Proclaiming someone or something's defeat contributes to it. It's a form of sabotage.[...] I remember that we were never going to stop the Keystone XL pipeline—or so said the armchair experts, who, by discouraging participation, essentially campaigned for that outcome, because such speech is itself a form of participation. After more than a decade of organizing and activism, the death blow was delivered to KXL in 2021, but so many campaigns and the climate movement as a whole would be a lot easier without this disparagement, which serves as a brake when we need accelerators.

— No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit (Page 70)