Dive 109: When Activism Becomes a Grift

Who would you rather work with?

Hey, it’s Alvin!

Ever get the sense that a lot of modern activism isn’t about change, but about making a few people rich? You’re not crazy. Most of today’s activism is a grift. And I’ll show you how to spot it.

The Activism Industrial Complex

The Activism Industrial Complex funnels money from the masses to a few members of the elite. It has 5 cogs that work together to keep it going.

Cog 1: No clear endgame

Activists never define what success looks like because if they did, the donations might stop.

Have you noticed that despite decades of activism, the news and activists still focus on how awful the current state of the world is? As if there have been no improvements for decades?

Sure, there are those who say, “we’ve made a lot of progress.” But they always follow that up with, “we still have a long way to go.”

And it doesn’t matter what the cause is.

Today’s activists have no idea how much longer their initiatives will take. They don’t seem to have a clear vision of what exactly they want to achieve. Concrete milestones with deadlines? In your dreams, maybe.

Cog 2: Loud stunts, little progress

Sensational stunts grab attention but rarely lead to lasting, positive change.

Modern activists keep repeating their same acts of rebellion even though it never advances their causes. For example, Just Stop Oil activists keep defacing artwork and monuments. Not that either stops oil production. Sure, every act of stupidity reminds the world that they exist. But more than anything, they undermine their own cause by pissing off the masses they need on their side.

Cog 3: Attention hacking

Streams of endless causes in the news keep you overwhelmed and mentally exhausted, so you can’t see the lack of results.

Whatever disdain a group of activists draws from the public is limited because the next day, the news will report on outrage related to some other cause that draws attention elsewhere. This is a neat trick that exploits a weakness in human psychology.

Miller’s Law says that the average number of things an average person can hold in short-term memory is 7 +/- 2. We can only hold 5 to 9 things in our mind at once, which isn’t a lot since we think about plenty of other things besides social causes. And there are already dozens of those.

We are mentally incapable of keeping up with all the causes the news and activists impose on us. It’s overwhelming. So, if the news cycles through one major cause per day, you will probably have forgotten about a cause in two weeks’ time. This also makes it practically impossible to track the progress of a cause.

Cog 4: Weaponized guilt

The more you want to be a “good person,” the more you’re pressured to follow without question or risk being labelled, “heartless.” Or a “Nazi.”

If you’re like me, you probably started ignoring certain causes because there are too many to keep up with. That’s usually when an activist likes to remind you, “but you’re a good person, right?”

“Don’t you want to know how you can be a better person?”

Most kind, well-meaning people would say, “yes.”

Well, the activists represent a good cause. Supposedly. So, logic follows that if you want to be a good person, you should do what the activists tell you to do. And if you don’t? You’ll be labelled a “bad person.” You wouldn’t want that, would you?

So, many kind-hearted people play along. They’re told they need to be “educated…”

Cog 5: The grift below the surface

Massive speaking fees, book deals, and shady fundraising show that the activism industry often cares more about cash than people.

Because the masses need to be “educated,” someone’s gonna get paid to educate.

One woman was paid $10,000 to $30,000 for each speech she gave about racism.

A man sold more than a million books on the same topic.

Just Stop Oil and other activist groups get millions of dollars to… not advance their stated cause.

If I were to be generous, I’d say these people are being paid huge money to raise awareness and “educate” the public on issues they have no control over. And when we put all the cogs together, we can see how the activism industry works… how the gears turn to keep the industrial machine running to keep the wealthy “educators” rich…

Many causes have an unclear vision, ill-defined goals and/or flexible (or no) timelines because the promoters of those causes don’t care about the causes. They care more about money. And if we’re honest, power. So, it makes sense that the activists who serve those causes do nothing to improve the world because that’s not the main goal.

Cause leaders push educational products and services onto ordinary people to make money. Kind people buy in because they genuinely want to do good and be better.

But it’s a trap.

There are no concrete goals. And when there are, they’re never achieved no matter how “educated” people get and no matter how much people try to improve. People often don’t notice they’re being played because they’re distracted by dozens of causes that go nowhere. Because nothing is improving, people are kept feeling hopeless. That’s great for those leading the causes, because they can keep convincing the public to keep trying harder (and “smarter”) by buying more products and services from them.

The cycle repeats.

If you’re as tired of playing this game as I am, then it’s time to push back on malicious activism. But as I said in the beginning, there are people who genuinely care about the cause they promote. There are those who instil positive energy and hope but make actual changes. Here’s how you can tell the difference between a grifter and a true advocate.

The True Advocate

One of the most practical skills I gained working as a software developer for over a decade is how to turn a dream into reality. But there’s added complexity when someone’s paying you to actualize their vision.

My customers don’t want me to take forever to develop software features. They have a budget. My company has a budget. So, when I’m making software for a paying or potential customer, I have to figure out what I can do in the time I’m given. I set specific milestones along the way where specific things must be done. Because if I can’t finish the work set in those milestones, then I need to work with the customer to reset expectations for the final deliverable.

A true advocate for a cause should be able to work the same way.

When an advocate asks me to support a cause, I look for a few green flags:

• Do they have concrete, SMART milestones?
  SMART stands for: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.

• Have they already made progress towards their ultimate goal? How long did it take?

• How are they improving their processes to cross the finish line sooner?

If advocate Alex asks me to support some vague cause, and can’t show me these green flags, then it tells me Alex isn’t serious about the cause. But if even the advocate isn’t serious about the cause, why should I be? Why should anyone be?

If you’re giving money to a person or organization, you deserve to know how that money is being spent. Heck, even if you’re just giving your time and attention, you deserve to see progress. And it’s not just that you deserve to know. It’s about being responsible. I can’t speak for you, but if my time and money were wasted on irrelevant nonsense, then I’d want to redirect those resources to people who add value to the world instead.

And if those time-squandering activists turn around and accuse you of being a bad person for not caring about the planet (for example), then you can reply with, “look, I care about the planet, I just don’t think throwing a can of soup at van Gogh’s Sunflowers is productive.”

It’s not that I don’t care about the cause; it’s that I don’t care for the solutions.

Because there are alternatives that make better use of time.

I’m tired of letting the activism industry take advantage of my kindness by imposing hopelessness and wasting my time to make a few “thought leaders” and “influencers” rich. It’s time for more people to realize that you can be kind yet still have a spine to stand up for yourself and push back on those who don’t have your best interests at heart.

How to Spot a Grifting Activist:

• No SMART goals

• No track record of real progress

• No clear, achievable plan

• Sells expensive “education”

• Uses guilt-tripping language

Modern activism is a grift.

And your kindness deserves better. Don’t waste it.

Demand real progress… or walk away.

It’s not apathy.

It’s responsibility.

Reply to belowthesurfacetop@gmail.com or click “Message Alvin” below if you have questions or comments. Let me know how you deal with a news media and activists that guilt you non-stop.

Thank you for reading. Push back on grifting activists. And I’ll see you in the next one.