I was talking with a friend on Twitter who was turned off by the activism in a group he identifies with due to their authoritarian mindset – if you’re one of us, you MUST think like us… typical of people these days, especially activists. While I believe activism has done a lot of good throughout time and around the world, I commented that modern western activism is mostly self-serving, hyperbolic, and extremist. Looking at today’s environment – the media, and online, I think it would be hard to argue against this, but to each their own.
Then someone chimed into the thread – an activist from that community. She was a bit antagonizing from the start. Much was said, but it heated up fast. I don’t get too controversial online because of this stuff – I have brands to protect, and my comments are never about specific events or people, but rather a perspective of our current human condition.
She immediately went into, “Have you been an effective activist for anything? Has it ever been an absolute imperative for you personally? Or do you just complain about the activism of others?”
I don’t know this person or how she conducts her activism, but I made it clear I wasn’t talking about all activists, nor was I talking about her. I was talking about the general state of modern activism, and that true activism requires both strength and humility – and the desire to truly reach people. Instead, we get people calling themselves activists while screaming at everything, making unreasonable demands, and turning people away from their causes. This isn’t activism. It’s anarchy.
She then attacked me for my saying activism requires humility while claiming I had no humility for opposing her. Wow, ok.
Too often activism does become narcissism. At its very core, activism is meant to bring about social and political change. Our country’s greatest activists have focused on the issues, not themselves—people like Susan B. Anthony or Martin Luther King, Jr. Now it’s hard to tell whether purported activists are championing their causes or themselves.
– Jessica C. Coggins, The Harvard Crimson
If a plumber breaks your toilet, you don’t need to be a fellow plumber to criticize them. If a marketing firm misses the mark and flops a campaign, you don’t need to be a marketing professional to point out the blunder. If activists are repelling people from their cause instead of attracting people, you don’t need to be an “experienced” activist to criticize. In all of these cases, you’re either a customer or the intended audience. Any communications professional knows they must listen to their audience to get it right – and that’s what activism is – communication. And all of these things require empathy and humility to perform competently. It doesn’t make someone lacking in humility to point this out. Many of us don’t understand what humility is. Humility isn’t lacking opinions or strong convictions. It doesn’t mean shut up and keep your head down. It means being self-aware, free from arrogance, and the ability to admit mistakes.
Throughout her insults to me, I never derided her, her cause, or her activism, but it was apparent that she was yet another activist who would make everything about her, and go off the handle to berate someone who was just critiquing what so many of us see and dread. Activists have a lot of nerve attacking those who criticize considering all the damage that’s been done in recent years to property and lives, as well as radical policy changes and the constant strife our world is in, due in part, to extreme, sloppy activism.
Many of us don’t understand what humility is. Humility isn’t lacking opinions or strong convictions. It doesn’t mean shut up and keep your head down. It means being self-aware, free from arrogance, and the ability to admit mistakes.
To be sure, there isn’t just one form of effective activism – there are different styles. But there are plenty of bad ways to carry out activism. An activist I’ve always admired – Thich Nhat Hanh, who tirelessly campaigned for world peace while exemplifying what that peace could look like. This was in stark contrast to those in The West at the time who claimed similar goals while their actions certainly didn’t match up.
Lots of recent talk address communal narcissism in politics and activism, such as this article from The Harvard Crimson. Specifically, the article’s author, Jessica C. Coggins, writes: “Too often activism does become narcissism. At its very core, activism is meant to bring about social and political change. Our country’s greatest activists have focused on the issues, not themselves—people like Susan B. Anthony or Martin Luther King, Jr. Now it’s hard to tell whether purported activists are championing their causes or themselves.”
Another article from Psychology Today talks specifically about communal narcissism and how it differs from other forms (and why it takes so many of us in).
In reality, this post is about both the modern state of activism, as well as humility – an essential requirement to a functional life. Modern activism is in trouble. At the root of it all, there’s typically a valid point, but if the point is primarily represented by arrogant mobs who are immune to criticism, they will simply destroy anything they touch.
I’m not against activism, nor am I critiquing the causes themselves. I’m also not suggesting we can always be super nice. It’s about HOW activism is approached and for what true purpose. Activists in today’s world must answer this question for themselves with complete honesty: Is this about their cause or is it about them?