i think some people got the wrong message after watching every movie where mean bullies call the quirky but ultimately loveable protagonist a "freak"
calling people freaks isn't bad because sometimes you're wrong and that weird girl was actually very nice and saved everyone at prom from a mummy's curse.
calling people freaks is bad because dividing the world into "good people who are normal" and "bad people who are abnormal" makes you a tedious goddamn asshole
i think some people got the wrong message after watching every movie where mean bullies call the quirky but ultimately loveable protagonist a "freak"
calling people freaks isn't bad just because sometimes you're wrong and that weird girl was actually very nice and saved everyone at prom from a mummy's curse.
calling people freaks is bad because dividing the world into "good people who are normal" and "bad people who are abnormal" makes you a tedious goddamn asshole
#freaks aren't bad you're just too fragile to handle the beautiful complexity of the real world#and you will spend your whole life being a huge jerk to people who don't deserve the deeply annoying ordeal of having met you#or you could maybe hold an earthworm in your hand for awhile and get over it(via@roach-works)
actually white westerners talk all the time about how there are too many ‘bullies’ in their imagined, but still largely liberal, ‘social justice community’.
consider. the ‘leftists’ being pests in your computer programs & making callout posts about twitch streamers are no more working towards total liberation than your average young republican. their inefficacy often means that their thoughts and actions are simply not worth lengthy discussion, and as it turns out, there are ‘bullies’ and unwelcome behavior within every political tendency.
but good news, those truly working towards liberation (work that involves securing food, water, shelter, medicine, and educational materials in their own communities) can often be found in more formal socialist organizations, (including groups they create themselves, with the help of friends, peers, and neighbors). ideally, within these groups, when genuine bullying/or unwanted behavior occurs, empowered members working towards a common, well-defined goal can choose the best course of action to directly address the problem. if the issue is irreconcilable, separate groups are often formed, and the work continues.
tldr; the online ‘leftist’ bullies do not seek to build the same future as you, and even where they do, their ineffectiveness proves their own irrelevance. so, let’s not waste time on nebulous leftist meta-analysis. get the people you want to work with organized, and start building the world you want to see.
also important to add: this is not ‘touch grass’ style criticism. online spaces are real life, and for those who rely heavily upon these spaces for social interaction, some of these behaviors can truly be harmful.
my point is that, in regards to effective political action, the activities that help us reach shared goals (a number of which can be done virtually) are clearly not on the to-do lists of virtual bullies. so instead of spending time psychoanalyzing them, we should focus our limited resources on accomplishing what we know will move us forward.
