Ever been called an SJW? Read this.

I don’t feel like I pick battles anymore.

Am I even a SJW anymore?

As time goes on, my life becomes more full and less rhetorical.  I’m as committed to my values as ever – freedom, equality, diversity.

I argue less. I “know” less answers, but hold the answers I do have more strongly.

I ruminate less about the exact details of what is ethical.

Is that because I worked it out, or worked out that you can’t? And if you can’t know the answer, what do you say about your political views?

Arguing to win is a losing game – you can’t be right about something subjective. But opting out means you stand for nothing and no one. What alternative is there?

People who argue to win are just hot air.  Does this mean that words are just distractions?

There’s think-pieces and reactions to anything “controversial”, like Fireman Sam being deemed unhelpful or the banning of sexist beer names.

There’s newspapers who will be enraged and newspapers who will cheer the progress. Both sides will sell, and the people who buy them will both feel vindicated that they aren’t alone.

We all form our opinions from what we listen to, what we choose to hear.

As a passionate kid in an ethical panic, I felt I had to “blast this from the rooftops” to my enemies, but that wasn’t the true target.

If you want truth, look for it and share it. It’s the fact that you’re openly listening for information that decides your opinion.

If you listen to only one side then your opinion will be one sided and flimsy.

You won’t be corrupted because you listen to other views, you will be expanded. You will see more, have broader knowledge, think more critically.

The true target is building your own opinion up. Inspiring yourself to be politically informed, make choices that reflect your values, and improve the world as you see it.

If you only see a tiny chunk, you’re only limiting your powers and abilities.

And if you try to make other people listen to you, they’re going to call you names and assume you are trying to “thought police” them. It’s not going to be entirely baseless.

Listening needs to be a choice, and it needs to be wide. If it’s a battle to be heard, then we aren’t talking the right things to the right people. We all have to save our energy, and open our ears.

I will no longer spend time in my real life arguing hypotheticals. I can shine a light towards issues that I think are fascinating, interesting, and important: but I can’t control if other people see it! And it’s not the point.

I will act according to my values, and try to make a difference in the real world. That’s the area I have most control over.

Thanks for reading.

More Like This:

• Do Joke Privileges Exist?
• Cooling Off Instead – Healing My SJW Tendencies For the Better
• We can Do More Than Punching Nazis

 

---

Anyone who is subscribed might have noticed I didn’t post last week, and barely posted the week before. I’m starting a new therapy and I’m at a new job, so things are looking positive, but also pivotal, so things might be different around here for a little while whilst I figure things out. ^_^