I've only encountered it a couple of times in cities among what was described to me as the 'lifer activist grifter' crowd, where a couple of people told me I 'looked like a cop' (which tbf, tall guy shaved head plain clothes, I can see it). But yeah, the reaction to the reaction is also overblown. I think it has more to do with the fact that when it does happen, it is people with little organizing experience and lots of theory and history coming into conflict with people who have been activists and maintaining activist connections since college, so it seems like a gatekeeping device at times, when there are some undeniable realities of activism that create differing ideologies from those who are theory/history buffs. You need both.
In my experience the "aesthetic revolutionary" type of person seems to be more common among self-consciously liberal activists. That what it sounds like you are describing to me when you say "lifer activist grifter." Explicitly left wing orgs usually have activists that run way more nerdy (I say this as I am one of them lol). Like I saw way more stuff like FALGSC graphic-T shirts than colored hair and nose rings or whatever, which is arguably the same sort of cringe commodity virtue signaling/harmless fun.
Now the MOST serious activists I've seen, those who were part of an immigrants rights group, wore uniforms to rallies and meetings. That's basically as "square" as you can get, but damn if it didn't make them look like they meant business.
Oh yeah, the immigrants and natives rights people are serious business, much respect. Idk who those guys who commented on me were for. I remember somebody commented that one of them was attempting to TikTok his way to fame, but that also could have just been a joke. They very easily could have been a part of more liberal activist orgs.
I've only encountered it a couple of times in cities among what was described to me as the 'lifer activist grifter' crowd, where a couple of people told me I 'looked like a cop' (which tbf, tall guy shaved head plain clothes, I can see it). But yeah, the reaction to the reaction is also overblown. I think it has more to do with the fact that when it does happen, it is people with little organizing experience and lots of theory and history coming into conflict with people who have been activists and maintaining activist connections since college, so it seems like a gatekeeping device at times, when there are some undeniable realities of activism that create differing ideologies from those who are theory/history buffs. You need both.
In my experience the "aesthetic revolutionary" type of person seems to be more common among self-consciously liberal activists. That what it sounds like you are describing to me when you say "lifer activist grifter." Explicitly left wing orgs usually have activists that run way more nerdy (I say this as I am one of them lol). Like I saw way more stuff like FALGSC graphic-T shirts than colored hair and nose rings or whatever, which is arguably the same sort of cringe commodity virtue signaling/harmless fun.
Now the MOST serious activists I've seen, those who were part of an immigrants rights group, wore uniforms to rallies and meetings. That's basically as "square" as you can get, but damn if it didn't make them look like they meant business.
Oh yeah, the immigrants and natives rights people are serious business, much respect. Idk who those guys who commented on me were for. I remember somebody commented that one of them was attempting to TikTok his way to fame, but that also could have just been a joke. They very easily could have been a part of more liberal activist orgs.