Standing Rock, news feeds, and 'the whole world is watching' | Mickey Z.

Protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 13, 2016. By Fibonacci Blue. Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Dec. 4, 2016

As I type these words, my Facebook news feed is blowing up with #noDAPL posts. Government and private forces seem poised to strike at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and “activists” are expressing “outrage” and/or “solidarity.” 

Reality (trending only where it matters): Most people in America don’t know even about Standing Rock. And if they do, they don’t care. 

Before you jump to conclusions, I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t care about and offer to the “water protectors.” I dread what’s about to happen, even if I knew all along it was inevitable. The initial point I’m trying to make is that social media intentionally creates insular echo chambers. This virtually guarantees that resistance never happens (unless you consider hashtags to be revolutionary).

Your Facebook posts about #noDAPL aren’t waking anyone up or changing anyone’s mind. They have zero power to influence the men making the decisions about this situation. In many instances, your Facebook posts about #noDAPL are counterproductive. 

Occupy Denial
For the record, I’m not pontificating from some proverbial ivory tower. I fell for the “activist” hive mind as hard as anyone has ever fell -- and I gave up plenty for this regrettable choice. No doubt, I could’ve done far more in the name of social justice if I hadn’t chosen “activism.”

During the delusion-fueled days of Occupy Wall Street (OWS), for example, I often witnessed something like this: After days and days of planning, a group of protestors would perform what we imagined was radical, groundbreaking street theater. The passers-by who witnessed this show (you know, all those folks not yet “woke”) were, at best, mildly amused. Some expressed anger or annoyance. The vast majority of them paid no attention at all. We were performing to ourselves and for ourselves.

The NYPD, however, paid attention. Without fail, they’d show up to enforce laws they’d make up on the spot. The (usually white) “occupiers” would conjure up a clever response and then refuse to stop their show. The cops would single out a few, move in, and roughly arrest them. Then it would happen.

We’d surround the arrest scene and chant in unison: THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING.

It was a real time (or “IRL”) version of a social media news feed. What we really meant was: OUR TINY LITTLE INSULAR WORLD IS WATCHING.

Some schmo would hold up his phone and “livestream” the inevitable finale. Thus, the members of our echo chamber who were unable to attend the performance could chant along from home!

Meanwhile, the “whole world” didn’t know or care that we existed. 

Raise Your Standard
The most common response to articles like this is contempt. Former “comrades” gossip about how “Mickey has changed.” As if change is something to be avoided! They deflect and derail from the points I make by turning it into a personal attack. The snarky, uncompromising analysis they used to adore (when it favored them) is now called mean, arrogant, self-righteous, and worse.

It’s not about me, folks. It has nothing to do with who likes me. It has everything to do with the fact that we’ve collectively failed. And now, in Trump’s America, the odds have never been higher.

So this time, instead of circling the wagons to ward off the traitorous meanie, I challenge you to raise your standard. Please allow me to provide some context: There are already 2.4 million miles of energy pipelines in the United States. This is the largest such network on the planet. Every single inch of those 2.4 million miles crosses “sacred indigenous land.” 

Why am I telling you this? Well, regardless of what happens at Standing Rock, we’ve already failed. Miserably failed. Our hashtags and signs and marches and puppet shows merely provided cover for the men in charge to bring us to the brink of collapse. A “last stand” at Standing Rock may appeal to us in that romantic Hollywood kind of way but where were we when the damage was being done EVERYWHERE ELSE?

Take a step back, “activists,” and survey the landscape. Be realistic. Appraise your efforts and tactics. Analyze results (if you can find any). Ask yourself: What is my desired outcome? Don’t take further action until you’ve visualized the new plan you need to attain that outcome.  

The Past Does Not Equal the Future
Perhaps you’re wondering why I even bother writing articles like this, articles that seem to result in nothing more than boatloads of scorn rained down upon me. I do so, because I need to personally come clean and move on. But there’s a much bigger picture to consider:

What we call “activism” does less-than-nothing to create social change but it does plenty to instill in its drone-like adherents a never ending and self defeating drive for an exhibitionist form of competitive purity. If we’d only take an honest look around, we’d recognize how badly we’ve failed on a macro and micro level. 

Each and every minute of every day, individual humans hit critical mass. For innumerable reasons, they reach the point of no return, accept that they've been lied to since forever, and decide they want to work to help create change. They become "activists."

However, there is a very dogmatic and counterproductive template for so-called "activism" in the United States and this ongoing wave of new energy is quickly gobbled up by existing "groups" and funneled into the same old paradigm. Variations exist but the hive mind reigns supreme.

Imagine what might be accomplished if "radical" veterans accepted that we've failed miserably and instead: a) begged the next generation of "activists" (whatever their age) for forgiveness and b) listened to and heeded their ideas?

If nothing else, perhaps we work together to create a softer place to land…

Mickey Z. is currently writing two books, a memoir called How to Lose Friends & Influence Nobody: My Life as an “Activist,” and a fusion novella entitled stain red. In the meantime, he can be found here.

Standing Rock, news feeds, and 'the whole world is watching' by Mickey Z. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://worldnewstrust.com/standing-rock-news-feeds-and-the-whole-world-is-watching-mickey-z.