Many people misunderstand the differences between a commentator, an activist, a politician, and a philosopher, especially when discussing socialist ideas, and this confusion leads to unfair expectations about how each type of figure should behave. A commentator is someone who analyzes, interprets, or communicates ideas to the public shaping discourse but not necessarily organizing or legislating; figures like Bhaskar Sunkara function in this role. An activist is someone who organizes people, builds movements, and applies pressure from below, often engaging directly in campaigns, protests, or mutual aid; someone like Mariame Kaba exemplifies this form of socialist practice. A politician works inside state institutions, constrained by laws, parties, and electoral conditions, trying to push reforms that align with their ideals while navigating the realities of governance; Bernie Sanders is a clear case of this role. Finally, a philosopher develops the conceptual foundations, values, and critiques that guide broader movements, offering frameworks for imagining alternative social arrangements think of someone like Murray Bookchin, whose work shaped communalist and libertarian socialist thought. These roles interact with ideology differently: commentators shape understanding, activists build power, politicians negotiate change within the system, and philosophers articulate the visions that give movements direction. When people collapse these roles into one, they end up expecting politicians to behave like revolutionaries, activists to behave like legislators, and commentators to behave like organizers, which obscures how transformative change actually happens.