fuck yeah. A riot is the language of the unheard, and if the powers that be won’t listen, a few bricks can make them nervous and wake them up for ’negotiations’. Talk about a strike with your union? Golden fuckin’ language. Few things are as strong as workers’ solidarity.
… but at the same time, understand that the burden is not wholly on you. If you missed a midterm election or made a bad choice in a presidential election, you don’t have to crucify yourself forever for it. If you know that voter suppression is going to be fucking gruesome at your polling place and you have a family to take care of, make the risk calculation for the specific election you’re in, and act according to your best judgement.
If you’re two payments late on rent and your boss has threatened you with dismissal if you miss another day, one more voice in the protest is generally not going to be the difference between life and death for The Revolution(tm). If you’re juggling multiple jobs or just barely staying away from putting a gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger as-is, the nice local party organizer who says you’d make a great part-time member of the team will understand if you can’t help at this juncture of your life.
If you’re out of jail on parole and know that getting caught means you’ll be behind bars for a disproportionately long time compared to your contribution, you don’t have to be one of the rioters. If the worst should come to pass and literal Pinkertons start fucking knocking on your door and plausibly threatening your spouse and kids for your strike, picking the lives of your loved ones over ideology is not something that reasonable people will condemn you, personally, for.
(Conversely, if you skip a vote because you really wanted ice cream; or a protest because a new game came out that day; or refuse an activist role you’re suited for because it might cut into your masturbation time; or condemn a riot because ‘violence bad 🥺’; or refuse a strike because it might interfere with your yearly productivity bonus… fucking take a step back and consider what a small cost it is to be a tolerably moral human fucking being)
Above all, it is not your burden on a personal, private level. You have a moral duty to do what you reasonably can, but it is not morally necessary for everyone to demand demand miracles or martyrdom of themselves. We are not fascists; everyone is not educated to be a hero. Miracleworkers and martyrs are needed, make no mistake. But to pursue that specific path is something one must decide for themselves. And often neither are actually given the choice - it just happens.
You don’t have to even be the first brick thrown or the name on the plaque when they put up a statue to the original strike’s proposers, though if you see the opportunity, it would be really swell. But be ready and proactive in doing your part.
