By: Lucy Mazzucco

When I was a little girl, I overheard someone using the phrase, “There are two sides to every story.” I remember asking someone what that meant and wondered if every story book contained an alternate ending. After I would finish reading, I often wondered where the second ending was. When I was in the first grade, I heard that phrase again, this time from a teacher to two little boys who had gotten into an argument over a bottle of Elmer’s glue. It seems that from a young age, everyone around me knew what that meant and placed a big importance on it. Little did I know, that that simple phrase I kept overhearing, was a leeway into learning that opposing points of view exist in every situation and scenario that occurs in life. As the years went by, the idea of “two sides” taught me to listen, respect and reflect.

As a writer, I spend the majority of my time reading. I find literature to be a universal form of communication because it is composed of words, but derived from emotion and personal experiences. Besides classic literature, I have found a new inspiration in activists from this generation that formulate articles based on their opinions. I find myself gravitating toward them because of the interesting feedback that often follows an opinionated piece of writing. I find this type of writing to be motivational and eye-opening, but the feedback that these online articles receive are almost always comments with opposing points of view which ultimately lead to controversy.

Controversy is something that has always existed and I believe that no matter how much our world evolves, it will forever exist on our planet and will always go hand-in-hand with bullying. While controversy is rooted by topics that are considered “taboo,” bullying acts as the repercussion; which led me to think about Newton’s third law which states that, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” This sparked my take on something I will inconclusively further refer to here as: inactive activism. 

The idea that human beings have the power to contribute to a movement they strongly believe in inspires me. No matter what they are fighting for and whether or not I agree with it, I am motivated by their passion to become fully immersed in making a change. I believe that the passion that is rooted by people’s willingness to support, educate and inspire is a movement of its own. Although one cannot agree with everything that occurs globally, I enjoy listening to the opinions of others on topics that I may not be familiar with. The concept of “two sides” enables me to involve myself indirectly through the passion of others and become moved by the sole passion of people’s willingness to have a voice.

I’ve always said these exact words as a rebuttal in any debate regarding change, “Not everyone can do everything, but if one person does one thing, it’s enough to make a difference.” This statement is something I strongly believe in. I stand by the fact that simply raising awareness, becoming self-educated on topics you care about or simply committing to one action that will help the movement leading to change is admirable. In fact, through endless discussions I’ve had with others about unresolved world issues, I’ve always vouched for the idea that one action is enough to have a positive reaction and contribute to the domino effect of change. The fact of the matter is, it’s not about what you do exactly, but how you go about it. I admire anyone with a deep rooted passion for activism and change which they pursue in the right way. However, witnessing commentary on certain articles lately, caused something to strike a a nerve within me and inspired me to write this.

Over the past few years, social media has become a wonderful portal for change. It opened up a world of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Unfortunately, it also opened up a world of judgment, bullying and distress. It became a dark and disturbing place where people’s attempts at change became an open discussion for mockery and abuse from other activists who felt “better suited” or “more educated” on the topic up for discussion.

Discussion boards have elaborately transformed into an outlet for people to angrily argue their sides of the spectrum, as opposed to understanding the underlying principle of why something was written or posted in the first place. This snowball-like effect results in a battle that ultimately becomes irrelevant to the initial reasoning behind the post. The sad truth is that the overwhelming traffic of responses to posts, are often full of angry individuals who claim to support the movement behind the post “more” than the person who posted it. The comments written by people disagreeing and coming to conclusions solely based on judgment, begin to stand out more than the passionate comments about activism that draw me to the discussions in the first place, leading back to my point about controversy going hand-in-hand with bullying. To me, this is a representation of activists fighting for change that is leading nowhere. These passionate individuals who could be out there contributing to change in a positive way; are instead, more concerned with posting angry comments on online disputes that will soon become lost in the portal of the internet. They are activists, yes, but they are using their passion for activism in a way where it results in inactivity.

People often forget that emotions are very powerful if they are used in a positive way. If you channel your passion and energy into a positive step toward change, it will contribute more to the cause you care about than the passion you’re putting into your inactivity. Make the adjustment from negative inactivity to positive activism. Words are loud, but actions are louder.