Ditch “activism” and social media. Choose triage | Mickey Z.

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Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

July 18, 201

In medical usage, “triage” involves the “process of determining the most important people or things from amongst a large number that require attention.”

In a “social justice-y” sense, the process isn’t necessarily about “most important.” It’s more about the human (or non-human) who requires attention who is within your reach and for whom you have the skills to provide immediate help or relief.

Clicktivism

As I type this, the young children of undocumented immigrants are still being held in cages on the U.S. border. All across social media, we’ve witnessed the predictably impotent outrage/virtue signaling for nearly a month. A few variations:

• Inaccurate use of photos (the above image was taken during the Obama administration)
• Inaccurate concentration camp comparisons
• “Those kids shouldn’t be taken away, but…” [insert racist rant, re: immigration]
• “Woke” lefties [sic] mocking the outrage because it ignores what previous administrations have done
• “Woke” lefties [sic] mocking the outrage because it ignores the “real” issue: capitalism
• Petitions 
• Creepy, voyeuristic photos of one particular child (a la the boy who drowned trying to escape from Syria a while back) as the poster kid of sorts for our guilt-laden awareness
• Pining for Hillary or Obama
• Celebrity tweets
• Sharing celebrity tweets
• “Exposing” which corporations are profiting from the detention centers
• Plans for more “protests” and puppet shows
• People eventually and inevitably losing interest

All of the above (and other versions) are annoying and pathetic, yes. But more importantly, they are all forms of dangerous delusion. To explain what I mean, I must start with some ugly truth:

EVERYONE READING THIS IS POWERLESS TO HELP THE CHILDREN BEING HELD IN CAGES.

To not accept this ugly truth is to doom many others to misery while disempowering yourself as a potential helper. 

Triage

Part of the genius of the dominant culture is seducing us into thinking our opinions matter. Social media was perhaps the final piece in this effort. We “know” more than ever before. We learn about global events in real time. Fake news keeps us guessing and off-balance. Days-long social media “debates” um, occupy our time. Here’s some of what results from all this delusion:

• The global crisis of the moment plays out, uninfluenced by anyone’s tweets
• Social media companies and their advertisers gather ever more data about us
• Those in need — right in front of our face, “IRL” — continue to suffer

Post. Sleep. Repeat.

If we put down our phones and occupied some independent thought, we could finally do a realistic assessment of our skills and potential. It takes very little introspection to comprehend that we have ZERO impact on big issues. Accepting this is not surrender. It’s logic. Like accepting, say, gravity.

Sure, this downgrades your social media page from SJW superhero level to mere worker bee status but if — IF — you truly want to help, the only rational choice to discover where you can actually be helpful. It’s not about your ego and gathering followers, right? RIGHT?

Every inch of the planet is drenched in pain, oppression, and violence. Social triage means we choose the local, reachable issue that inspires the most passion and compassion in us. From there, we do whatever we possibly can, as often as we possibly can.

The “woke” crowd will mock you for focusing on a “symptom” instead of the “disease.” For example, they might consider my daily work to help homeless women in NYC as “doing nothing to address the root issues.”

I readily admit having no impact at all on “smashing” patriarchy or ending poverty. But a homeless woman with a toothache isn’t looking for me to lead a revolution. She’s waiting for me to show up with some Anbesol. I do my best to help these vulnerable souls feel a tiny bit safer, more comfortable, and healthier — and a lot less invisible. Call me crazy, but I’d say that was better than engaging in a venomous, insult-filled FB flame war for the next week. 

Here’s a suggestion: Ignore the woke, activist, radical, hardcore types. They are not only 100 percent ineffectual and I’d posit that they don’t even care. Therefore, they contribute mightily to maintaining the status quo.

Here’s another suggestion

GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. 

(Or, at least, drastically reduce your addiction.)

Reality

My heart breaks for the families being torn apart, but since I can do absolutely nothing to help them, I will not insult them by pretending I can. I will not participate in turning their agony into a sideshow.

But I will do whatever I can for those in need who are within my reach — my “neighbors,” if you will. I will reject virtue signaling “activism.” I will say no to social media and instead commit to social triage. I hope you will consider doing the same. 

Mickey Z. is the founder of Helping Homeless Women - NYC, offering direct relief to women on the streets of New York City. To help him grow this project, CLICK HERE and make a donation right now. And please spread the word!

Ditch “activism” and social media. Choose triage. by Mickey Z. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://worldnewstrust.com/ditch-activism-and-social-media-choose-triage-mickey-z.