#slacktivity

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

"ummm the global strike was called on such short notice we need more time to plan ahead this just isn't gonna work it feels like slacktivism :///" hmm lets try to figure out why a palestinian journalist in gaza who has been documenting her own genocide for the past hundred fucking days called for a global strike on short notice during a livestream while the hospital she was sheltering in was being attacked and she believed she was going to be killed that night. lets think about it. lets put our thinking caps on. lets sit down in our thinking chair and think think think

[elder-millennial-of-zion]

It occurred to me, I haven’t had Starbucks or McDonald’s since before October 7, and during that “global strike week” in January I didn’t go to work because I hadn’t started my new job yet. So if you think about it, I’m doing just as much to free Palestine as any “anti Zionist” activist.

And work was busy today so I had a late lunch, which is basically like the Harvard hunger strike.

Now all I have to do is yell at some cancer patients.

[is-the-fire-real]

Another bit on the pro-Pal fandom, this one axiomatic

Being a good person is not the same thing as pretending as though you believe you are a good person.

Being a good person takes work. You have to do stuff. Doing stuff is hard. Doing good stuff is harder, because you have to put thought into determining what you think is good beforehand. That requires self-reflection, honesty, a willingness to challenge oneself, and taking in information from other people to verify that your concept of "good" is, well, good.

The nice part is that once you evaluate what is good and start doing good things, it becomes easier. You gain inner calm, peace, and even joy.

("Good" is not always the same as "necessary". Necessary work can be a slog, or it can be horrific. But there can still be a calming satisfaction at the core, the security that this is necessary and therefore worthwhile.)

Pretending to believe you are a good person takes less immediate work. You don't have to do anything that positively impacts the real world, and you don't have to do any of that annoying, time-consuming self examination. But in the long run, it's more exhausting. By far.

You are insecure about whether or not you are a good person. You're pretending to believe you are good. You can't feel secure in something you pretend to believe. That insecurity gnaws at you, especially when you engage in bad behavior--harassment, doxxing, posting gore, swarming tags, encouraging and promoting suicide among your fellow "activists", telling your opponents to kill themselves, stalking, spamming unrelated content with literal Nazi propaganda.

None of those are good things good people do. And you understand that. You would think someone was bad if they did those things to you. The cognitive dissonance between who you want to be and who you really are, as determined by your actions, is scary. It's painful. It rears up every time someone you have labeled a Zio colonizer scumbag asks you to please just stop and you remember a time when you begged someone--an abuser, a troll online, a 4channer, your parents--to just stop please just leave me alone.

That must feel terrifying, and again, it makes you insecure. It makes you question if you're doing the right thing.

So you do the work to pretend to believe you are good. And that's far more work than goes into being good.

You recruit others, and all of you agree that you will pretend together. Tabletop gaming has taught us how powerful this imaginative play can be. You all reassure each other that you are good and you are right. But since you're all lying to each other, that means you must spend more, and more, and more time every day telling each other that you are good, chasing that high, that feeling that you are a good person and your actions are justified.

You tell each other that your "opponents" in this "battle" are not people, so anything you say or do to and about them is okay. You look at lists of "dehumanizing tactics" and instead of internalizing what those lists are teaching you, you go: "Ah, so if I don't use the word 'vermin', anything I say should be fine!" And then you say it.

You do not smile over good news. You only smile when one of your opponents logs off Tumblr because you made the site unusable and unsafe for them. (The expression you make there isn't really a smile, but we'll call it that, since the corners of your mouth do turn upward.) You tell yourself you're just attacking Zionists and pretend you do not see how you're really going after Jews.

No self-examination; that would mean admitting that you're lying to yourself and others. Instead, you traumatize and exhaust yourself until you're psychologically incapable of self-examination. You watch snuff films. You stare at mangled bodies until you're weeping and physically ill (certainly, you're too ill to check whether the video is real, or if it was taken from this conflict).

You force your beliefs into your fandom spaces so that others, the bad people, cannot escape their complicity in genocide.

But more importantly, you do that so you can't escape.

You cannot engage in any fandom but the pro-Pal fandom because that takes imaginative energy away from your biggest pretense--that you're a good person.

You are NOT hurting people because you are striking a blow for Palestinians. You are hurting people, including yourself, because you do not want to do the work of becoming a good person. You are afraid that self examination, at this point, will reveal to you that you are exactly the sort of person you believe you are fighting.

That fear, that insecurity, that dread, that restless sense that if you ever rest or stop or think for just a moment, you'll discover something awful? That's your conscience.

I do not ask you to change your mind about your political opponents. Your defenses are already on your lips and in your mind; a thousand How Dare Yous for me hinting that you look at other people as people. What I will ask you is to consider this.

I came to young adulthood just as Bush was elected, and the Iraq War post-9/11 was the first war I really followed as an adult. I did what you're doing now. I forced myself to look at photographs of destroyed bodies. I looked at photographs of torture perpetrated by US soldiers. I blogged about it obsessively.

I told myself that I was Doing My Part to end the war. But really, it's that the anxiety of being an American during the war made me insecure over whether or not I was responsible for all of this, and therefore, a bad person. If I pretended my looking at snuff photos was activism, and that it was good, then I could pretend to believe I was good and shout "Not in my name" at protests. I could deny my responsibility.

What I really did was traumatize myself. It's been almost twenty years. I can still see some of those torture pictures in my head. In the end, that is the extent of the impact of my online activism. The blogs are all long deleted, and nobody remembers them.

Only my trauma remains.

I do not want this for you. I want you to be wiser. There is still time. You can stop.

Stop hurting yourself and other people. Do the hard work. Examine yourself and your actions. Consider what your own heart is trying to tell you whenever you start to get the shakes and your throat gets tight. Do not take that feeling out on random people online because they have a Magen David in their pfp.

Once you have done the hard work, it gets easier. You will be able to advocate and work for whatever causes you believe in because you know they are good, not because you're joining your friends in cosplaying goodness. You will still be traumatized, and you will still be sad, and you'll definitely still get angry. You will have to face how you've acted exactly like your own past abusers, and that's a real tough row to hoe.

But at the end, you will be able to advocate and work because you want to, instead of feeling as though you must in order to keep up the masquerade.

[myfandomrealitea]

honestly, I’m really happy that you made that “we need to be allowed to be free from politics in fandom” post. And I’m really happy that it made some people angry.

Because you’re right. I’m a living example- I’m a person who just feels so much guilt if they don’t participate in this ritual of self-sacrifice in the way of helping others. And I feel like tumblr activism has come to a point where it’s not even about helping each other or mutual aid, it’s about guilt-tripping people and saying “well, you wouldn’t want to be Mr evil terrible guy, right? Right? So signal boost this! Or else you’re literally an evil transphobic homophobic racist Zionist fascist bigot”

we all have to be selfish sometimes. We have to. Selfishness is inherently neutral and we need it to survive. I’m a real example of what happens when a person tries to live a life without selfishness- guess what, I’m the worlds biggest doormat and I’m basically miserable because I’m too afraid to tell people that I just can’t do it anymore.

I’m a person who needs help right now. I’m a person who needs assistance right now. But I don’t think any of them really care. They just want someone to make into their strawman. The world isn’t black and white like that, though

The majority of Tumblr activism isn't about helping other people.

Its about giving people an outlet for their own emotions, and showing other people you're not a bad person. I have no doubt a lot of the people falling victim to this actually believe they're helping, and likely have good intentions, but realistically I see so many people just using "activism" to lash out at others and moral grandstand.

Weaponizing activism blatantly defeats the purpose of activism. There's no standard to the people who need help, and just because someone can't necessarily be an extreme activist doesn't void them from being the recipient of it.

I hope you get the help and respite you need and if I can help you or facilitate finding people to help you I'm happy to. I can also gather some resources for self-help and methods to reduce stress if those are beneficial.

And remember:

Fandom is not inherently political.

The point of activism is to make change, not to get notes on a post.

Those with broken legs cannot run. Don't cripple yourself trying to help others.

[valcaira]

This is so fucking funny

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

I swear some of the people on this hellsite, especially from these so-called supposed "Leftists " or so-called " Activists," who want to act like they are allies for the oppressed and marginalized seems to be so super fine with literally letting an racist bigoted unhinged and highly unsabtle convicted criminal rapist take back the White House again.

Some of ya'll on this site truly be showcasing just how fake-ass and full of complete bullshit some of ya'll are in terms of " Activism " if you are fine and okay with America losing full Democracy in this upcoming election and as well as throwing many vulnerable groups and minorities within the country under the bus because it's convenient for you to do so.

Then please don't fucking call yourself a ally or activists of any kind if you're fine with letting democracy die and Fucking over so many people within this country due to some stupid moral purity shit or wanting everything to go to hell because ya'll idiots think it will bring about your so-called " GlorioUs RevoluTion ."

Seriously, as I said before, some of the people on this site really be showcasing just how much they seem to want the world to actually go to hell instead of taking real effort and effect to work to get shit done and take steps to make real changes within the Government possible.

These morons just show how unserious they are when it comes to politics and matters that affect actual people lives, but still wanna act like they are " GOOD ActiviSTS " and still be going on their usual anti-voting rhetoric bullshit, while still pretending to give a shit about minorities rights all while showing how alright they are with the growing could be possibility of America turning into a Christto-Fascist authoritarian nation by a unsabtle convicted rapist and his VP pick who are still out here spreading awful racist rhetoric against Haitians immigrants.

As said before, seriously Fuck these phony performative fake-ass bastards.

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

"ummmmm yeah that strike bisan called for is really rushed and leaves no time to prepare for it and its during finals season and it's just poorly organized :/" hmmm I. well. I wonder why a palestinian journalist living in palestine is calling for a strike on very short notice. i wonder why a palestinian journalist living in the midst of her own genocide for the past two months where. where disease outbreaks are rising and no one can find food or water and many of these people (including bisan herself a few weeks ago at one point) are not expecting to live more than a few days let alone weeks. I wonder why someone living in this horrific and incredibly bleak and uncertain situation is calling for strikes without planning weeks/months in advance. I wonder why! they are not planning these with weeks/months or even days of prep time in mind! I wonder why! this is quite a conundrum! lets uh. lets put our fucking thinking caps on! so to speak!

[dchan87]

Advocating for the destruction of a country, the only Jewish one at that, is a non-starter for most so-called "normies".

[ceasarslegion]

Walking into a charity bake sale for gaza and telling them that theyre zionists for not putting up pictures of dead children on the walls or pickpocketing people for everything they have. Before telling them that their method of fundraising is cringe and stupid and doesnt do anything real while i, on the other hand, post on tumblr about it

[a-very-tired-jew]

Maintaining the illusion of being a good person

Since 10/7 there has been a consistent thread that the UN is an arbiter of truth, or something, regarding the conflict because it was reprimanding Israel (and has consistently done so in the past). As such, I often heard from activists that because the UN said something it must be accepted as truth. Now with the publishing of the UN’s report of sexual violence on 10/7 and its findings, I am currently seeing various activists backtrack. Suddenly the UN is no longer trustworthy. Suddenly it’s a corrupt entity run by the Jews Zionists and the report needs to be dismissed as Jewish Zionist propaganda.

It’s almost like their endorsement and justification of violent resistance through any means necessary was a fantasy. Any means necessary doesn’t actually mean that. No “good” resistance fighter against a the colonial oppressor would actually commit atrocities against civilians, right? At least, not in their fantasy uprising.

But it happened, and it has been independently confirmed by one of the organizations they’ve routinely turned to. Now many of these have to deal with the cognitive dissonance that they’re actually not the “good” person they believed they were. Their past comments about believing all victims, supporting victims, that sexual assault is a horrific and people who commit it are monsters, etc… all of that is contradicted by this report.

It’s almost like they either didn’t understand what they were actually endorsing and justifying or they’re realizing that they’re hypocrites masquerading as good people for morality points.

[myfandomrealitea]

Your post regarding specifc places for things and some places dont need a vent channel it helped me realise that the people i follow online were damaging to my health. They were constantly sharing real people who died horrifically and saying things like "if you dont share you're supporting violence " while i only joined social media to view art.

I actively speak about real life events offline with my family, we always talk about whats happening in the world once a week and mention anything new within the local and worldwide news. I didn't understand why social media was worsening my mental health around these topics since i could speak about it in real life with my family. i assumed i was horrible for simply not wanting to see it online, When your post about a safe space came up i realised why it made me feel so bad, the artists i followed no longer were posting art and were just constantly sharing news daily about horrific events. It became inescapable and i was unknownly doomscrolling for hours on social media while hoping to see art (that just made me feel bad viewing after seeing so much death) , my only escape was going offline. I already made new accounts just for art and Im so thankful for your post since i did avoid everything that was about real world events since the account is only for art and i feel so much more.. i guess happier.. but definitely more mentally healthy if that makes sense? It felt like my mind was drained or foggy when scrolling through social media, and i wasnt actually paying attention before but now its a lot more, clear, healthy and positive. Im able to think properly and actually pay attention and appreciate the good things online

I'm so glad I was able to help you on your journey to bettering your wellbeing. Its an aspect of why I run this blog and talk about the things that I do.

So very often people don't actually register or realize what parts of their lives are causing stress. They attribute it to 'working too much' or 'not sleeping enough' without realizing that there are direct causes for things like not sleeping enough. And I'm not saying every single part of life comes back to activism, but very often we don't even realize how much negativity and forced awareness we're exposing ourselves to.

I used to religiously follow accounts on Instagram which posted about animal abuse. Other than a handful of celebrities my Instagram feed would be the most graphic videos you could imagine of people hacking into live dogs with axes, boiling cats alive in huge vats of water, jockeys tearing at horse's mouths until their teeth were loose and they were leaving a trail of blood as they walked the winner's circle.

I used to think if I wasn't constantly forcing myself to acknowledge that these things were happening, if I wasn't constantly reminding myself the extent at which these things happen, I was a bad person. I wasn't a real animal lover. If I truly loved animals why wasn't I sharing these videos? Why wasn't I sitting there with thousands of other people acknowledging what animals go through while I sit comfy at home doing nothing?

It got the point where I'd be throwing up constantly, I refused to sleep because I was terrified of the nightmares and my hands would shake as I opened up the Instagram app because I dreaded what I'd see today.

It wasn't helping me. It wasn't helping the animals. I'm just as aware now of what animals go through without having to see any of it.

But now, I have the wellbeing to actually devote myself to meaningful activism. Not just tormenting myself to no outcome. Now, I have the willpower and the energy to sign petitions and do research and take steps in my own life to better the welfare of the animals in my care.

Now I can sleep at night and wake up well-rested with the energy and the motivation to do things both for myself and for other people. Now, I can scroll Instagram and leave polite, correctional comments on misguided videos about animals. Now I have the knowledge to devote my attention and my efforts to where it actually makes a difference and changes animal's lives.

It is such, such a hard thing to drag yourself out of. We're so conditioned into thinking suffering shared is suffering lessened. We're so conditioned into believing that by spamming words anywhere we can we are the direct cause of change.

Its a hell of a learning climb. A steep one. But I genuinely believe the world would be better off for learning and changing as we both had the courage to.

[cherry-purple]

About to reblog some cute art until I see the artist put an uglyass eye-straining DNI banner right under their drawing.

Doesn’t matter how much I initially liked the art, those DNI banners make me lose all interest.

Not only are they distracting and useless but it also makes me roll my eyes especially hard when I read shit like “usual dni criteria” or “dni racists! dni transphobes!”.

Friend, do you know how many racists and transphobes don’t realize they’re racist and/or transphobic in the first place? People won’t look at your banner and go “aw shucks, I’m too racist for this drawing :(“. And how is “usual dni criteria” any more efficient??

Like, you want to go for a performative Twittercore aesthetic? At that point just use a blocklist or smth, those are more efficient than your eyestrain sparkly banner.

Same with people who write their DNIs in light pastel tones against a white background. Trying to read that shit hurts.

[valcaira]

"Don't let Palestine become a trend!"

I'm seeing statements like these a lot. And I agree and sympathize. After all, I've seen leftists pretend to care about Belarus in 2021 for a few months and then suddenly switch causes, never uttering a word about my home again while I still fear for my relatives back in Minsk. It hurts.

But you are naive. Terribly so. Because Palestine - like all "causes" of so called slacktivists already has become a trend. You've seen people who used to be so very vocal about BLM, StopAsianHate, Hong Kong, Belarus, Ukraine and many more suddenly switch their focus, abandoning those causes entirely because they're not "trendy" anymore.

This is performative activism. And leftists are horribly susceptible to it - hell I myself have been guilty of that.

That switching of causes like one might switch fandoms (because this is *the* fandom blogging site) is one thing. Even worse I have seen people say things like "Ukraine is low priority. What's going on in Palestine is worse" which is harrowing and a mortifying thing to say by itself. Some of you who haven't said it aloud might subconsciously think that. This mindset is performative, disrespectful and morally bankrupt.

Because you - yes YOU treat global conflicts like fandom. Jumping from one to another. No longer caring about what used to be your sole focus. It's not activism, this is a cowardly performance. And the same will happen with Palestine. Give it a few more months - or even years. But it will happen eventually. Those of you who right now care so much and loudly will gleefully abandon your "cause" to jump to another, more trendy one.

I'm not saying this to attack anyone. I'm saying this as a wake up call to people who think blogging is activism, to those who treat global conflicts like fandom or football matches. It's many of you to whom this post is directed at.

"Don't let Palestine become a trend" is a dream of naivety. A lie. A fruitless attempt.

"Stop treating Palestine and other global conflicts like trends" is what you instead should say. YOU, yes YOU can change that.

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

Michael Harriot: Why ""Pro-Palestine activists" are attacking and beefing with Black Supporters.

Honestly, I deeply feel that every day for these past 10 months that a half good portion of these so-called "Pro Palestine" "ActiviSTS" has truly showcased just how full of bullshit and performative their "Activism" actually is.

I wish these rat-fuckers would seriously stop calling themselves "Leftists" or so-called "Revolutionaries" when, to me, they've seriously shown themselves just how extremely unserious and out of touch with reality they've have become lately and how they turned this conflict into their main number one personality trait while at the same time showing how they truly don't actually give a Fuck about Palestinians or Gazans. Seeing how they seem to be fine with letting a convicted criminal bigoted rapist take power again and are OK with America losing Democracy and everyone within the country losing their civil and equal rights. Because they seem to think that will somehow help Palestine?

I swear these people aren't real " Activists" and should seriously just admit to themselves that they really want Trump to win and want to completely fuck over the many vulnerable groups and minorities within the country that they pretend to care about, because they foolishly believe that it will "Punish the Democrats" .

As I said before FUCK these phony fake-ass people and their imaginary Hunger Games fantasies for "Revolution" crap.

[testure-1988]

People on this website: FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🍉🍉🍉🍉🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

Palesinians: Since you support our cause, can you please help us escape the current genocide by donating. It doesn't have to be a lot. Pretty please?

People on this website:

[snarkleharkle]

Creators for Palestine...

It's not a complete list, The Try Guys, Smosh and Drew Gooden should be added to the list.

Please do not harass them; but please ask them to watch Screams Before Silence. And ask them to support an end to the conflict by demanding the hostages be released.

Except Wait in the Wings who came out as Pro-Hamas.