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It's always wild to me the way people congratulate themselves for being on the same side as everyone else.
To give one example, folks who pat themselves on the back for being anti-Nazi.
How low is your bar that the best thing you can say about yourself is "I'm an outspoken opponent of fascism"? That's literally everyone! Or a solid 98.7% of the (American) population if not more.
Even hardcore, nationalistic, right-wing Trumpublican nut-jobs wouldn't TOUCH the Aryan Nation or any such organization with an eighty foot pole. In fact, they make every effort to distance themselves from such people. Vigorous opposition to such a fringe ideology is entirely wasted and, realistically, the only reason to define yourself that way would be because you care more about self-gratification than actually doing some good. You're literally on the same side as DC's Joker. That's not the side that needs your support.
A less prevalent but still somewhat irritating example materializes during Pride Month. There are way more people who oppose LGBTQ rights than who support fascism. But constantly plastering your profiles with the Pride Flag raises the same question to me; who are you fighting for or against?
(Virtually) all Democrats support LGBTQ rights. All Socialists. All Libertarians. The most recent national survey indicated that even 60% of Republicans do. Not to mention almost every musician. Every film production company. Heck, every corporation but one flaunts rainbow iconography all month exactly because it's a popular sell. LGBTQ presence is no longer some constricted thing in this country. Instead, media outlets and streaming services often go out of their way to insert LGBTQ representation whether it adds anything to character/plot development or not.
Here's what I'm getting at:
You're not wrong to be anti-Nazi or support LGBTQ rights. You're just kidding yourself if you think these are the causes that need your advocacy right now. So wave your Pride Flag. But just understand that doing so is essentially the same exercise as waving the American Flag and shooting off firecrackers in a month. There's nothing wrong with it UNTIL you forget that it's an "everyone's doing it" trend and not a "my advocacy is critical" cause.
The newspaper publishers who took a firm stand against the rise of fascism in the 1920s and 1930s while it was still a divisive topic? Those people deserve our applause.
The folks who openly supported the gay rights movement during the 1970s-2000s when doing so was still a thing that could get you fired or labeled a pervert? They get to congratulate themselves if they legitimately gave up their positions of comfort to fight for their beliefs.
Those of you doing it now are too late. You missed your opportunity to make a difference (to those causes) and, now, your advocacy rings more of trendy self-gratification than courage.
You want to make a REAL difference? You want to REALLY stand for something?
Find a marginalized, non-mainstream cause that could actually benefit from your nourishment and advocacy. I promise you that such causes are out there. Causes that have few supporters now but, by 2050, will be as nationally prolific as Pride Month is currently.
You want to be a courageous hero? BE A COURAGEOUS HERO! But no one ever became a hero or source of inspiration by casually supporting a mainstream cause everyone already agrees with without assuming a shred of personal risk.