Very few people probably remember this, but in 2021, there was supposed to be a pilot of a television show called “The Activist.” Just like “American Idol,” “The Apprentice,” and many other shows that pretend to exhibit “reality” while making a mockery of most practices. This obnoxious display of ineptitude resulted from people completely misunderstanding the 2020 protests and made them about attention, instead of policy change. Fortunately, the network attempting to broadcast such a monstrosity quickly backtracked, but the message was already sent to marginalized communities: social justice is an attention-seeking joke to those within the dominant narrative. Consequently, many initiatives and groups have become defunct because so many people failed to understand that advocates want change and holding complacent people accountable is part of the change, not playing power games and reinforcing the status quo.
What the ruling class and self-titled “elites” have repeatedly failed to understand is that communities are already tired of people invading their privacy in the name of “justice.” One of the most popular tactics used by municipal and federal governments is surveys–not because they tell complete stories or advance alternative narratives, but because responses can more easily be electronically manipulated. Anyone trained with statistics software can attest to that. Otherwise, it would be pretty difficult to contend that a 94-year-old great grandmother had no idea how to communicate with developers trying to steal her home. More often, the goal of “community outreach” is to manipulate marginalized classes into accepting the status quo, and most people are tired of fending off such terrible efforts.
Another misguided notion is that celebrity is more important than whether change actually occurs. Why did so many people vote for Barack Obama? Because he was talking about universal healthcare, and people struggling with student loans without jobs–despite the advice of Baby Boomers and Silent Generation–thought that there might be some sort of chance to relieve some financial tension. While the President was and remains wildly popular, many of his supposedly supportive colleagues looked out for themselves and undermined every effort he made to instill lasting change. Despite people coming out in droves to make both of his elections possible, a Congress funded by insurance companies has no incentive to relieve healthcare burdens on the households of people who will survive them, and they have repeatedly demonstrated that they do not care. There are many popular people within the dominant narrative that nobody takes seriously, so attempting to be popular is missing the plot line.
Furthermore, popularity is relative. There are plenty of people who are extremely popular within very small niches who never make it to citywide, let alone national popularity. Activism is about targeted efforts to directly affect change, and it is much harder to affect change for a large group of people spanning multiple government levels. However, nothing diminishes the immensely difficult tasks that grassroots groups undertake on a regular basis. Many of them have made impossible sacrifices that they will never recoup for efforts that were largely mocked, while activism designed to maintain the status quo has been incomparably successful. No one likes people who say that the party needs to stop, so none of the people who say that are considered “popular.”
Offending people without money is seen as an entitlement among the ruling classes, and they often ridicule those “beneath” them by saying that the marginalized classes are “unprofessional” and “delusional” in their approach. Question: who appears more “delusional” and “unprofessional,” those whose very existence depends on the unseen/unrecognized support of dozens of people around them, or those providing the support? Anyway, most of the self-styled policy monarchs have been approached many times by those with little resources, and who were blocked by numerous gatekeepers. Instead of acknowledging that, such royalty argues that people did not approach them correctly and therefore decided to ignore them. Thus, the royals repeatedly mock the real needs for changes in policy execution.
Most importantly, while government propaganda denotes otherwise, the reality is that “freedom” demonstrated in the United States implies that “might makes right,” which is why segregationists and oligarchs control most of the country. There is nothing that surveys, petitions, votes, and protests create that will make the ruling class listen other than having equal power. Unfortunately, playing by their rules–which all of the above methods include–is already yielding to their power. The lies of their magnanimity in the past have been unraveling, which is why there has been an increase in violence for the last few years. People cannot stand when their fake reputations and dishonest behavior have been exposed for the frauds they are, and violence is usually the first response.
* This often-used image was created by Restoring Racial Justice.
Chasing A Dying Empire 