Ranting Is Not Activism

However satisfying it may be

Some months after my divorce, my ex publicly accused me of engaging in some sort of pernicious “activism.”

What I was actually doing was crying on the shoulders of online friends. Anonymously. In forums he would not have stumbled across, had he not been aggressively cyberstalking me. If my desperate rants about losing the life I'd spent a decade and a half nurturing were offensive—and I'd argue they were not—they were, at best, not for his eyes. Nor were they activism. Don't get me wrong—I'd love to take credit for some activism, but the fact is, I wasn't doing any.

In three separate substack threads of late, debates have broken out about whether or not it's fair to be “mean” to your political opponents. Being mean doesn't win anyone over, goes one side—the side I favor. Being nice has gotten us nowhere, goes the other side, and we're just being honest, and anyway, fuck those other guys. I greatly appreciate Colin Wright's dissection of this false dichotomy—you can hold your boundaries and refuse to sugar-coat the truth without turning into a raging asshole. My words, not Colin's.

One commenter defended raging assholery on the grounds it “reached” a different audience. But the audience “reached” by angry fools is the audience that's already equally pissed. Preaching to the choir, if you will. Activism is about reaching people on the fence, and winning them over—not high-fiving people who already agree with you. Is ranting and raving satisfying? Is it fun? No doubt, but it isn't activism.

A friend of mine who was harmed by youth gender transition is currently traveling the U.S. at a breakneck pace, testifying before courts on legislation that affects children who would follow in his footsteps. That's activism. Meanwhile, various Internet personalities are complaining about him on their platforms—opining on his motives, disapproving of his collaborations, deciding which of his potential future actions they'd support. That's not activism.

Judging activists' activism insufficient is not activism.

Basking in your superiority is not activism.

Racking up likes and shares is not activism.

Patting yourself on the back about how right you are is not activism.

Look, we can't do activism all the time. Some of the things we do are going to be not-activism. But I'm concerned when people think their online rants are “reaching” people, changing hearts, affecting policies, or are otherwise at all productive. I'm also concerned about the way that pretend activism is taking up time that could be used for real activism.

An online time-management guru that I follow advised throwing away the to-do lists, forgetting about the timeboxing, and just doing. Endless planning can create a false sense of satisfaction and an inertia that prevents meaningful implementation. I think the same can be said for indulgent, activist-adjacent ranting.

If you want to move the needle, have some humility. Stop seeking approval and do the work. Your labor is your contribution to the miracle.