Armchair social justice is a weapon of mass distraction

Top trending on Twitter Politics Jan. 25, 2020: “Biden administration looking to ‘speed up’ release of $20 bills featuring Harriet Tubman”

Events one to three days before: The Biden administration condemns Putin’s imprisonment and alleged murder-attempt of outspoken Russian Kremlin-Critic Alexei Navalny after 3000 of his supporters get detained in Russia, all while a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the two countries brinks on expiration. The Biden administration rejoins the Paris Accord and halts the United States’ exit from the World Health Organization. China enters its second day of flying warplanes over Taiwan, testing the Biden administrations’ stance on such a move and on China in general. 

All this in the middle of a pandemic with domestic issues of civil unrest, a second impending impeachment trial, public health and the inheritance of one of the worst economies in U.S. presidential history. 

It would be dishonest to claim that the Biden administration’s move to speed up the circulation of the Harriet Tubman clad $20 bills is of little significance. It is of great symbolic importance. During a slow news cycle, President Joe Biden’s move to speed up the circulation of the bill might be the top headline. Today, it is not. And probably not tomorrow either.

This is a caution to those who wish to see more justice and principled policy: Protect your attention from being hijacked by academic thinkpieces aimed at those with the privilege and luxury to ponder the importance of such performative actions.

While armchair social justice has risen across the board, in this particular transition of power where many seem to be breathing a sigh of relief, an influx of it feels imminent. It looks like an increase in viral articles riddled with high-minded intellectualism, meant to flex elevated levels of wokeness and mental agility. The issues they champion will be tempting to those with particularly pluckable heartstrings, especially after such a tumultuous presidential term. But it would be unwise to squander this unique opportunity to affect change by giving into those knee-jerk emotional temptations. 

Donald Trump left a vacuum in the Oval Office. Not to give him too much credit, but he did really challenge the form of what it actually means to be a sitting U.S. president. He said words we had never heard, openly did things we’d never seen and just two weeks ago, he was banned from Twitter! What was once unpresidential became presidential, and now, we just don’t know what that word means. As a result, we find ourselves with this rare chance to redefine the presidency. 

Now is the time to be paying attention to what is happening with the coronavirus relief, immigration reform, the preservation of DACA, what is happening with systemic racial oppression, what is happening with hedge fund bailouts, what is happening with U.S.-China relations and what is happening to crucial and brave freedom fighters like Alexei Navalny. It is time to tune into real news. 

We’re at a fragile moment in U.S. history. The people know it, the politicians know it, the billionaires in the illuminati know it (kidding … kind of). What’s more is that people are more politically active across the nation than they have been in decades. There is momentum for change, and there is a void to be filled. So just for this brief and critical moment, please sacrifice the slacktivism. Stop writing it, reading it and sharing it. Spend your political attention span wisely — it is worth a lot right now.  

To clarify, this isn’t to say don’t celebrate the good news either. On Jan. 26, 2021, Biden signed an order for the Department of Justice to end private prison contracts. This is a huge step in the fight for racial equity. Shout it from the rooftops, and tell all of your friends the great news — because it is real news. 

The Trump-to-Biden shift can be the dawn of much welcomed change. Or it can go back to the pre-Trump era of talking heads that do just enough to make you think everything is fine when the same old toxic potion bubbles and billows just below the surface. The choice is ours.