Selective Outrage & Armchair Activism
You're Not Going to Like This Post.
And I’m not sorry. The good news is, you don’t have to read it, like it, agree with it, or share it. So, there’s the fair warning. If you feel this post is directed at you, your problems are way bigger than some lady you don’t know writing a blog post.
If you’re not living under a rock (which, by the way, would be preferable to the climate we live in now) you know all about the current events involving a dickhead who shamed the badge and a man named George Floyd. Three other dickheads were compicit in allowing dickhead number one to behave like an inhumane piece of shit.
Now, despite the above, someone will STILL call me a “cop defender racist” and cherry pick words from what I write to make a non-existent point. To them, I say: Go Fuck Yourself.
Yes, someone called me that because I shared this:
Apparently, it seemed to be an ambiguous statement to him. I don’t know why… oh, wait, yeah I do. This particular “gentleman” is what is known as an Armchair Activist suffering from Selective Outrage. Though it’s a common condition, you may not have heard of it.
Warning Signs You May Have Selective Outrage
- Uncontrollable urges to pontificate your many thoughts on subjects you know little about (but the internet told you…) (Frequently, sufferers will then post a meme about kindness and compassion
- A need to call anyone who disagrees with you a racist, nazi, or other offensive term. (Often occurs when you can’t articulate a response relevant to topic)
- Excessive sharing of posts, memes, and articles on current subject of outrage, interspersed with pictures of you at the beach (park, concert, ect)
- You use phrases like, “Someone has to DO something.” Or, “Something has to CHANGE!” (And then you post pictures of you at the beach, park, concert, ect)
- You know what YOU’D do if you were in that situation (but you can’t because, blah, blah, blah) and you make sure everyone else knows it, too.
- You change your profile picture to today’s outrage as a show of “solidarity”, but change it back tomorrow.
Fear Not, There's A Cure!
It’s a little pill called Shutthefuckup. It’s results are improved by adding vitamin Dosomething.
I’m being snarky and serious, if you can’t tell.
Unfortunately, this is a very real problem. What’s going on today is a perfect example of the downfall of civilization as we once knew it. Gone is the ability to discuss without devolving into hateful exchanges. We live in a world of keyboard warriors and bullies who hide behind a phone screen or computer and say whatever they want to whomever they want with zero regard for consequence or effect. It’s a world where “I,” “me” and “my” is the star and all that matters. How I feel. How this affects me. My opinion… Ugh. You want the real cure to everything? Empathy. The real deal, not your bullshit idea of it. Posting “I Stand With…” and doing NOTHING is the armchair activist M.O. to a T.
How To Tell If You're An Armchair Activist
Unsurprisingly, the signs and symptoms are strikingly similar to Selective Outrage. However, if you find yourself…
- Changing your social media profile picture to “support” someone or something, yet, raise no money, do no research, attend no walk, parade or activity involving said supported issue
- Saying you’re sick and tired of [insert issue] but DO NOT A GOD DAMN THING
- Lecturing your friends and family daily on social media on said issue but still go about your everyday life unaffected
Then you, my friend, are and armchair activist.
Selective Outrage Paired With Armchair Activism
The pairing of these two horrendous afflictions, while not deadly, is detrimental to not only your health, but eveyone you encounter. You are, essentially, a virus. Ironic, I know.
So, let’s get dead serious here. If you are sincerely outraged by the death of a black man and the plight of black society, please join me in honoring these men and women who lost their lives senselessly. You may not have seen them on the news. (I can’t imagine why, hmm.)
Retired St. Louis Police Chief, David Dorn. Age 77. Murdered by looters as he tried to stop them from destroying a pawn shop.
Deputy Sheriff Sheldon Gordon Whiteman
Long County Sheriff’s Office, GA
EOW: Thursday, January 23, 2020
Cause: Vehicle pursuit
Deputy Sheriff Donna Richardson-Below
DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, LA
EOW: Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Cause: Automobile crash
Deputy Sheriff Kenterrous Taylor
Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, GA
EOW: Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Cause: Automobile crash
Police Officer Kaia LaFay Grant
Springdale Police Department, OH
EOW: Saturday, March 21, 2020
Cause: Vehicular assault
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, IN
EOW: Thursday, April 9, 2020
Cause: Gunfire
Police Officer Waldis “Jay” Johnson
Detroit Police Department, MI
EOW: Sunday, May 31, 2020
Cause: Gunfire
Surely their lives mattered, too, right? I mean, they are LITERALLY heroes who died while serving and protecting others at their own risk.
Now, let me make this clear (as if I haven’t already): No one. NO ONE in the police community supports or agrees with what those fuckwit dickhead POS’s that dishonored the badge and their duties as peace officers did (or allowed to happen) to George Floyd.
Where we may disagree (and I’m sure you’ll do so voicefully and righteously) is where the failing lies. I believe this was a human failing, a failure of basic humanity by individuals. They failed. Not the system, not law enforcement as a collective whole.
If there is a better way – as some offer there must be – to vet & hire police officers, no one has come up with it. Please, please do. As of right now, if you pass the testing in place, you become a police officer. You do your job. It is only during this phase – the doing of the job – where one learns their abilities… and failings. Not unlike any other job, but with greater consequence.
If we’re talking numbers, real numbers, not the skewed ones, you might like to know that there are approx. 18,000 police departments and about 800,000 law enforcement officers in the United States. The US has approx. 3.5 billion people. There are about 375 million annual contacts with police (as per Wall Street Journal). In 2019 aprox. 1004 people died in police related incidents. Most were either armed or otherwise dangerous. Of those fatally shot, 9 were unarmed blacks, and 19 were were unarmed whites. These are the real numbers, kids. Easy to find if you step off Facebook for a hot fucking minute and educate yourself.
For more on this, please read the full article in the Wall Street Journal HERE. They’ve got some hefty reality checks in there, too. Don’t worry, they won’t swear at you like I have.
Anyhow…
