They can not focus on the positives or the advancements made towards their cause because to do so would mean that their mission was successful; therefore the organizations cease to be needed and the money stops coming in to fund them.
Aug 7, 2023·edited Aug 7, 2023Liked by Will Loconto
In the 90s, kids were taught to care about the planet by being taken outside and shown the wonder of nature, seeing animals in nature & at zoos, and seeing documentaries about natural wonders in far-off places. Now it seems that we have something more like sensory assault torture, where children are bombarded with messages of danger & doom while they are alone in a fluorescently lit room.
Something that irks me very much is the way these very same activists will demand as much "visibility" as possible, while at the same time ,they say that individual action is a pointless drop in the bucket, when corporations account for so much pollution/racism/inequality. it's gotten to the point where criticizing any particular behavior - like, say, buying plastic shoes or flying to Disneyland every year - will just get you counterattacked by people who engage in those behaviors and justify their actions by saying "I need to do this for my mental health" or "I need to do this because I'm poor", and then, of course, the old "Why are you criticizing individuals when XYZ Corp pollutes 6823758% more than me?"
The thing is, though, if individuals can't do anything, what exactly is the point of all the visibility?
The idea that something terrible is happening, but there's nothing they or anyone can do to stop it, is just an awful message for kids. *Even if* individual action is relatively minuscule in effect, the *belief* that individual action is meaningful gives people a way to feel that they are doing what they can to help. Whether that's picking up a few pieces of litter, riding a bicycle instead of driving, enjoying your local nature instead of flying out to Kauai, or giving a homeless fellow a sandwich and a pack of underwear - people like to feel that they can make a difference personally. Telling them that their actions are essentially pointless in a wider sense is just completely counterproductive.
It seems to me that these particular beliefs often coincide in a certain kind of person who reaaaallly likes complaining, but reaaaalllly doesn't want to change anything about their own personal habits for any reason at all whatsoever. Just look at California's ban on disposable plastic straws. The most minor pro-environmental action on the planet, and all of a sudden people come crawling out of the woodwork saying that they need straws because they have disabilities, that the straw ban disproportionately hurts minority businesses, etc etc etc.
At this point, the "activists" are devoted to so many different causes, that action on one cause inevitably runs afoul of some other cause. You can't ban straws because of disabled people. You can't make low-income urban areas nice and pleasant because that would inconvenience the homeless. You can't criticize people flying to Disneyland because they need Disneyland for their mental health. You can't even say "women's health" because you know why. It's just absolutely pathetic to watch people tie themselves in knots until they're completely bound & gagged. Doesn't it just seem almost too perfect? If I were a conservative opposed to change in any of these spheres, I would just be over the moon that these goofballs have rendered themselves powerless to do anything at all. .
They can not focus on the positives or the advancements made towards their cause because to do so would mean that their mission was successful; therefore the organizations cease to be needed and the money stops coming in to fund them.
In the 90s, kids were taught to care about the planet by being taken outside and shown the wonder of nature, seeing animals in nature & at zoos, and seeing documentaries about natural wonders in far-off places. Now it seems that we have something more like sensory assault torture, where children are bombarded with messages of danger & doom while they are alone in a fluorescently lit room.
Something that irks me very much is the way these very same activists will demand as much "visibility" as possible, while at the same time ,they say that individual action is a pointless drop in the bucket, when corporations account for so much pollution/racism/inequality. it's gotten to the point where criticizing any particular behavior - like, say, buying plastic shoes or flying to Disneyland every year - will just get you counterattacked by people who engage in those behaviors and justify their actions by saying "I need to do this for my mental health" or "I need to do this because I'm poor", and then, of course, the old "Why are you criticizing individuals when XYZ Corp pollutes 6823758% more than me?"
The thing is, though, if individuals can't do anything, what exactly is the point of all the visibility?
The idea that something terrible is happening, but there's nothing they or anyone can do to stop it, is just an awful message for kids. *Even if* individual action is relatively minuscule in effect, the *belief* that individual action is meaningful gives people a way to feel that they are doing what they can to help. Whether that's picking up a few pieces of litter, riding a bicycle instead of driving, enjoying your local nature instead of flying out to Kauai, or giving a homeless fellow a sandwich and a pack of underwear - people like to feel that they can make a difference personally. Telling them that their actions are essentially pointless in a wider sense is just completely counterproductive.
It seems to me that these particular beliefs often coincide in a certain kind of person who reaaaallly likes complaining, but reaaaalllly doesn't want to change anything about their own personal habits for any reason at all whatsoever. Just look at California's ban on disposable plastic straws. The most minor pro-environmental action on the planet, and all of a sudden people come crawling out of the woodwork saying that they need straws because they have disabilities, that the straw ban disproportionately hurts minority businesses, etc etc etc.
At this point, the "activists" are devoted to so many different causes, that action on one cause inevitably runs afoul of some other cause. You can't ban straws because of disabled people. You can't make low-income urban areas nice and pleasant because that would inconvenience the homeless. You can't criticize people flying to Disneyland because they need Disneyland for their mental health. You can't even say "women's health" because you know why. It's just absolutely pathetic to watch people tie themselves in knots until they're completely bound & gagged. Doesn't it just seem almost too perfect? If I were a conservative opposed to change in any of these spheres, I would just be over the moon that these goofballs have rendered themselves powerless to do anything at all. .
The craziest piece is that all "marginalized" groups and their "allies" must ALL support each other. That's where this eventually implodes on itself.