Yeah, I think the mainstream view of activism is something like “Activism is important, of course. See the Civil Rights and Suffrage movements. My favorite celebrity is an activist for saving the whales! I just don’t like those mean crazy ones I see on the news.”
That mainstream is like one side of the American political spectrum, now also do the other side. ;)
Seems to me there are three factors to how one perceives an activist, most important first:
Do I support their agenda, or do I oppose it?
If I oppose their agenda, how threatened do I feel by their activism? If I support their agenda, how devastating blow do I think they delivered to my enemies?
How do the activists actually behave? Do they politely express their opinions? Do they destroy public and private property? Do they attack other people?
The problem is that the third point is the least important one. A typical person will excuse any violence on their side as “necessary” (and sometimes also as “cool”). On the other hand, even seemingly peaceful behavior cannot compensate for the fact that “their goals are evil”.
Basically, the third point mostly matters for people who don’t have a dog in this fight. The more radicalized is the society, the fewer such people are.
Yeah, I think the mainstream view of activism is something like “Activism is important, of course. See the Civil Rights and Suffrage movements. My favorite celebrity is an activist for saving the whales! I just don’t like those mean crazy ones I see on the news.”
That mainstream is like one side of the American political spectrum, now also do the other side. ;)
Seems to me there are three factors to how one perceives an activist, most important first:
Do I support their agenda, or do I oppose it?
If I oppose their agenda, how threatened do I feel by their activism? If I support their agenda, how devastating blow do I think they delivered to my enemies?
How do the activists actually behave? Do they politely express their opinions? Do they destroy public and private property? Do they attack other people?
The problem is that the third point is the least important one. A typical person will excuse any violence on their side as “necessary” (and sometimes also as “cool”). On the other hand, even seemingly peaceful behavior cannot compensate for the fact that “their goals are evil”.
Basically, the third point mostly matters for people who don’t have a dog in this fight. The more radicalized is the society, the fewer such people are.