Activism is fundamentally, structurally, about wielding power over other people. That is its goal. That’s not a criticism, it’s a description. That’s what distinguishes activism from other kinds of social and moral activity. It is an attempt to influence, control, restrain, dictate, or guide the behavior of other people. In particular, people you don’t personally know and aren’t directly related to.
We don’t call a parent an activist because they influence their child’s behavior. We don’t call a person an activist just because they have influence among their friends. You’re an activist when you try to impress or impose your desires and beliefs about what other people should think, feel, do, or value. And if you’re a skilled and successful activist you will have power over what other people can think, feel, do, or value.
It’s an evangelistic position. You’re not preaching to the choir, not simply being yourself among friends of family. You’re on a crusade, a conquista. You’re out to convert and change (or control maybe even denounce and immolate) the unreached, the unsaved, the pagans, the heretics, the sinful. Activists are the monks and holy warriors of modern society. They are conquistadors, spreading the banner of righteousness and raising the sign of the cross over the temples of pagan societies.
Making Nobody Happy 