For every problem in world, there’s someone doing something about it. And for each of those people, there’s someone criticizing their efforts.
There are a lot of problems in the world. A LOT.
Homelessness, hunger, dirty water, cancer, AIDS, disabilities, mental illness, corruption, pollution, racism, sexism, trafficking… – the list could go on forever.
And these problems aren’t going away anytime soon. Fortunately, there are a lot of good people in the world doing things about it. They’re genuinely trying to solve these problems. They’re passionate about what they’re doing.
But unfortunately, there are also a lot of jackasses that like to rain on their parade and criticize everything they do.
When Invisible Children tried to stop a warlord from kidnapping children and making them into soldiers, people crapped all over them.
When TOMS tried to use a business to give shoes to kids who didn’t have any, people crapped all over them.
When people poured water on themselves to raise money for ALS research, people crapped all over them.
More recently, mass movements like Black Lives Matter, airport protests, and the Women’s March get the same kind of criticism.
There’s nothing wrong with constructive criticism to improve something. But there is something pathetic about a critic who does nothing themselves. And it’s just disheartening when the critic cares about another cause, but thinks everyone should care about that cause more than anything else.
So if you care deeply about a problem and are trying to solve it, that’s awesome. If you’re trying to raise awareness to get other people to join you, even better.
But don’t do it at the expense of someone else’s passion. Your “cause” isn’t any more worthy or noble than anyone else’s cause. Let them do their thing and you do your thing. You’re both making the world better.
If you think homeless veterans deserve help, that’s great. Go do something to actually help homeless veterans instead of disparaging people who want to focus on helping employ refugees.
If you don’t think that someone is doing their thing right, then get off your ass and do it yourself. Go do it better. Start a company. Start a nonprofit. Start a movement.
Stop complaining and do something that matters. Or step aside and let the rest of us change the world.
[bctt tweet=”Stop complaining and do something that matters. Or step aside and let the rest of us change the world.” username=”stevenlma”]