To "be Realistic"—that is, to Scrap any Serious Challenge to the Existing Order of Society and Focus on a Narrowly Defined Agenda Instead

Christian fundamentalism and the environmental movement had far more political clout even in their idealistic early phases, and so had to be bought off; in both cases this was done, as it’s usually done, by dangling the bait of money and influence in front of organizations and spokespersons in the movement who were willing to "be realistic"—that is, to scrap any serious challenge to the existing order of society and focus on a narrowly defined agenda instead. - John Michael Greer