The importance of Small Activism
Sometimes the question comes up of whether small-time activism accomplishes anything. For social activist groups such as Patriot Front, WLM, Active Club, and ours, this criticism, coming mainly from the more radical elements within our sphere, tends to put into question the power and effect that putting up a small sticker has. Truth is, there is no small action that doesn’t push our message forward.
The main criticism is ridiculing the idea that such a small and easy action will save our nations and our race, yet what this criticism seems to ignore is that the point of putting these stickers and posters up, is not to necessarily convert people to our ideology. Obviously someone walking by and glancing at a few words on a paper won’t change their worldview. Instead, the purpose of these propaganda pieces is to establish a presence and show people that we are in their local areas, that we are within reach, and that we are real.
This is important because we must show people that we aren't hiding, that if their opinions put them secluded from mainstream thought, we are within reach as a lifeline for them. It is after all our purpose as Counter Culturalists to guide dissident thought into the right direction and into action. Without these indicators of presence, someone with our thoughts might feel alone and powerless to express himself and to stand up. It is a psychological fact that a person within a group is more willing to act upon thoughts than if they were alone. As when we are alone, we are psychologically weaker, so if these indicators serve to show them that they indeed are not alone, they will be more willing to stand up.
Even if these don't reach the desired audience, it will show those who see us negatively that we are yet not defeated. Our presence guarantees that they know we are not gone, that we have not lost, and that our will is still alive. It conveys that we are showing ourselves, even if to a minimal extent, one must start somewhere.
And how could putting up a sticker be a bad thing? After all, it is preferable to sitting by on our computers typing about how useless of an action it is. Any action that pushes our message forward and gets people to see us is a good action. Our purpose as ideological movements after all should be to get as many people to see us and understand us, so if a couple of people see our stickers, that’s a couple of people more that know we exist. Even if one out of hundreds that see it, decide to go further in, that is one more person within our ranks than if we had not chosen to put up that sticker.
The benefits of small-time activism cannot be underestimated, as even online they still work to push our message. Showing people on the web that we go outside, that we do actions that push our movement, and that we could possibly be near them, does help to get people to know us. The reason we post our activism online is to show people that we do things in real life, that we do go outside, that we do exist apart from this online sphere, and that our propaganda pieces serve a greater purpose than to get a few reactions on Telegram. Even if a person doesn't see the sticker itself that was put up in their city, they might recognize the location from the video and might see that we are indeed within their area, which then motivates them to get active.
The point that is being made is that there is no such thing as useless activism, that anything that helps show people our message, regardless of how small that number of people is, is still helping put our ideology out there.
Now of course there has to be a distinction made regarding the claim that there is no useless activism. There does exist activism that doesn't benefit the movement pushing it. If the activism is violent, illegal, or gives an unhealthy image, then it is bad activism. But that is more about the content that is being advertised rather than about the specific action that it is being advertised with.
