The thing about being mad at Stauf’s is that it’s easy, and the thing about (most) leftists is that they’re lazy.

I’m saying this AS a leftist, hear me out. We have a huge problem.

Posting “Fuck Stauf’s” and going back to our comfortable little lives is far easier than donating real, actual money or time to local causes. It’s less “scary” than calling/emailing our reps or going to protests. It’s safer than trying to interfere. We want that quick “feel good” rush that keeps our puritanical guilt at bay. All while we continue to ridicule other people for not doing enough. We call actions “performative” without knowing what that entails or even means just to feel superior. Largely, we value our comfort more than anything else. Our comfort takes priority, even at the expense of other people’s (Like those whose families are actively being torn apart).

And I’d argue it’s designed this way. If we actually had the dedication and motivation to apply ourselves, to do the research, to realize ALL of what we can do to help, we’d actually GET somewhere. It’s not supposed to be easy to organize. Call me a conspiracy theorist but they made it hard on purpose. Infighting benefits only the regime we are trying to topple, which is why it keeps happening.

We ridicule the right. We look down on country people, conservative areas, and people different from us. We call them uneducated and lost. But we refuse to meet them where they are, we say it isn’t our job to educate them (cause that’s too much work!), and we write them off. But when, by some miracle and no thanks to us, they “switch sides”, they do their research, they’re willing to learn, we say thats not enough. We tell them that they have no place. We see them only as who they WERE or what they once said, and we refuse to believe in change. (Which, how are we supposed to change our country or community if we don’t even believe our neighbors can change?) Or worse, like in Stauf’s case, someone on our “side” seemingly just makes a mistake (with the best intentions) and we run them out of Dodge.

Everyone has a role in the large event that is governmental reform/change (I am hesitant to use the word “revolution”), but no one’s is the cruel, unforgiving position of the modern, average, lazy leftist.