Talk is cheap? Silence is expensive.

During a heated argument about foreign affairs, an erstwhile friend told me that a bunch of “rich, safe Americans” have no right to sit in judgment of anything, particularly because we’re sitting on land we stole “back when genocide wasn’t a big deal,” and “if [people] want war, they can have it. [Refuse] to get sucked into it.”

We see and hear of bad things happening, all the time, at home and abroad. Palestinians suffer humiliation every day as they try to go about their lives. The war in the Congo is a never-ending nightmare. Guns are easier to access in the U.S. than education, healthcare, or a social security number. And so on, and so forth. This is not new. But it is news, and it’s important.  

Having a visceral reaction to basic human rights violations is not tantamount to playing hero. Participating in the conveyance of a message is not about being an outsider trying to solve poorly understood problems. It’s not that complicated.

Self-serving spout of any kind, including the propagation of misinformation, schadenfreude under the guise of altruism, and platitudinous discourse, is of course lame. DUH. But silence for the sake of propriety is just as, if not more, stupid. Believing that vocal dissent is meaningless because of one’s inability to be involved on foot is myopic and bitter at best.

Ask people involved in a crisis, “what can I do?” And in my experience, the answer has always been: “spread the word.”

Sure, take care of stuff at home. Pick up your trash. Volunteer at a battered women’s shelter. Vote and consume with a conscience. Go out of your way to support local, green businesses. Art is necessary, pay for it. 

On things happening outside of our backyard? If you can get directly involved with efforts that resonate with you, great. If you can provide services, send money, write to government officials, and otherwise support the folks who are in the trenches, by all means, do it. 

If you choose to study a topic and develop an opinion, it’s OK to speak and show solidarity from afar. It’s better than doing nothing and means more than you might think, especially in high volume. Silence is repression’s greatest ally. Publicity puts pressure on abusers of power, which is why Twitter and Facebook are blocked in places and times of political unrest. 

Also, it’s human to give an eff.