I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but does something like donating money counts as direct action? I see a lot of fundraising posts come across my dash by (usually) heavily marginalized trans people for stuff like food, housing, medical/legal expenses and whenever I can I try to help as much as I can. Which admittedly isn’t a lot but I guess anything helps. Anyway, you had a post about direct action a while ago and I keep wondering if doing this also counts as that? Thanks in advance <3

Before we start, let’s define direct action because it is not a synonym for ‘good activism’. 

Direct action is action that tries to change the world through our own activity rather than through the actions of governments. While those who try to change the minds of politicians spread petitions and lobby, those who do direct action act on the belief that we have both the right and the power to change the world and they demonstrate this by doing it. 

It’s explained pretty well here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/rob-sparrow-anarchist-politics-direct-action

Direct action must be distinguished from symbolic actions. Direct action is bolting a gate rather than tying a yellow ribbon around it. Its purpose is to exercise power and control over our own lives rather than merely portray the semblance of it. This distinguishes it from many forms of action, for example “banner drops” such as those often engaged in by Greenpeace, that look militant but, in my opinion, aren’t. These actions do not directly attack the injustices they highlight, but instead seek to influence the public and politicians through the media. Any action directed primarily towards the media concedes that others, rather than ourselves, have the power to change things.

Direct action must also be distinguished from moral action. It is not moral protest. By moral protest I mean protest which is justified by reference to the moral relation to some institution or injustice that it demonstrates. Moral protest usually takes the form of a boycott of a product or refusal to participate in some institution. Such actions seek to avoid our complicity in the evils for which existing institutions are responsible. No doubt this is morally admirable. But unless these actions themselves have some perceivable effect on the institutions which they target, they do not constitute direct action. Direct action must have some immediate affect to demonstrate that we can exert power. It should not rely entirely on others taking up our example. Our own action should have such an affect that we can point it out to others as an example of how they can change — and not just protest — those things which concern them. Boycotts, for instance, therefore are not examples of direct action. If only those who organise a boycott participate in it, it will almost invariably be ineffective.

By that definition: yes, giving money to trans people for food is direct action. It directly keeps people alive that the state would prefer didn’t live. It doesn’t go beyond that and doesn’t create further change, so in terms of power imposed upon the world it’s a pretty weak direct action, but it’s direct action none the less. 

Does that mean it’s good activism? Meh. 

There’s a lot of things about online fundraisers that make them very far from an effective means to create real change. I’ll list a few:

• It’s incredibly easy to fake. As a result money doesn’t actually end up where it needs to be. 
• It heavily favors people with the privileges that it takes to get a large online following: good english skills, time and energy to commit to fundraising, and yes: a young, pretty, white face helps a LOT. You personally may not favor sending money to

  young, pretty, white people but those are who are likely to show up on your dash anyway. 

• Most importantly: it creates survival but not connection. When you give to an online trans person they may eat tonight but they are still isolatedand you are still isolated which means that that meal is all that happens. When we keep people in our own community alive, whom we can meet and talk with, we directly create connections. We get to know each other and we know we can ask each other for help. We get to know someone who can fix bikes, someone who can fix electricity, all those things that save so much money. Surviving alone is so expensive, surviving together is so much cheaper, easier and just plain better because it provides us with so much more than survival. 
• Starting with connection, direct action that is organized locally and together creates solidarity. And that’s not just some left-wing radical emotional buzzword, solidarity means real power. That means we can change so so SOOOOOOO MUCH MORE than when we act alone. We are weak alone, we are strong together. A community that supports each other can do a thousand things that a fundraiser never could. 

Because of all these reasons and more, actions focussed on supporting survival are far more effective when they’re organized locally and create a bridge between enabling survival and changing the conditions that took us to the point where we need help to survive.

One person giving money online can stop a trans person being hungry today, a community of connected activists can take away the conditions that caused them to go hungry.  

So if you asked me if someone who just gives to fundraisers was practicing direct action, I would say that they might technically meet the text-book definitely but they are an incredibly ineffective, isolated ‘activist; whose impact on changing the world is a tiny fraction of what it could be.