I Advocate for Shutting the Hell Up
You’re not Che Guevara. You’re just bored and online.
Have you ever noticed how everyone these days is an advocate?
“I’m an advocate for mental health.”
“I advocate for climate justice.”
“I’m a passionate advocate for human rights.”
Oh really? You advocate, do you? Well bravo, Gandhi. Tell me, what exactly does that mean? You posted an infographic on Instagram with a pastel background and a tear emoji? That’s not advocacy. That’s branding with a side of moral seasoning.
Let’s stop pretending the word advocate actually means anything anymore. It used to stand for action. Marches, meetings, raising money, maybe a night or two in jail for the cause. Now? It just means you’ve heard of a problem and you’re not a total asshole about it.
Being not awful isn’t advocacy. It’s the baseline requirement of being a human being. You don’t get a trophy for not cheering on child labor. You don’t earn a sash for believing all races should be treated equally. That’s called having a soul, not being a social justice superhero.
The truth is, most people claiming to advocate for something aren’t doing jack shit. They’re not organizing, not fundraising, not knocking on doors. Hell, half of ’em can’t even be bothered to vote. But they’ve got the hashtags down cold. Just enough performative outrage to make their bottomless mimosa posts look woke adjacent.
And look, I’m not judging from some moral high ground here. I’ve done more marching around my apartment looking for my phone than I have in the name of justice. I once gave ten bucks to a post-Katrina GoFundMe and told everyone about it like I personally drained the floodwaters. I’m not the moral authority here. But at least I’m honest about it.
Here’s a radical thought: instead of saying you’re an advocate, try being one. Donate. Volunteer. Learn something beyond that one ProPublica article you skimmed in a Lyft. Or, this is wild, just shut up about how good you are and go be good.
Because if I hear one more influencer say they’re “advocating for world peace” in front of a ring light while sipping cucumber water in a fucking robe at a 5-star resort, I’m gonna snap and start advocating for mandatory gag orders on clout-chasing hypocrites. Starting yesterday.
So yeah, maybe let’s retire the word. It’s tired. It’s bloated. It’s the “Live, Laugh, Love” of activism. Just say you give a shit, and act like it.
And hey, if you are out there doing the real work? You don’t need to call yourself an advocate. We’ll know. We’ll see it. And we’ll thank you. Hell, maybe we’ll even join you. Right after we finish TikTok-ing brunch.
Advocate is so yesterday. I'm an influencer :-) It means I get money
You’re expressing frustration with the vacuity of modern American culture Dan. Imagine that! Wilde noted about America: it’s the only country that moved from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.
Activist “marches” for this or that seem from outside the American bubble to be more like company picnics. Get togethers that reinforce belief systems. It’s a nice day with like minds and ready made signs provided. It hasn’t seen real protest in decades. Nowadays such things are bankrolled by one or another NGO, the signs and slogans manufactured for distribution. It’s pathetic to see it from afar, insulated as I am from any coterie of like believers in the cause of the day. My standard advice is believe as little as possible.
Personal advocacy, as you note, is like rooting for the Phils. It identifies you; adds justification for your existence, as if that’s needed.
I like the Asian approach, the Thai way of “being”, I know best. Things are pretty simple. What path do you do take for cooperation not confrontation; anathema the latter, community feeling the former. There’s a few well known and taught rules for it; Buddha taught, he did not mandate. You do not burn in hell if you fail, you suffer a thousand small things all your life if you don’t understand. There’s some things to keep in mind if happiness matters more than awareness of your own worthiness.
What happiness is left for America? I don’t know. It seems to be over ripened earnestness without substance. Cotton candy. Subtract the earnestness and add right intent would say the Buddha. I’m just referencing he, not advocating).“Jai yen yen”say the Thai…calm calm your spirit. Simple advice that conjures poetic beauty.
I understand your frustration with the far from universal modern mania you describe. America is filled with people that understand right intent, right speak, right think, right work, but not as so called human rights, or even Buddha think. It’s more about being good and fostering cooperation together. There’s ways to mitigate the struggle of being. Is “advocacy of“ useful for it. Or, in the face of so much struggle and suffering, does “calm calm your spirit” help getting along a bit more quietly and politely.
I do not advocate this as a political or social doctrine, and ertainly don’t advocate we be Buddhists. I simply mention some interesting counterpoints to advocacy of as path forward. It’s just a thought that you made me think. There is no free will is there. Thus, the entire modern miasma of American earnestly held belief sponsored. cultivated, sloganized, for the cause of the month by interests, NGOs, lobbyists. You think you own the belief?
Come to Asia and be calm! Pardon my persistence…