Action

As I’ve said many times on this blog, I’m a skeptic. And this applies to my views on morality. I don’t believe it’s possible to know with 100% certainty what the right thing to do is in a given situation. But when faced with a problem, something needs to be done or it’s never going to get fixed. So whenever I do anything, I have to face the fear that I might be wrong. And that fear can be paralyzing. Because my greatest fear in life is being wrong especially when that leads me to harm another person. But it’s a fear that must be overcome because inaction can also be harmful.

The first step in overcoming any problem is education. I believe people have a duty to educate themselves as much as possible before acting. However, some problems are immediate, and there’s no time to learn as much as we’d like. In those situations, there is only one piece of advice I can give anyone: Do whatever you think is best, but be prepared to be wrong.

Learning to accept our screwups is essential to personal growth and learning. And when those screwups happen publicly, we might be criticized. It’s natural to get defensive, especially when you have good intentions, but I think that’s an impulse we need to learn to ignore. It’s the same as any other situation. Before acting, you need to educate yourself. Where is that criticism coming from? Is it valid?

If you believe the criticism is valid, acknowledge that and apologize if necessary. And if you really messed up, accept the consequences. Be strong. Take responsibility.

If, after a lot of reflection and soul-searching, you believe the criticism is unwarranted, ignore it or rebut it calmly. Anything else might just be playing into their hands. A lot of times people are just looking for a reaction, and in those cases it’s best not to give it to them.

But as always, beware of certainty and false choices. Our possible range of responses to any situation lie along a continuum. There are infinite ways to respond to any crisis. Assuming that there is a right thing to do, it lies at the peak of a mountain. Move in any direction and you might be a little less right, but you’re still most of the way there. Anyone who insists that there is precisely only one way to solve a problem is (almost) certainly wrong. Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Taking it from the general to the specific, there are a lot of (white) people learning about or finally accepting responsibility for the continued existence of structural racism and white supremacy in America. If I’m honest, I’ve known about the problem for awhile now, but never really did anything to address it besides educate myself sporadically, and obviously not enough that I felt comfortable taking action. 

But now I’m writing (a bit) about it, and donating (small amounts of) money to various causes. I’m a monthly contributor to the ACLU and the Massachusetts Bail Fund and have other accounts donating regularly to RAICES and Charity: Water. I’ll be looking for more causes to support in the future.

I’m not saying this because I’m looking for any kind of credit, but because I’ve strongly come to believe that the concept of anonymous charity actually perpetuates oppression. The idea that anonymous donations are somehow more virtuous than public ones seems flawed to me. An anonymous donation generates no publicity for the cause. It generates silence, and silence supports the status quo. Public donations let the people on the receiving end know that there are people out there who support them. Those both seem like greater public goods than the small benefit I might get from saying to myself, “Look what a good person I am, I did something good even though no one will ever know.”

Also, I’m lying, because I am looking for a little credit. If we want to create a less oppressive future, we have to create alternative systems that incentivize people to act in ways that we believe are less oppressive. If we want people to support certain causes, we need to give them reasons to do so other than saying it’s the right thing to do. Because not everyone believes it’s the right thing to do. So if we want those people to change their behavior, we need to give them another reason to do so.

One of the reasons our current criminal justice system is broken is that it’s based on punishment. But there is plenty of psychological research that tells us people are more incentivized by rewards than they are deterred by punishments. I think there’s something there that our social movements can learn from. You will get more support by praising the people who join you than by criticizing the ones who don’t.

To be clear, I understand that’s not fair, even if I believe it’s true. Credit and praise should be given to the people who were always there and doing the work. And bandwagon jumpers can dilute a movement and undermine its original intent. I’m not saying that one way is right and and one way is wrong, just that there is a tradeoff there.

Because I’m new here, too, and I’m probably fucking this all up. But that will be okay if I keep listening to the right people and learning.