Critique of Modern Activism.

Attention is one of the most valuable modern currencies. Influencers, platforms, and brands have capitalised on attention, transforming lives, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generating billions in wealth. Activists have benefited as a byproduct of the infrastructure built around capturing attention, drawing more eyes than ever towards their causes.

In spite of this, movements driven by these online activists aren’t achieving what they set out to do. The well-intentioned people who are trying to support causes are making little meaningful ground joining these movements.

Motivation to join movements is driven by one’s ideals. Ideals are valuable to have, being one’s vision of what would make the world better. They are very individualistic and shaped by one’s own experiences. Ideals are a source of meaning and inspiration, as they are something bigger than ourselves that we care about. Common ideals include personal wealth, God’s will, and peace.

More often than not, when people’s ideals are threatened, they feel compelled to confront that threat. There is a very typical modern approach to this. A person rallies around a movement, assumes its talking points and stance, and then protests against the threat alongside other members of the movement (online or in-person).

This does raise visibility for their cause – but is visibility enough? How many times have we seen movements get loads of attention online, yet no meaningful change comes of it? Anecdotally, I see more well-intentioned people being “clowned” by malicious interviewers than meaningful changes taking place out there.

This frustrates me hugely; I empathise with people who mean well. Unfortunately, intentions are not what matters when it comes to fighting for an ideal. The current emphasis on maximising exposure is not serving the causes these movements set out to support. I propose that people can get better outcomes for their ideals by shifting from maximising exposure to a more objective approach...

In this modern age, we can’t feign ignorance. We live in an age of information and opportunity. If you genuinely care for a cause, instead of joining a movement and assuming its stance, you should take advantage of the modern tools at your disposal. Come up with your own stance, embrace your individualism. Think for yourself, draw on your experiences, explore resources, listen to others’ opinions, and get an idea of what an objective approach to supporting your cause could look like.

You don’t have to have it all figured out, but having your own ideas allows you to have constructive conversation with others, learn, and converge to the objectively best approach for serving your ideal! There’s even a chance you will shift ideals if logic sees that fit; objectivity is king. Note: Objectivity isn’t just facts and figures, it includes things like human nature and social dynamics in consideration as well. Hence why drawing from a diverse group of opinions is important!

Working with world-class engineers has taught me that you should try “be the solution, not the problem”. Instead of just protesting an issue and pointing out the injustices, discuss and work out how to address the issue and injustices. This will help you devise a plan to take action and enact meaningful change!

This chain of thought leads nicely into the next point. Consider: Is joining a movement really the best thing you can do to make a difference for your ideals? Don’t get me wrong – movements serve their cause, but let’s explore a different approach. Check out this hypothetical:

Let’s say you believe educating the next generation is of utmost importance. Instead of protesting the department of education’s unfavourable curriculum changes, let’s start by helping those you could have a direct impact on. This could look like tutoring your siblings or buying books for your family.

Once you’re helping them, then you might look to help your community as well. You could become a teacher or tutor by profession, teaching and inspiring the kids coming through. As you gain experience and become proficient in your profession, you could move to the online space creating content for students everywhere! This would amass you a following, backing, and resources.

Along this path you would have refined your teaching skills, met important contacts, and had time to refine your ideas of what really matters for the next generation of students. You can now leverage your contacts and resources to act on the presumably wise ideas you’ve formulated.

This might look like starting initiatives to get free public access to resources or reworking the curriculum. You will be able to generate traction behind these initiatives as a result of the backing and reputation you would have cultivated over the years.

To me that sounds like a very effective and sure pathway to results! This example illustrates taking accountability, making use of modern tools to create leverage, and objectively serving one’s ideal. This is enacting AGENCY.

I just mentioned “AGENCY”; what is that?! Agency is the idea that underpins the critique I just laid out. To reiterate, we live in a world full of opportunity and information. Thanks to modern leverage, we no longer need to depend on others - we can drive change ourselves.

Agency is embodying this mindset with full belief. It is one of the most important concepts of the information age, advocated for by many acclaimed modern thinkers! If you take only one thing away from this article, read this article by George Mack about agency. Literally paradigm-shifting!

People take the power away from themselves when exclusively joining movements. A collective of individuals with agency can make orders of magnitude more meaningful change than protest movements are currently. Not only would an agency-inspired collective prioritise tangible outcomes, but the individual thinking of each person in the collective would lead to broader discussion. This ultimately results in a wider-encompassing solution which is always preferable!

There are so many reasons why understanding agency will benefit not just the modern activist, but the modern individual. I genuinely hope we start to see a wave of independent thinkers full of agency coming through. I would love to see broader discussion, all-encompassing solutions, and better outcomes for those who genuinely care.

A note to end on: Vouching for an individual’s agency is not to discourage working with a group of people. If you can get a group to align with agency (this can be tough), this will be much more powerful than an individual could be. But we can do a lot as individuals, don’t underestimate that!