There is no one universally right way to do activism.
There are, however, many ways that are demonstrably wrong.
If you’re acting in a way that gives rise to credible speculation that you’re secretly funded by Big Oil, maybe it’s worth considering the possibility that you’re a counterproductive cosplaying fool.
We need a diversity of tactics.
Running unarmed at a machine-gun nest is a tactic. But a diversity of tactics is only a good thing when those tactics actually work.
There’s news articles claiming MLK was secretly funded by the USSR to bring disorder to the US, and it was considered credible at that time by the majority of the white population. The point isn’t people’s reactions, when the civil rights act passed the majority of America thought MLK was a terrible person harming America. The point is to create enough disruption that the people with the power to do so are forced to take action or risk outright collapse of the social order.
Remember there is an actual intelligent force you are against, so they are working on making your effective tactics ineffective. In that case, how do you know if a tactic “works”?
A: you try a bunch of stuff AKA a diversity of tactics.
There is no one universally right way to do activism. We need a diversity of tactics.
There are, however, many ways that are demonstrably wrong.
If you’re acting in a way that gives rise to credible speculation that you’re secretly funded by Big Oil, maybe it’s worth considering the possibility that you’re a counterproductive cosplaying fool.
Running unarmed at a machine-gun nest is a tactic. But a diversity of tactics is only a good thing when those tactics actually work.
There’s news articles claiming MLK was secretly funded by the USSR to bring disorder to the US, and it was considered credible at that time by the majority of the white population. The point isn’t people’s reactions, when the civil rights act passed the majority of America thought MLK was a terrible person harming America. The point is to create enough disruption that the people with the power to do so are forced to take action or risk outright collapse of the social order.
Remember there is an actual intelligent force you are against, so they are working on making your effective tactics ineffective. In that case, how do you know if a tactic “works”?
A: you try a bunch of stuff AKA a diversity of tactics.