Viva Hypocrisy!!!

I read a quote a while back by Kathleen Hannah of Bikini Kill/ Le Tigre that said "If we wait until we are perfect to do anything, then nothing's ever gonna get done." Those words really resonated with me. I am a life-long cynic, and one of my standard modus operandi is to criticize people's efforts by pointing out any imperfections or hypocrisy with them. The vegan yoga nut who loves hard drugs or smokes, the punk rocker who signs to a major label, the muckraker who is distributed by a corporation, etc. I immediately negate their good deeds by pointing out the fact that they aren't perfect.

Really, all that means is that they are human. Humans are by nature hypocritical, contrary, and confused. The angry mother protecting her young so reveres their lives that she is willing to kill for them. All carnivores and omnivores kill in order to feed themselves and survive. I could go on but I'm tired.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that hypocrisy gets a pass. I think it's important for all of us to recognized our own hypocrisy and try to address it. If we start acting like we are practically perfect in every way, that's not gonna do us any good.

Still, I think we should all feel free to go out there and fuck up, and not worry about getting rid of every scrap of sin in our lives. Every environmental activist in some way contributes to polluting the environment, but that doesn’t mean they don't have a right to address environmental issues. We are all a part of the many, many disfunctional and fucked up things in our world - that doesn't give us the right to ignore them, and it shouldn't make us feel unworthy of trying to make the world a better place.

It's a little like making a new year's resolution to get in shape. Sure, you'd be better off working out seven days a week and severely regimenting your food intake. But not all of us can do that, so if our way of being in better shape means spending three hours a week at the gym and still eating ice cream, so be it. It's better to move forward than do nothing. If we wait until we're perfect to do anything, nothings ever gonna get done.

-pst