Look, it boils down to this:

You can’t just complain about SOPA and PIPA. 

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just google the terms.  The internet is on fire over these issues, and you’ll learn more than you ever wanted with a few clicks of your mouse.  The over-simplified explanation is that they are legislation to censor the internet that are being hidden beneath the guise of “protecting copyright infringement”.

You’ll have to go somewhere other than Wikipedia to learn about them though.  Today, Wikipedia is down.

So is Craigslist.

And WordPress.

And Mozilla.

In fact, there are quite a few hugely popular sites that have gone dark today in order to raise awareness. It’s kind of neat to see the unity.

Here’s the thing, though.  You can’t just complain about it.  If you just sit there and get outraged, discuss it with your friends and family, “rally” behind all the sites going dark, and dedicate your Facebook for a day by making a meaningful post about it…

You’ve done diddly squat.  You’re about as effective at preventing the legislation as if you were in complete support of it.

Talking and complaining about stuff accomplishes nothing.

You actually have to DO something about it.

So go here.

Write Congress.

Tell them how you really feel about it.

You know, if you don’t want to, you don’t actually have to write Congress.  I understand.  Life is busy.  There are kids to run after, and the car needs an oil change, and the never-ending stacks of laundry don’t wash themselves.

But here’s the thing:  if you do nothing, and this thing passes, then I don’t want to hear you complaining about it.