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If you stand on a street corner right now and ask people whether or not this entire year has been a total dumpster fire, I doubt you’d find many responses to the negative. Because there’s so much happening – politics, elections, race relations, public health concerns, civil rights erosions – it can definitely feel like our attention is being pulled in 100 different directions at once.
Which is what this guy acknowledges, with the addendum that you know, we all also have our own crap going on.
I’m just one guy. I try to be a good person; I try to treat everyone equally; I try to be kind and compassionate; I try to be a force of good.
But I’m just one guy. I have problems of my own. I have a life of my own. I shouldn’t be expected to constantly wade through the shit that is the political and societal hellscape of 2020. I’m not a racist because you don’t think I’m angry enough. I’m not uneducated because I don’t pour through hours of toxic political commentary. I’m not privileged for wanting to distance myself from hatred.
I’m so sick of being alternatively mocked and hated for not living up to other people’s freedom fighter fantasy. I’m trying my best but I’m just one guy.
So, should we make people feel crappy, or like they’re not doing enough if they’re not uber outspoken and passionate about it all?
Or maybe, just maybe, should we give people a break?
These 14 people weighed in!
14. The not life.
Not being involved in politics is a harmful political opinion according to both sides. I mean, the more vocal two out of the three sides.
There should be a word that means not doing _. And a culture around it, too. Maybe a subreddit. Not being involved in politics. Not having a strong opinion. Not getting involved in a harmful fight. Not spending money. Not saving money. Not losing weight. People keep telling us to do these things, and individually, they’re good.
But put them all together and then you live in a state of eternal panic and stress.
We should emphasize the benefits of not doing stuff every now and then.
13. We’re all good enough.
Same dude.
It feels like all the media is telling us we’re not good enough. All we want is someone to say:
I’m proud of you
You make me feel safe
You want my fries?
How are you feeling?
In the end, we only want people in our lives who want us, who care for us. F*ck everyone else. F*ck the marketing people who spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. Give me a dog, a cold whiskey and a fire and I’ll be good.
12. We’re on the same side.
Right there with ya bud. I was literally getting shit for not posting enough political shit on my Instagram. I don’t want to post that shit on Instagram, I use it to look at cool pics and that’s it.
Craziest thing is they get actually mad. Like, we’re on the same side, I’m not the enemy here. More concerned about my rapidly deteriorating grandpa with Alzheimer’s that’s shits on my parents floor at least once a day
11. Reduce the noise.
Just focus on being a good person.
If everyone did that, the world would be a whole helluva lot happier and peaceful.
10. It’s okay to just do your thing.
This is the thing that annoys me, is the demand for hot takes. I’m on twitter and it’s just for sharing art. I retweet and share art, that’s it. I chose to participate this way in order to avoid the twitter shit. Ever since the whole comics gate thing, I’ve had people ask me to acknowledge every person that’s getting accused of something or other. Like, no.
Actually, part of the reason I didn’t pursue a career in comics is because of harassment and people pretending to be interested in my art to get dates. Actually, I’ve been affected by this behavior and I don’t want to relive it. I don’t want to go back into that dark period to justify my silence on the issue.
Also, I see people demanding that more famous artists deliver a hot take on people they work with– like, right away. No time to process that a person they work with might have done this that or the other thing. No time to figure out how accurate the accusation is. They expect the person to pivot on a dime, cut all ties, and publicly excoriate their coworkers and friends. Let’s not even acknowledge that behaving in that way has an effect on your career. Let’s shrug our shoulders at the fact that it’s usually women being bullied for their hot takes.
Like, I agree this shit gets in the way of women’s careers, but I just hate this demand to get in line and yell and immediately antagonistic. There’s not nearly as much energy put in towards promoting women artists– or non-white artists, which is a much bigger problem that gets no attention because of how loud all the white ladies are shouting.
9. The not so good ol’ days.
Yeah I remember when r/all was mostly funny or interesting stuff with an occasional big news thing popping up.
Now it’s littered with US politics.
8. It’s ok to take a step back.
Don’t feel too bad. None of the issues being highlighted right now are new. They’re all important, but it’s okay to take a step back and just breathe.
If someone tells you that you must “take action or you’re part of the problem”, they are wrong. We’re not super humans, and you’re not a bad person for taking a pause.
7. A matter of maturity.
Yep. Not trying to be a cringe hipster, but I learned this early in my 20s when I had to take care of my little brother by myself. I think I just lost the ability to care about what anyone says on social media, including feeling like I had to care about this or that or be some sort of activist for the cause.
My partner is younger than me and still often in the trenches of Reddit or Twitter. Sometimes this causes conflict, because he would sometimes get actually upset over arguing with people. I couldn’t help but think, “When are you gonna grow up and stop caring about this crap?” But I guess that’s not that fair a mentality. I guess people just mature in their own time.
I still have my social media, and I still use it…just not in the ways I was before. I shut out most politics except for a few causes I really care about and I focus on arts, creativity, and my own family and friends.
6. It takes all types.
You shouldn’t have to. In my opinion that’s counter productive. People care about different stuff differently and that’s good. Because diversity. I care a lot about social issues but tbh not as much about environmental issues. My best friend on the contrary cares a lot more about the environment that about social issues. We both work in our respective fields.
See bettering the word as splitting a group project. Too many people working on all the tasks at the same time is a recipe for chaos. If we split it we are more likely to get where we ea f go be
5. This feels spot on.
This is like a very popular opinion, but not everyone have that energy to said it that loud.
4. Stop caring…about what other people think.
Same here, bruh. I’ve just gotten to the point where I couldn’t care less what anyone else says or thinks. I’m over it. The people that I care about, the ones closest to me and that I actually care what they think of me, they know who I am and what I believe.
I don’t need to post a million posts about a cause or change my profile pic every time some trend happens. All that really does is virtue signal. It says “look at me, I care so much so pay attention to me”
3. You never know what’s coming.
Saving this post so I always remember “Freedom fighter fantasy”. Hot damn, that’s the perfect term for a lot of people.
Obviously there are a lot of issues going on now that that deserve our attention – but there’s a lot of unnecessary stuff trying to share the same spotlight.
2. Everyone should take a breath.
I have my beliefs, and I support causes I feel are just. Yet, if they do not match someone else’s beliefs or causes that they support, I’m belittled and accused of not focusing on the “important” issues and being selfish.
I’m on your side. Just let me take a damn breath between each issue from the thousands of movements currently happening on social media.
I like what someone said in another comment, about doing a “people detox.” That’s basically what I’ve been doing the past few months: trying to not become overwhelmed by everyone shouting at each other about the same and different things.
1. Is it about privilege?
Just tell them that the fact that they can devote time to helping other people is a privilege.
Because they have the mental health stability, and quite possibly have enough money that they actually have free time to engage in protests or whatever else they’re doing.
I’ve gotta say, I think a lot of us feel like OP, we just don’t say it out loud because shaming culture is really really real.
Do you agree with OP? Feel strongly against? Weigh in down below in the comments!
