POLITICS
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Join A Movement That Takes Care of You
Setting aside the idea that you have to sacrifice everything for the collective good
I have spent about a decade of my life committed to activism within the Empire that is the United States of America. I have participated as a paper member, taking orders and helping wherever possible. I have also participated as a leader, building organizations and institutions and serving in elected positions. I have donated my time, my labor, my money, and my voice. I have marched, canvassed, made phone calls, blocked traffic, and much more, some of which I cannot discuss here.
In all this time, after much pain, disappointment, and even betrayal, I have started to learn what makes a good movement. Although, like most things, I concede that even here, I am still learning and growing. The answer to this question of what makes a good movement is as intuitive as it is paradoxical — you join a movement that takes care of you, listens to what you have to say, teaches you, and fills your soul.
This reaction may make some committed activists confused. A dominant way of thinking in activism is to ask what you can do for the movement. That you must sacrifice your hours for its growth. And here, I do not just mean those working in radical, bottom-up groups, but those in the nonprofit space, tax-exempt political organizations like the DSA, emergent or mainstream political parties, and even more collaborative professions such as teachers and social workers — any organization or institution that claims to "do good."
The refrain among movements like this becomes that because the movement is "doing good," and you are contributing to that "good," that should be enough to fill you. It comes to you to rise to the occasion and meet the movement's ever-growing needs. There are so many needy people in the world, so much injustice, and so many changes that must happen, and somehow, quicker than you could ever imagine, you become the glue keeping one of the few good things in this world together. You give an inch, and the movement demands your very body and soul, seeping into you until it is all you can talk about, think about, and feel.