Shut Up and Work
Americans have normalized the idea that success disqualifies you from speaking out. They told Kaepernick to shut up and play football. They told Mark Ruffalo to shut up and act. Now they tell Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny to shut up and sing. We’ve blurred the line between opinion and morality. Many remain silent in fear of retaliation. Since when did we decide that Americans should be silent after achieving their dreams? What’s more American than using your platform to speak out when compelled?
I’m writing today because I live in a horrifying time in America watching so many people I love refusing to denounce the obvious corruption playing out before our eyes. I write in hopes that maybe one person will realize they are being lied to because of my writing. I likely will never know, but it isn’t stopping me from speaking out.
My relationship with social media has been on a roller coaster the last year. I tried to quit entirely and after a few weeks, I realized how addictive the endless loop we’ve agreed to is. I almost exclusively use social media to share political content in hopes that I haven’t already been muted by those I wish to reach. What I understand now is that people have been trained to believe that being silent is neutral.
Sometimes owning your opinions comes at a cost. Maybe you lose a job, maybe you’re in the wrong place, maybe you’re right and the world simply isn’t aligned with your morals. As painful as that can be, it’s a reckoning you need to face if you refuse to stay silent. If you can’t own your beliefs, do you really believe them?
I really struggle with how many people I see that refuse to speak out against what’s happening right now in our country. Many I know that don’t support the actions of this administration but feel that their social media isn’t a place to speak out in fear of repercussions. Part of me understands, but the other part of me screams the same line that was on my very first protest sign:
“Your Silence Is Compliance”
Elites around the world are being shamed for having any association with Jeffrey Epstein. Yet our President remains in office. He isn’t going to resign. Not with swaths of people declaring their disgust in private. The time to speak out is now. We are at the moment that in 20-30 years our children will ask what we did. Are you going to be able to say you spoke out?