Day Thirty-Six - Idle Activism

The pictured gentleman stands near the Thomspon Center, on the corner of Clark and Randolph, facing the Daley Center, nearly every weekday morning holding this sign. Though I applaud his activist spirit, to me, this is the worst kind of activism. Sign holding. Alone, sign holding does nothing. This idle activism is lazy and ineffective. Granted, I have no idea what other actions he has taken to achieve his goal (which is what exactly? A job for him, more jobs for all unemployed people, jobs for immigrants, I'm at a loss...), but I'd venture a guess that this is his primary strategy, and has been for the last two years or so. He doesn't even pass out pamphlets or talk through a bullhorn. In any event, I don't think the sign holding is working.

This particular idle activism is especially useless. This man claims to be on a hunger strike (for a job, job, job, job), but as you can see, his hunger strike started yesterday. Based on my near daily observations, this activist has been on probably 200 to 300 hunger strikes in the last two years (all for a job, job, job, job). Every two or three days, he resets the date on his sign. I don't think he really understands how a hunger strike works. If you advertise that your hunger strike starts over every couple of days, nobody will respect your mettle or respond to your requests for reform (or a job, job, job, job). Perhaps this guy should just get a good meal and pound the pavement applying for jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.