Social Justice Warrior

This is a different kind of ‘us and them.’ I wanted to touch on the new divide between progressive and regressive actions and individuals. This is obviously not a new divide- in fact it must be one of the oldest – but I am interested in the new ways it is materialized. It was Edmund Burke who said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. Old Ed has no particular relevance himself (as the thoroughly white founder of modern conservatism) but he makes a good point.

There is a trend towards dismissing those concerned with social circumstance as ‘too sensitive’, ‘shit stirrers’, ‘social justice warriors’ and occasionally ‘terrorists’. Once upon a time there was a certain dignity is saying fuck you to the man. Now I’m not denying there would have been backlash and ‘you’re upsetting the status quo’ moaning, but at least the cause was recognized as actually existing.  If another white man tells me that racism and sexism doesn’t exist I am going to blow a gasket.

This brings me back to Edmund Burke. Contemporary resistance to social justice (which contrary to popular belief is actually a GOOD thing) is mostly delivered with a sort of ignorant ambivalence. There’s no firm counter argument to equity that has any foot to stand on, at least none I’ve ever been offered in a debate. When someone offers a criticism of dominant systems or structures to point a finger back and yell traitor (or ‘too sensitive’, ‘shit stirrer’ etc) does NOTHING for either side.  When someone talks of their own disadvantage, it’s not about YOU.

I.e. When someone criticizes western feminism for dismissing the concerns of people of color, it does not devalue your right to vote or wear pants or reap any other benefits of the movement. It opens a possibility for progress into an even better future. When someone questions why we don’t mourn the dead after acts of terrorism in Syria the same way we do France: they challenge Eurocentrism, not the French or your freshly filtered profile picture.

This is what I mean by an ‘us and them’, we are so quick to get up in arms and reject anything we’re given that we destroy any hope for meaningful progress. I think part of this is because of the new media and the increasing ‘sound byte’ nature of information and conversation. There is so little said in 140 characters but there is SO much to misinterpret. We should spend more time thinking about progress (especially for those who are less fortunate than ourselves) and should re-inject some dignity into saying fuck you to the man. No ones ever made change without getting a little loud!

Thanks for reading,

Vik