Fighting the âgood fightâor hypocrisy
I have often seen/heard people say or be critical of someone apparently âfighting the good fightâ because they are not doing enough and therefore are hypocrites, like someone who is not wearing leather for animal rights but is eating meat is called a hypocrite for eating meat, then one who is not eating meat can be criticized for consumption of animal products and maybe wearing also leather, the one who is vegan could be then criticized for eating vegetables that are not environmentally sustainable or maybe something else. For environment, you in your personal capacity are doing whatever you can but there will always be people who will tell you something else that you are not doing and therefore you are a hypocrite. Similarly with human rights, which all in all, is considered a very slippery slope to talk about because somehow talking about human rights becomes a topic of politics (maybe because humans are vote-banks) and people donât want to talk about politics because politics becomes a tricky subject, a dirty word, a subject which only those people talk about who have nothing better to do. For some reason or the other one gets criticised for not being fully committed to the cause, so fully committed that they should be in a position where they can not be criticised for being privileged in any way. Being shamed for privilege is more common in the fight for human rights because these positions are maybe inter-changeable (you can trade places with the human you are fighting for and you are responsible for that personâs position), because while being called a hypocrite is common across any cause you support, but the fingers being pointed towards you for ânot doing enoughâ will be more so in the case you questioning someone in position of power, because now that we have questioned someone who is in power and being in power one can choose or not to choose to take action for a certain cause, just like the choice you have, but you chose to target a person in power but have you done enough? Like you choose to live in a 3 bhk with 3 family members but why didnât you choose a 1 bhk then and shared that 1 bedroom, if you have a 1 bhk with 3 people, why not a studio apartment, if you have a studio apartment, then why did you not choose to live in a shanty, and if you live in a shanty why do you have a smart phone to tweet about it, if you donât have that too and come out on the streets to demand basic rights like food and shelter then you are the villain as portrayed in media because taking to the streets is violent, while the middle-class is watching it silently because they shouldnât speak up for other humans considering they are middle-class and privileged and so you are made to shut up and die in poverty, but is it so wrong to question a billionaire who can do so much more than you can to help those below the poverty line? Was it so wrong to call out hoteliers just tweeting about ringing bells in their balconies and then as a consequence of which they let their resorts be used as quarantine facilities during a global pandemic, is that something a middle-class man could have done and is shaking up billionaires to move their conscience to act either willingly or under pressure so bad? If a middle-class person holds them accountable for the wealth gap and asks them to help those who have constructed their building, is the middle-class man to be criticized for being middle-class or can we look at the over-all impact that just some voices can make. More so when it comes to action taken by government, the government is elected to serve the people they are our employees and take our money in form of taxes, are we not to hold them accountable for how they are using it? and if asking for accountability is so hypocritical and people should apparently âmind their own businessâ and let billionaires enjoy the choices they make then maybe these ârationalâ people who would rather demean choices of middle-class rather than billionaires should also mind their own business. It is your choice to not question the people in power and help people around you, to plant more trees, save water, become vegan; but as commendable as these efforts are, so are the efforts of people who signed petitioned and are fighting for a forest not be cleared for a hydro-power project, who raised their voices so that the government/billionaires woke up to realize that they have to provide for the poor dying on the streets everyday, because there are somethings that canât be done by individual efforts and there is nothing wrong if awareness and raising your voice can save a forest, lives of animals and people. So if you believe in to each their own, then preach it for yourself and let others speak up. Voice is an under-rated powerful tool and itâs upto you how to use it (for the poor or for the billionaires) or not use it at all.