This doesn’t surprise me. I have friends who treat protests very seriously, and though I can’t think of any, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of my friends treated them as a recreational event, either. Being activists, and philanthropists, ourselves, during, or prior, our lives as effective altruists, I imagine lots of us have friends who are involved in protest movements, to the point that we, or they, might call them(selves) ‘career activists’. That is, especially if you live a metropolitan area, some people will become involved in multiple public advocacy causes, and treat activism as part of their lifestyle, or a part-time job.
For people treating it more like a hobby than a part-time job as they integrate it into their lifestyle, they may think of it as a recreational event. For some activists, it’s easy for me to imagine protests being a recreational event and serious business, much like a ‘work function’ might be an office-sanctioned party with prospective clients present is for white-collar professionals.
In hindsight, it’d be interesting if there was greater discussion of ‘career activism’ on this forum, as people who live such a lifestyle are the closest set of people I’m aware of who claim to be dedicating their lives to doing good as seriously as effective altruists do, without actually being part of effective altruism. Of course, there is serious overlap between these two lifestyles as well.
This doesn’t surprise me. I have friends who treat protests very seriously, and though I can’t think of any, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of my friends treated them as a recreational event, either. Being activists, and philanthropists, ourselves, during, or prior, our lives as effective altruists, I imagine lots of us have friends who are involved in protest movements, to the point that we, or they, might call them(selves) ‘career activists’. That is, especially if you live a metropolitan area, some people will become involved in multiple public advocacy causes, and treat activism as part of their lifestyle, or a part-time job.
For people treating it more like a hobby than a part-time job as they integrate it into their lifestyle, they may think of it as a recreational event. For some activists, it’s easy for me to imagine protests being a recreational event and serious business, much like a ‘work function’ might be an office-sanctioned party with prospective clients present is for white-collar professionals.
In hindsight, it’d be interesting if there was greater discussion of ‘career activism’ on this forum, as people who live such a lifestyle are the closest set of people I’m aware of who claim to be dedicating their lives to doing good as seriously as effective altruists do, without actually being part of effective altruism. Of course, there is serious overlap between these two lifestyles as well.