The Comment Factory

In the wake of the wake of the recent New York University protests (the backlash to the backlash), there are many articles like the one in this week’s New York Observer. They preface their interviews with the student activists by admitting how easy it is to make fun of college student/protesters. I mean, seriously, everybody does it.

The vast majority of these critics (see Gawker, New York Times, etc—although Gawker thankfully participated in the backlash to the backlash by praising the fact that at least these kids are interested in something outside themselves) point to the often incorrect assumption that all protesters are ignorant rich white kids with nothing better to do than protest the school that Mommy and Daddy pay for.  My problem is not whether or not those critics are correct (although they are more often incorrect—one of the big things these NYU kids were protesting were tuitions—can’t have it both ways guys! Either they can afford tuition or they can’t!), it’s how we so conveniently choose to gloss over the issues that protests bring to the surface so we can fake-righteously condemn the messengers.

I coin the phrase ‘fake-righteously’ because it’s a new development in the world of righteousness. We all know and despise the blatantly self-righteous—they tell us to eat organic, love Jesus, save the whales as if that makes them better than the rest of us—but these types are just as often met with opposition by the fake-righteous. The latter couch their bragging in false self-deprecation—they’re not pretentious like hipsters, vain like yuppies, unclassy like Wal-Mart. This attitude, of course, leads one to ask, “What are you?” Like, if it’s not okay to work hard/play hard like yuppies, tune out/drop out like hipsters, or fall into boring suburban middle class-dome like Wal-Mart represents, what the hell is it okay to be? This is not rhetorical, the answer is that the only thing it is okay to be is critical of everything and positive about nothing. It’s the false comfort of cynicism: you keep yourself safe and sound by never subscribing to any beliefs, but harshly criticize everything.

But back to the protests—everyone has a criticism up their sleeve for protests: it’s just causing needless disruption, it’s not for the right ideals, it’s for too many ideals, it’s for too few ideas, the people are all purple-haired freaks, the people are all uptight yuppies-in-training. Of course, none of this is surprising. I hate to get on a soapbox, but nearly everyone in the world is complicit in its wickedness and banality, while at the same time most of us find ourselves on the sidelines, and struggling to get by. So it’s easy to criticize people who—however ungracefully or ineloquently—buck the system by pointing to our sins and our complicity. To wit, we hate the greedy bankers, but rather than hang them we’d settle on a good mortgage.

In conclusion, keep occupying buildings, keep writing inflammatory articles, protesting everything you disagree with. Keep going vegan, keep going organic, keep doing what you believe.