A letter on activism: Enjoyment as an act of resistance

By: Ben Frey

“Remember, Remember, the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gun powder treason should ever be forgot” – poem celebrating the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

I can’t say that I’ve always identified with the word activist —I’ve had too many conversations about what it means to name it or claim it as a single encapsulating identity. What does it mean to be active? Who should be active; in what cause? Who is the right person to advocate for such a cause; is it you? But as I look back upon this last decade of my twenties there is no doubt that it was bookended and punctuated with behaviors that could be considered activism, but what I might call ‘being the change you want to see in the world,’ as the adage goes. Successfully or unsuccessfully, I educated frat boys about supporting cultures of consent, facilitated teen dialogues on race, donated money to causes - though, perhaps not as much as I could have or should have - taught about subversive authors, attended protests, and worked for years helping immigrants to LEGALLY navigate the intentionally aggressive, labyrinthine, and bureaucratic system that is the United States Department of Homeland Security. 

Whatever cause you champion, whatever injustice you seek to correct, I see you, and what a hell of a time to believe what you believe. The word ‘unprecedented’ is accurate, but has been so overused to draw attention and elicit catastrophe that its utterance makes me want to roll my eyes and gag; “ugh, how trite.” And yet, this is the time in which we find ourselves. How is it that atrocity and authoritarianism feel too commonplace to bat an eye? How can imagery of skin-and-bones children and empty pots and pans clamoring in front of starving faces lead me to swipe away before the reel ends? It feels like everyone is waiting with bated breath for the next monstrosity to filter into the feed of our daily doom scroll, waiting to be reminded of their own insignificant (in)action.

At least, this is the media-propagated zeitgeist; we believe that we have no recourse, we are scared into inaction as we all become convinced that we are watching a slow-motion car crash. How can you not? All day, we can get constant updates about how the social infrastructure of the world is going awry —Russia is slowly encroaching upon Ukraine, billionaires are becoming exponentially richer and revealing the facade of American democracy, another few hundred children have died today due to weaponized famine, ICE has been allocated a budget larger than most countries’ militaries —and somehow, the ball keeps rolling and the institutions that are meant to protect us are complacent, complicit, or ineffectual. 

Lest we forget, this is an active strategy; the new right has been vocal about muzzle velocity, flooding the zone, and “putting [their opposition] into trauma” for months. Similarly, let’s not forget that Mark Zuckerberg abdicated Meta’s longstanding efforts to fact check, and provide community standards, following suit with X and Truth Social. This step, under the guise of being a free speech concern, only provided more latitude and less resistance for ICE Barbie to post shackle ASMR and allow social media published counter-constitutional hate crimes. The founders and board members of these platforms know what draws us to the media: outrage, frustration, anger. Politicians and political strategists know we can't look away. Our eyes are locked on the roadside accident, craning our necks for a brief glimpse before we pass at seventy miles an hour.

Simultaneously, all this noise about the most pivotal issues in the world is interspersed with influencers who get paid through ad revenue and sponsorships to maintain an image and lifestyle that is only attainable if you are being paid to maintain it through ad revenue and sponsorships. And, get this, you could be just like them if you rise and grind, make sure you’re scaling properly, and navigate to their website so that you can learn how to take advantage of the twelve-step program to follow their footsteps and get you to the jackpot lifestyle! Just like that, ‘you, too, could have jets, yachts, free time, island vacations, and in every way, live a life that is shinier and more manicured than the one you’re living now. OH! And don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe!’ big eye roll All these trends are the same reason why I’ve never thought fondly of advertisers. Sure, there’s a niche or ten where advertisers are working hard to bring attention to a just cause. But by and large, the advertiser’s job is to convince you that your life is not good enough or too hard, but they have just the thing, just the gadget that will take you to the next level. The C suite at Meta —let alone X, Truth Social, or TikTok— doesn’t care about us. Your time and attention is what they’re after, and in very real terms, they are profiting from the retraction of decency and empathy from the cultural norm. They are profiting from unresolved tragedy after unresolved tragedy because you, the consumer, are exposed to marketing and product placement while simultaneously too distracted and overwhelmed to push leaders into regulating these platforms in any meaningful way.

I think this is part of the reason why I feel a sense of collective dread in the air. We have this idea that everything in the world is broken, and yet, steps are being made. Resistance is in effect all around us —we need only to look at the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore. I want to challenge the concept that media, particularly social media, is an avenue to effect said change. I see social media as contributing to a culture where we are more engaged with pointing out what is wrong than putting in the effort to fix it. It’s easier to break a glass than make a glass. It’s easier to pass the buck than to pay the check. It’s easier to believe that by reposting we are raising awareness and galvanizing support than that, in our fatalism, we are actually playing into the cultural imaginary that is ‘everything is breaking.’ Meanwhile, the current administration continues to create problem after problem to overwhelm opposition, and Zuckerberg earns about $22,000 in the time that it takes the average adult to read this paragraph. 

So what can you do about it? Be the change you want to see in the world! Circulate petitions, organize your community, volunteer for the causes you care about, boycott businesses, PROTEST! Support your local governments (or complain to them, whichever feels more apt), run for public office, create support networks for your neighbors (financial, childcare support, mutual aid initiatives, cooperative gardens), RESIST! Recently a family member nonchalantly remarked upon being busy, “no one can do everything, but we all can do a little, and together we can do a lot,” and I think that’s worth remembering. However, we, as the vast majority of people who do not influence the prevailing winds, also have to remember that we cannot pay attention like they want us to; the constant fight, the helplessness, the lack of self-worth, will eventually break us. Any activist worth their picket signs will know that rest —and the joy that comes from it— is a vital component of being a part of the struggle. An integral component of your resistance to this foolishness is remembering that there is good in this world, (“Mr. Frodo,”) and it’s worth fighting for. 

Absent tangible acts of resistance, the strongest thing you can do is take a moment to stop and smell the roses, and remember that in a few years the tides will turn and we’ll be in a different era of politics — hopefully a more enlightened one than we are currently experiencing. Most of all, because the powers that be don’t want us to. The omnipresent “they” would rather that we feel afraid, as if the Orwellian thought police are right around the corner. They would rather that we not talk to each other, that we stay inside in silence, and we concede to their insistence that 2+2=5. They would rather that we feel overwhelmed into inaction. In the words of James Baldwin, “the most effective way of oppressing a people is to get them to oppress themselves.”

With that, I invite you this week to step away from the media bombardment, even for a little bit, put your phone down and feel how not oppressed you can be. Set a conscious and mindful intention for your time on what you plan to enjoy, whatever you want to enjoy. Do you like to play video games? Play away. Do you like to sing? Belt it out. Eat good food, bake bread, have sex, and garden. Get really into painting that set of figurines that you’ve been putting off. Go to the cinema, laugh with friends, drink wine, lie in a park and read. Enjoy your time for enjoyment’s sake and recharge for your next efforts. Maybe, just maybe, while you’re engaging in your joyful activity, you’ll think of something else in your capacity to resist. 

If by some miracle, you have read this article and are one who believes that I hate America due to the ideas I have expressed, then I will once again quote the great American writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin: “I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist upon the right to criticize her perpetually,” and know that I take joy in standing on the right side of history in telling you so.