With the recent Dr. Martin Luther King holiday , I’m reminded that there aren’t any real activists left in the world. That era passed in the 60s, and I’m thinking that the fate of people like King, Lenny Bruce and Robert Kennedy convinced the more rational thinkers that being a loudmouth and challenging authority can lead to one’s demise. That pretty much puts an end to their activism.
The “go along to get along” methodology works in modern culture to the extent that people can make a nice living off it. Conversely, people like Bono made their fortune and now roam the world with fistfuls of money, and have nothing to lose by being moralistic. If they fall, they fall on a pile of money big enough to cushion it. But they won’t, because they don’t take a risky enough stance on anything to put their lucrative career in jeopardy and, God forbid, be unpopular.
I don't mean to pick on him, but he's generally front and center so he's an easy target. Choose your favorite celebrity activist and you'll find someone who has made a fortune in the entertainment industry and now has the luxury of preaching about something that isn't all that controversial. For that, they are given "Person of the Year" awards and praised for whatever it is that they're doing. Spot me $20 million and I'll ride around in a Greenpeace boat too.
The days are long gone when an activist would risk being arrested or encourage a courtroom appearance. The current crop of presidential candidates preach “change,” but in fact, it’s pretty much more of the same with a different set of faces in varying shapes and colors. The bold move would be electing a woman or a black man – if that’s what he is. To be different in today’s culture (and succeed at it) one must first be popular, so that the mainstream media will pick up your message and you can sponsor a colored wristband or support a big charitable cause that nobody could argue – like cancer research or poverty.
Besides which, the really big issues are gone, like free speech and racial discrimination. They’ve been legislated and the people who fought for the legislation have died for their causes. All that’s left now are the “easy” ones like building homes for poor people, fighting diseases and wiping out illiteracy. Is anybody taking the "pro" stance on cancer or being illiterate? No. Try saying "fuck" in a nightclub in 1958, being black and sitting at a Woolworth's lunch counter or being a woman and trying to get a job. There were plenty of "con" stances there.
All that's left now is the low-hanging fruit.
“I’m not popular enough to be different”
- Homer Simpson
- Homer Simpson
4 comments:
Sad but true. Come down here and I'll take you to Montgomery. It's a wonderful way to spend a day. Being in all those places where brave people stood.
That actually would be an interesting day.
At the Smithsonian, they have the actual Woolworth's lunch counter - not a replica - the real one. All set up with the background just like it was. I saw it when I was there last year and I just stood there gawking at it for the longest time.
So fascinating that something we take for granted (sitting at a counter to eat lunch) would have been so contentious, to the point of violence.
what does the low hanging fruit mean?
what was that saying "if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything". was that it?
The easiest fruit to pick are the "low hanging" ones.
The hard ones are at the top of the tree, so the low ones get picked by the people who don't want to make the effort to get to the top of the tree.
There are plenty of causes that are at the top of the tree, if you're willing to make the effort.
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