"He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.” - Henry Adams

 "He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.” - Henry Adams (1838-1918). The Education of Henry Adams, 24, 1907

In the modern world, this takes the form of the claim that those who support a cause from the sidelines also have a purpose. It is a common claim that if you are not actively helping, then you are actively harming - that is, that if you are not showing your support for a cause by direct action or concrete use of your personal resources, then you are harming the cause. This is another version of the claim that if you are not with us, then you are against us. That claim has always bothered me, because it can be used so often as a call to duty, a reason that I 'should' act to do all sorts of things. For most of us, I think hat there are many things we are happy to support 'from the sidelines' as it were, celebrating when we see a victory in the newspaper, hear about a law being passed or one struck down, and when we see signs which support the cause, whatever the course may be. However, we have lives of our own, and personal concerns of our own - we are not able to support, fully support, all the causes and moral goods that we wish we could. Had we infinite time and energy, perhaps we would do so much more - but perhaps we would not? there is really no way to tell, since we are all limited. Now, there is comment type of disparaging remark made, to the tune of a claim that if I do not support your cause, then I am claiming that what I do in my personal time, whatever silly thing it may be form bowling, reading, or taking a nap, then I am claiming that that is more important than your cause. People see me, see us, doing something other than supporting them in the way they wish to be supported, and view that as an attack, when really, it is nothing like that. Just because I am not standing beside you shoulder to shoulder, does not mean that I am against you. 

The choice to get out of the way is also a valid choice. The decision to not actively oppose you is a valid choice. I help in my own little way to cheer you on I hope - that is, silence is different from cheering. The words I say, and the joy I take in moral triumphs, is something better than silence. It is not fair to claim that I am, for example, part of the silent majority, or the silent supporter of the current power structure or societal norms. I can exist as something beside a rabid dog, I can exist and live as a person with many complicated parts to me, who supports many complicated causes. Not everything is black and white, is all or nothing. I certainly do not do all that I could to support moral causes, or to make the world a better place, but that does not mean that I am not doing some small part, taking some small steps. After all, a small step today may lead to a big step tomorrow. Or, it may be that what we think are the best moral causes today, will be revealed as less than ideal forms of activity, in which case holding back may well have been the right decision. The point is, this quote reminds us that we should not have such a negative viewpoint of those who only 'stand and cheer', as we often feel we ought to have, and we should not be so afraid to openly be someone on the sidelines. We don't have to do, save, fight, or signal in large and direct ways, but can also do our small parts, the parts that so often serve to keep things civil and that helps to resolve conflict into small gains, which is still much better than no gains at all. Cheering is, after all, a much quieter and more reasonable sound than screaming. 

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