"Social Justice Warrior". Karl Rove didn't come up with it, but he might as well have.
Because no phrase seeks to turn one of our greatest strengths against us, more than this one.
It turns our concern for other people into a vice— meddling, complaining, interfering, and just plain infringing on our fellow citizens' right to be left alone. It turns our compassion into a weakness, the way "bleeding-heart liberal" did a generation ago. It redefines strength as shutting up and not standing up for yourself.
Calling us "SJWs" is how millions of our fellow citizens sleep at night, knowing the party and ideology they've aligned themselves with is an enemy of democracy, a foe of science and thinking... and now an enabler of pedophiles.
Thinking to themselves, "Well, at least I'm not one of those whining, complaining, weak, girly feminine over-emotional dweebs! I'm tough. I'm strong. I can lighten up. I know how to be fun."
(A lot of women have recently discovered that being "fun" means putting your hands on anyone who moves. Or being the recipient of those hands, and acting like it's no big deal. But I digress.)
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But why is an "SJW" a bad thing, anyway? After all— it's a Social Justice Warrior. A fighter. A hero. Someone who, in any other context, would be celebrated as an example of toughness, courage, and strength.
Which is why I was grateful to find this article the other day… it clarifies exactly what it means to be one of those pesky, pain-in-the-ass, too-loud, too-uncomfortable SJWs.
SJWs are badass:
Here I was in the ER… the doctors telling me to stop exaggerating… Despairing, seeking solace, I texted Ania throughout these hospital visits. I sought comfort, and a friendly ear. I got more than I bargained for, as this little sprite storms into the hospital, stomping her way into my room as she told off the doctors and nurses, and came to my rescue. … Her support and assistance during that horrible period brought tears to my eyes.
The triumphant knight rising in glory over the mortal bodies of medical personnel slain by her logic, knowledge, and ferocity… That incident gave me my first real insight as to what a Social Justice Warrior actually was.
SJWs go the extra mile and do what is really necessary to help— offering more than just thoughts and prayers:
Someone I didn’t know sent me a text message offering assistance. It seriously blew me away. This person I didn’t know spent countless hours working to decipher 64 pages of jumbled medical receipts, so that I could get my taxes done, so that I could apply for medical coverage, so that I could afford my medication, and could do other things that I desperately needed.
The offer of help, the enthusiasm shown to me by someone who had their own issues, and yet were willing to spend valuable resources on helping a complete stranger… it just blew me away that someone would be willing to do that for me.
SJWs are compassionate and kind (but you knew that already):
[A] stranger offered me help the night before, for no reason other than the goodness of her heart, and having seen me tag a SJW friend looking for a compassionate ear. I thought of my knight in shining armor friend who fought for me to ensure that I received the medical care that I needed. And I thought about this whole community of resources that was there for me, when I’d never known about it.
I didn’t stop crying until I reached my destination, simply overwhelmed with gratitude at this other dimension to the SJW universe that had opened its doors to me. The community.
It's long past time to take back "SJW".
The ones who use it as a pejorative are trying to make it socially unacceptable to be compassionate. They're trying to make it cool to be cruel. For the future of our people and the moral fiber of our country-- we cannot let them do that.
I once suggested, as a substitute/synonym, "Person Who Gives A Shit"— I thought that suitably salty to appeal to the "I wanna be tough, not a victim" crowd.
Because that's truly what SJWs are: people who give a shit. People who look at the situation honestly, and offer real actions to those in need— not just lip service.
People who see gaps in what our current systems can offer, and think of ways to bridge those gaps. People who are quite innovative and creative that way.
People who are the exact opposite of what a "resident of Kekistan" once said to me: that SJWs merely pretended to care about other people so they can get "good person” brownie points, that they didn't really care. When I pressed Kordon Kekko for what he saw as an example of real action and real caring, he couldn't tell me. Because he had nothing. Because he had no actions— only lip service and keyboard activism. He was the very thing he and his ilk were accusing us of being.
Social Justice Warriors are sometimes the glue that holds a progressive community together. Sometimes they're the mavericks who see unconventional ways to help people and solve problems, and sometimes they do nothing but make us feel validated and supported. Often, they do all three.
They don't care if they know you (though they do care if you're a psychologically safe person). They impose no worthiness or group membership tests on you before they offer help (unlike many religions). Without them, a lot of people would fall through the cracks.
I believe we used to say, "practice random kindnesses and senseless acts of beauty". I heard that phrase a lot more before 9/11, and more existential concerns came to rule the day. We tend to see random kindnesses as luxuries, things we can't do if we don't have sufficient wherewithal, if we're just focused on surviving.
Social Justice Warriors help us stay in random-kindness mode... even if we do happen to be struggling day-to-day. Because our consciences demand it, and survival should NOT necessitate shutting down our hearts.
No longer do we have to stay at the bottom of the Maslow pyramid even in our darkest hours. Because our humanity demands we think higher, regardless.
Kudos to all our SJW friends for showing us how to do that.
And it should be a label we wear with pride, from here on out.
(Thanks again to Ania Onion Bula and her friend, the unnamed narrator of this piece; for being so eloquent about the art of fighting for social justice.)