Good causes

Question: 

Is anybody else out there feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of Causes you are asked to endorse and petitions to sign? I feel uncomfortable even raising the question because all of them are worthy causes. What's the source of my discomfort, then?

For one thing, I'm not convinced that all our "likes" and our signatures are having much of an impact. It is so easy now to press a button and rally thousands of likes and sign-ons through social networks that I wonder if the "currency" isn't becoming devalued. So it's easier for the bad guys to ignore our online protests.

Secondly, most of the causes and the petitions I'm receiving focus on single issues -- important in and of themselves, undoubtedly -- rather than what links them all together: the structural or systemic causes of what ails us and the planet. I'm sure there are a million single issues out there worth supporting, but at what point does it become absurd or meaningless to endorse them? But there are single issues and there are single issues -- for example, the other day I signed two petitions demanding an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. No problem there...But I'm getting impatient with the tone of some of the requests for support, especially ones that get in your face. "Like if you...". Fill in the blanks. And if you don't "like" the photo of the child or the baby seal or the ancient redwood tree, the subtext is, well, you're somehow in favor of the bad things being done to kids, wildlife and nature. Give me a break.I don't want to be stingy with my "likes". I don't want to unduly withhold my signature from petitions. I just want my voice to be added to others' voices in a meaningful way.Don't get me wrong, I understand that Facebook and Twitter, etc are game-changers when it comes to advocacy and protest. But we need to use the new media thoughtfully and strategically.

So from now on, I'm going to be more selective about what causes I "like" on social networks and maybe restrict my endorsements to the causes I'm willing to go out into the streets and raise hell for.

What do you think, kind friends?