The lack of knowledge of some activists

I recently came across an activist - someone with a long history of supporting progressive causes - who had a flawed understanding of how corruption works in developing nations - they thought it was literally only the "head honcho" who acted corruptly, whereas they build up networks of indebted people who build up networks of indebted people, and thus people like Mugabe can rip billions out of Zimbabwe and Putin and his lot can do what they've done to Russia (see here).

(This actually reminded of the person who, decades ago now, wondered how I could know when I was surrounded by undercover police on a work trip to China.)

If you want to change the world, it is - to state the obvious - vital to know how it works. For starters, read the reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International! Read books like Jeri Laber's "The Courage of Strangers" (which, oddly, has gone up in price since I bought it) and Geoffrey Robertson's "Crimes Against Humanity". 

Think also about how people choose to allow themselves to be duped, or to be part of evil. This applies during elections, as well as times of greater concern.