Performative Activism
I think we have all heard this term before. Someone does a small action to prove they support or appose the actions of a government or a corporation. It's a very dismissive term, it gets thrown around with other dog whistles like "virtu signalling".
No action is performative if it is meet with some sort of personal sacrifice. We just had a large very targeted boycott against Hogwartz Legacy. This boycott was the simplest thing in the world to act on. Just don't play a game. There are so many games you choose not to play, just add it to the list.
Many people crossed that virtual picket line. People who claimed to be supports of trans people, but when given a small amount of inconvenience give into their instant gratification and play the game. They rationalize it away. "It's just a performative boycott, me buying this game won't hurt anyone.".
I don't want to condemn these people. Self control and sacrifice are difficult things to learn. It takes discipline. Many people don't have the determination to stand up for what's right. They are not bad people.
If this is you, don't feel bad. Your action is done. I want you to not think about this as something to be ashamed of, but an opportunity to test yourself that you passed on.
I think that's one of the things people don't understand about these small boycotts. They are part of your training montage. You are building yourself up to be a better person who can help change the world for the better.
You think anti-facist protestors were just born that way? It took them years to learn how to get past their desire to not make a scene. Starting with small actions. Liking a twitter post, saying they support a cause signing a petition. Join a union. They gradually learn they have the power to change the world.
I also want you to consider something important. Boycotts work. Most people assume companies are so big that they can weather a boycott. The is truth to this, no boycott will destroy a company on it's own. But companies, especially media companies, run on less margin than most people would expect.
Companies have a huge amount of weight behind them. A small drop in sales can become the difference between the company being profitable for the quarter. Look at Warner Brother's financials the lost 3.5 billion dollars in the trailing 12 months. You think a game selling less copies then they expect doesn't have consequences?
Here is an example, Melville House was negotiating a contract with Amazon. At the time they were only 8% of Melville Houses's sales. Amazon wanted an outrageous one sided deal, and they said no. Figuring that Amazon was bluffing. Amazon removed the buy button from their books. This was enough to force Melville House to concede and agree to the deal. 8%, it was only 8% of tier revenue. You do have power.
People really underestimate how dangerous revenue drop is for the company. Even with healthy margins like games have, there is very high fixed costs to running the company. It's like a tug of war over an object, letting go forces that person to use their own weight to fall on their ass.
8% sales drop means drop in revenue and free cash flow. It means Wall Street gets worried as the discounted cash flow calculations take a large haircut on the value of the stock. It can force a company to change management or course. They want us to think it won't work. They are lying to you. They are big, but collectively we are bigger.
So boycott, boycott Warner Brothers, Hogwartz, Wizards of The Coast or any of the dozens of companies that have wronged us. We need you ready, we have a huge fight coming up. If you think a video game is hard, how hard do you think changing the world to save it will be?