The Revolution will be Snarky
I don't know about you, but I think we need to find new ways to get shit done.
I don't know about this either, but I think a good way to get shit done involves snark. Lots and lots of snark.
You might be wondering how exactly snark can help a revolution. They're not exactly two things you think of as going together, after all - and snark doesn't take anything seriously. Surely that's antithetical to effective revolt?
Well...no, not really. Sometimes, taking things too seriously can be dangerous - both to your ideas and to your health. You get bogged down in discussing the finer points of this or that action, or you burn yourself out trying to be everything to everyone and feeling guilty that you're not doing enough. It's not reactionary or slavish to say that sometimes you need to step back and laugh. There can be no revolution if anyone who could be revolting is burnt out or paralysed by guilt and fear.
Humour is also a very powerful way to discredit your opponents: if you can convince people that your enemies are an object of mockery, they are far less respected, far less feared. It's a good jumping-off point to get people to realise just how utterly stupid this system is. That's not to say it works on its own though - in our age, nothing ever does.
Lastly, because snark is so irreverent it will highlight the flaws in everything - what you want to attack and your precious ideology alike. That's not good news for ideologues, but it's definitely good news for people who can think creatively - and at the risk of sounding like I've just swallowed a book on management, just using the old methods on their own aren't working. Clearly, we need to think up new ways, ways that aren't always obvious and which people might not always expect. And that - quite obviously - means we need more creativity in this world.
I don't know about this either, but I think a good way to get shit done involves snark. Lots and lots of snark.
You might be wondering how exactly snark can help a revolution. They're not exactly two things you think of as going together, after all - and snark doesn't take anything seriously. Surely that's antithetical to effective revolt?
Well...no, not really. Sometimes, taking things too seriously can be dangerous - both to your ideas and to your health. You get bogged down in discussing the finer points of this or that action, or you burn yourself out trying to be everything to everyone and feeling guilty that you're not doing enough. It's not reactionary or slavish to say that sometimes you need to step back and laugh. There can be no revolution if anyone who could be revolting is burnt out or paralysed by guilt and fear.
Humour is also a very powerful way to discredit your opponents: if you can convince people that your enemies are an object of mockery, they are far less respected, far less feared. It's a good jumping-off point to get people to realise just how utterly stupid this system is. That's not to say it works on its own though - in our age, nothing ever does.
Lastly, because snark is so irreverent it will highlight the flaws in everything - what you want to attack and your precious ideology alike. That's not good news for ideologues, but it's definitely good news for people who can think creatively - and at the risk of sounding like I've just swallowed a book on management, just using the old methods on their own aren't working. Clearly, we need to think up new ways, ways that aren't always obvious and which people might not always expect. And that - quite obviously - means we need more creativity in this world.
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