15 ms·

Wait, what's the difference between a political act and political ACTivism?

• eropple 10y ago
  Activism is an attempt to effect or advocate for the effecting of change in your polity. A political act is just an action with repercussions in your polity. (But this is why I used the word expression.)
  • Hydraulix989 10y ago
    How doesn't that contradict your argument? Shouldn't buying a USB sound card be considered activism? I'm not sure where to draw the line (since both your definitions have repercussions, in particular, you seem to be much more acutely aware of them than the average person in everyday scenarios, making your actions arguably activism).
    • eropple 10y ago
      Actions with an inextricably political component (which is to say, damned near everything) requires awareness and an understanding of what it encourages and reifies in order to be a decent human, but they are not taken with the political consequence as a primary motivator. When engaging in activism, the political consequence is the point.
• maxerickson 10y ago
  For me, intent. Saying that buying the drive is a political act is a recognition that there are consequences to the system that makes it available. But there's not necessarily any intent to engage with those consequences when a drive is purchased. Writing the manufacturer a letter questioning their practices would be activism, it is done with the intent to change the consequences. I guess you could also engage with the intent to prevent change.