#slactivism

[pacing-er]

Oof one of the artists I follow for fandom stuff started back to back reblogging posts glorifying those American idiots who are self harming to make a statement about Palestine... Sorry but that behavior should not be encouraged lmao there's a fuckin reason it was "buried by the media (unsubtle implication of Jews controlling American media 🙄)" or whatever they were claiming happened. Did you ever consider that maybe people aren't having a huge outcry over this because it is absolutely moronic? If any of you "activists" are getting so worked up over Palestine that you are driven to self harm I encourage you to go out and do some community service. I promise you there are plenty of people suffering near you who you can actually do real things to help.

[thekimspoblog]

[admelioraaa]

Do Online Petitions Actually Work? What Good Do They Bring?

Over the years, I have been sent a lot of online petitions to sign and except for cases when my friends would be sitting right next to me, I have largely ignored them, believing petitions to be largely useless. Whilst writing this article, I found some inspiring stories that have slightly changed my perception of petitions, but then again, petitions alone can't do much. 

https://edtimes.in/what-good-do-online-petitions-do-how-much-real-change-do-they-bring/

[thekimspoblog]

I will celebrate female characters who perform morally ambiguous direct action in TV and movies, while being reluctant to endorse female guerillas doing the actual work IRL because I am... *checks notes*... a coward.

[thekimspoblog]

I THREW ⭐ THE FUCKING STAR FISH ⭐ IN THE OCEAN! ⭐

I made a one-time $80 donation to ANERA. That's going to have to be enough.

Look, I realize I am not in any position to po'mouth. Any claims that my household is hanging on to the middle-class by its fingernails, could easily be refuted by saying my family should just be more frugal with its expenses. But the reality is I don't have a lot of power to fix the problems in my own county, let alone stop a genocide practically on the other side of the globe.

I have an ageing mother who can't save up for retirement because Wallstreet and my dad both fucked her in '08.

I have a law degree I'm working towards, which I'd very much like to avoid taking out student loans for.

Chronic health problems and medical debt.

I give cash to any homeless people I cross when I'm downtown.

I attend protests when I can.

I call and write my representatives about Gaza and other issues, but most of that falls on deaf ears.

I contribute to Planned Parenthood.

I donate and participate in charities against homelessness.

I donate to the DNC because I don't want things to get worse.

I've commissioned various artists who have rattled their tin cups in my face, many of which never delivered what they promised and I never heard from them again.

I boycott MOST large corporations, even when there's no specific boycott taking place.

You can argue my grocery budget is too high, but you wanna guess why it's so high? Because veganism didn't work for me, and this is what free-range meat costs.

Could I be doing more? Sure! I could shoot myself in the head so people more deserving than me could have my organs. But I'm drawing the line somewhere!

I guess I'm just writing this post to say, there are always going to be people trying to guilt trip you for your brand of progressivism being bougie. Fascists are starting fires left and right, and if you aren't giving away every drop of your own water to extinguish the flames, there's going to be some bleeding heart telling you you're basically Hitler. It's not that the sentiment of "could you be doing more?" is technically wrong even. But it would also be nice if Tumblr considered that shaming people can only get you so far. Closing your eyes and plugging your ears is "callous" but it's also necessary to stay sane.

Gaza is an issue I care about, but it's not the center of my activism. If that means I'm complacent just because I feel my time and energy is better spent on abortion rights in my own country, I guess I'm just going to have to live with that. If I had donated earlier, perhaps people would be alive today who are not. If I had donated more, perhaps I could save more. Considering I have no income right now, $80 is the ceiling on how much I'm going to try to buy my way into heaven on this issue, and you all are just going to have to be okay with that.

[thekimspoblog]

Mug that says "I think all countries should be a safe place for Jewish people, but that's just me"

[thekimspoblog]

[colorsofsocialjustice]

I feel like intersectionality has devolved into "doesn't matter what you deal with, if you're white, you don't matter"

That’s because those who push the label/term “intersectionality” did that intentionally. The key to actually being intersectional in any kind of activism or whatnot is not to use terms or labels but do so in actions and the outreach one does. Like when people point out that men face many of the things that many claim are women-only issues, it isn’t to devalue what women go through but to bring to light that discussions about those issues will never bring a true solution to fruition if it isn’t viewed as an intersectional issue. I don’t need to bring up the word to be doing what it means, but those who do, they more often push against actual intersectionality and simply want to appear as if they care about more than a few issues from one side.