Fact Check Me: Pay the People Who Fight for You

There’s this attitude — usually whispered by people who’ve never lifted a finger for anyone but themselves — that activists are “just doing it for attention.”

Or worse: “They’re only in it for the money.”

As if anyone who fights for something bigger than themselves should also take a vow of poverty just to be taken seriously.

Why is it that standing up for people — for all of us — suddenly becomes less noble the second you can pay your rent doing it?

We don’t hold that standard anywhere else.

Teachers get paid.

Nurses get paid.

Firefighters get paid.

We don’t accuse them of “selling out” because they need a salary to survive.

But the moment someone speaks truth to power, challenges injustice, or puts their face and name on the line, we demand they do it for free — like their integrity evaporates the second they cash a cheque.

It’s bullshit.

Information travels through media.

Media is a business.

A massive one.

It exploits all of us — our attention, our fears, our hopes.

So tell me:

Is it really so terrible that the people who fight against that machine get a taste of the power that comes with being heard?

Because the money isn’t the corruption.

The influence is the point.

You want to live in a world where only the wealthy, the comfortable, and the corporations have megaphones?

Or do you want the people who actually stand for something — the ones who speak for you — to have the reach to make a difference?

At the end of the day, your money is going somewhere.

So ask yourself:

Would you rather support the ones who fight for you?

Or the ones who exploit you?

Because someone is getting paid either way.