Activism
Activism is the effort to bring about social or political change. Most of us feel the pull to fix what looks wrong in the world. The question is how to spend that pull without wasting it. That is effective activism. My rules for it, presumptuous as they are:
- Pick your fights. You cannot fix everything, and not everything that looks wrong is wrong. Check twice that an issue is worth solving before you take it on.
- Match effort to influence. Spend on an issue in proportion to the control you really have over it. Bite off more than that and you choke.
- Act where you have real control. If you can truly change something, there is no excuse for not trying. Study it, take a clear stance, and work out practical fixes.
- Let the rest go. Most issues are outside your control. Stay somewhat informed, hold at least a minimal stance, and do not carry the world on your shoulders.
- Work with imperfect allies. A cause moves by coalition, not by purity tests. Do not punish people on your side for falling short of full commitment. Name real wrongdoing, then get back to the work. As Barack Obama put it in 2019, “People who do really good stuff have flaws.”
It is often more productive to work with the motivated and influential few to change institutions, and to let the average person be.
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