A lot of people like to go around talking about how they “opposed” bad actions, and that they never really sided with the negative forces in the world. If asked how they actively disengaged, some will look elsewhere, include vague language, and others will become defensive. Plainly put, these people have a lot of imaginary scenarios where they turn out as heroes, but if directly challenged, they always talk about how certain circumstances were “the wrong times.” Expecting there to always be a chance to do better when one has done poorly is a matter of entitlement, and no one will look to these individuals as examples in the end.
Some negative circumstances end in death, but most events create hardship for those who are forced to endure them. None of the bystanders think of themselves as enacting those consequences, but if seeing pain does not inspire action, who are they, really? This is not the time for fake smiles and disengagement, nor will toxic positivity cure discrimination. People who watch others be placed in difficult circumstances while doing nothing might as well be firing the guns and beating people with batons. Silence has never been neutral, but people are finally becoming uncomfortable with others saying that truth out loud because it means that they, too, helped oppress others without remorse.
While I am a writer, I would point out that writing is what is left of what I am willing to do about injustice because I have spent a lot of time, energy, and resources thinking that justice was somewhat of a universal truth. Throughout my time in various forms of activism, I have found that most people like attention, and come up with new ways to talk all the time, but never really consider that a lack of action means that injustice prevails. My father used to have a sign that said, “Talk is cheap. Advice is $75 an hour,” which made sense because he was a lawyer. In this era, talk is cheap and everyone does it, but the coddled and the mediocre are too busy reassuring each other to recognize that nothing has been happening at scale in a way that advances change.
Most importantly, telling others to clean up cowardice is not an act of strength. I have consistently reflected upon how the most abusive people cover their actions with the steadfast belief that they are incapable of harm, and that it is the responsibility of those harmed to “reevaluate” their perspectives. Meanwhile, those causing harm are being rewarded not only with the right to cause unmitigated pain, but unpaid support staff blaming the targets. To stand by and watch someone cause harm and inwardly think, “Next time, I will use my voice to make change” is to pretend that someone else is able to also avoid the cost now.
The only reason that people have been conditioned to believe that the best things in life are free is because psychotic rich people needed a diversion from their evils in the world. We will not get a second planet Earth, people who lost income will not inevitably regain their losses, and a bright future is not promised because people need happy stories. Sometimes, the moment is all one has, and if they think they get another chance because they fear consequences? That is a delusion that they will have to sustain, and not one to which everyone else is forced to add oxygen.
Chasing A Dying Empire 