I disagree that activism makes you a "mercenary". If anything, I think of myself at work as a mercenary who is good to his word, and does what he's fucking paid

I disagree that activism makes you a "mercenary". If anything, I think of myself at work as a mercenary who is good to his word, and does what he's fucking paid to do, without bringing his personal beliefs into it. If it grates on my conscience, I don't take the contract in the first place. It's a professional thing to do, dammit. Activism at the workplace is as far as one can get from either fellowship or a mercenary camp: it's your personal beliefs and values above all else, at all cost. Screw the work, screw the colleagues, screw the company, I need to preach on the company dime, or improve stuff no one has asked me to improve.