Let Them Eat Cake

One night about a week ago, one of the news stations was on and I saw a man talking about Vladimir Putin's despicable actions towards the LBGT community in Russia and worldwide. His name is Harvey Fierstein and he wrote a fabulous op-ed in the New York Times. You can read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-crackdown.html?ref=opinion&_r=1&

When I found out he is also an actor and a playwright, I started following Mr. Fierstein on Twitter. I'm really glad I did. Today, two of his tweets really inspired me:

"Make it unacceptable to be homophobic and the laws will change down the line. So don't accept defeat before you've even taken action."

and

"Discouraging action is the coward's path. Encourage others to protest in any way they feel right and do your best to change the world."

This is truth. Too many people seem content with merely being dissatisfied. When it comes time to actually take a stand or take action, a lot of people are afraid. They are afraid people won't like them. They are afraid they will be excluded. These are really sucky reasons for not speaking out and not showing up.

Too many people right now feel like they don't have a voice. Too many people think things in our country are so screwed up that it doesn't matter what anyone does. Too many people believe everything is a conspiracy. Too many people tell others who do stand up that what they do doesn't matter. They tell us we can't change anything. They remind us nice girls keep their opinions to themselves.

The reason we have so many problems in our country and all over the world right now isn't just because of people with bigoted or greedy agendas. It's because not enough people will stand up to them.

When you see injustice and just sit back and watch or even worse, discourage people from taking a stand, it's the equivalent of sitting in your palace looking out at people in need and saying, "Let them eat cake."