How Not To Be a Useless Social Justice Warrior Or Someone Who Just Complains About Them

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How Not To Be a Useless Social Justice Warrior Or Someone Who Just Complains About Them

There are a lot of angry people in this world who seek to silence what has been coined the, "Social Justice Warriors," or SJW's of the world. The people that spew the "I hate them all" rhetoric all day long are like any other group reacting to another (including SJW's). That is to say, it's easy to group everyone up in one blanket category and say they are all wrong and horrible because they disagree with you or don't understand your POV.

And where has that led us? To a world where their side, your side, all sides, just yell about how terrible the other is and end up back at square one.

How Not To Be a Useless Social Justice Warrior Or Someone Who Just Complains About Them

The thing is, any side you find yourself on can both be incredibly forward thinking and right about some things, and on the same token, incredibly wrong and obtuse about other things. All sides have opinions and ideas and things they want to see get done, but when no one listens, what have we accomplished?

Social justice is not wrong. I'll say it again: social justice is not wrong as evidenced by the fact that most people in this world historically and/or in modern times have benefited from some form of social justice and those that have fought to make changes in the face of staggering opposition. We need people in this world willing to take a stand and fight for change and right in this world, but we also need people in this world who are both willing to listen to opposition on all sides and to want to do so responsibly because neither side your fall on is right about everything.

Here are some steps to actually fighting for social justice or not just complaining about them:

1. Do so responsibly. If you want to see change in some aspect of this world, do your research. It's the old issue of bee killing. Bees can be a nuisance, sure, but to get rid of them all, would mean no pollination and no flowering plants, and eventual death for our planet. You need to see not just the problem, but what removing the problem will do and how it will effect others and come up with feasible solutions. You can't help/save everybody every time, but if the solution is worse than the problem, realize that there may be valid reasons for strong opposition to your fight.

2. Listen to opposition. It's not just you who has valid points, but those around you AND not everyone who opposes you hates you just because they disagree with you. It may pain your very soul to admit that others are right or at least have good ideas (just as much as it pains them), but you want people on your side, and you'll never get that by just ignoring others because no one is going to listen to you OR them, if all they do is tell you to shut up or that your ideas are stupid. Don't just sit down with people who are going to agree with whatever you say on either side because that's a very easy road to take to convince yourself that everything you're doing is right all the time.

3. Don't just talk the talk. If you want to see change, walk the walk. Don't just pop off on social media at every little sound blurp you hear. Actually get in and join organizations or create groups who are practicing what they preach and actually doing the work to get things done. Anyone can bark about a problem, but if you want to call yourself a warrior, show up, know your facts (real facts) and come to the table with that info to back up what you are saying. Even if opposition doesn't want to believe you, at the end of the day, facts are still facts.

4. If you're a hater of SJW's, expect no more from them than what you dish out. If you want to be heard and understood, you too, must first listen. Again, just telling people they are stupid or have no good ideas, or that they need to shut up, is never going to get your own POV heard by the other side. It's a two way street which is just as easy for you to believe only you can ever be right or have good ideas if you are hanging out or trying to hear just the people that totally agree with you all day long.

5. On whatever side you fall on, there are dumb people on either side of an issue. There are idiots that don't know up from down, but on either side, that is not everyone, and on either side, if you can actually bring yourself to talk to some and challenge them in an educated manner that doesn't end in name calling, you can potentially change a mind or get them at least to listen to what you have to say, but if you're going to be immature about it and just say I hate everyone or everyone else is totally wrong, and have nothing to back that up, then don't be surprised if you end up, again, back and square one where nothing is said and done but petty and childish name calling and fights.

How Not To Be a Useless Social Justice Warrior Or Someone Who Just Complains About Them
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