Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.

Using a homely cooking metaphor, Abbey suggests that societies left undisturbed tend to stratify: complacency allows the worst elements—corruption, hypocrisy, opportunism, or demagoguery—to rise and dominate public life. “Stirring” stands for periodic disruption: dissent, protest, investigative scrutiny, and civic engagement that re-mixes the social “pot,” preventing entrenched power from congealing into a moral film on top. The line fits Abbey’s broader anti-authoritarian, pro-troublemaking stance: he treats agitation not as a regrettable nuisance but as a hygienic necessity for democracy. The insult “scum” sharpens the warning—without active resistance, the most shameless actors can become the most visible and influential.