I struggle to get to the core of this idea, and I've been trying to for weeks or months, but the fascist/oppressor can change their philosophy like you change your shoes. Whatever fits best for the current situation.
A reality built on lies will eventually buckle under the gravity of the truth, such that the more obvious the truth becomes, the more outrageous the lies become to balance with the truth.
It feels like the ruling classes of the world (and the wide swaths of people they keep under the illusion of being their peers) are coming dangerously close to not having any more lies to tell.
The most racist, fascist people in the world are starting to sound like people I know as freedom fighters and revolutionaries. They *insist* that someone is out to get them, they insist that their rights are being threatened. They step on our necks and cry out that they can't breathe. They burn our cities down and cry out that their homes are in danger.
It is difficult to find hope these days, when the news seems so hopeless—but this bold-faced, upside-down relationship that the fascists have with the truth comes from a place of desperation. Not strength.
The whole world is watching. And you can fool some of the people some of the time...
Just a reminder that the enslaved people of Haiti kicked their French masters' assess in war and the French forced them to pay reparations *to France* for loss of property (the slaves) and continued to receive reparations for 100 years if you're wondering about their moral fiber.
As a Black person with a profile picture that shows my Black face, I can get attacked online without even saying anything, so when you run up in here kicking the hornet's nest and cry when you get stung, not only do I have no sympathy for you, I resent you for the time it took me to block you.
Any belief system, whether political or religious or racial, that leads its adherents to believe they are superior to and better than other people will necessarily lead to inhumane and barbaric behavior by those adherents towards outside groups. It is a lesson history teaches us over and over again.
I think this is the last thing I'll say about this stuff for a while, but: it seems like it's always people who are used to everything working and everyone catering to them who are willing to risk the destruction of places like this.
If something happens to Mastodon, they can find safe harbor on Bluesky or Threads or whatever new social media service appears. They will be just as safe there as they are here.
Until very recently, I have rejected the informal internet rule that states 'do not feed the trolls'.
I have rejected this advice because I have been attacked and harassed and mocked so often that it felt like letting someone get away with something (and where I'm from, you very much don't just let someone get away with that).
After all, I was the one being attacked—why should I have to be the bigger person? Why should I swallow my feelings? (And also, when I really put my mind to it you might think it's Thanksgiving the way I roast these turkeys.)
There's another adage about troll types: Don't wrestle with a pig, because you both get dirty and the pig likes it.
I have a troll on Birdsite that is so desperately obsessed with me that they have resorted to attacking me via comments to my posts by people who haven't blocked them yet.
This is profoundly pathetic precisely because I have blocked this person, and they gave up for a few months (it would seem, obviously I have them blocked).
But for whatever reason, they returned. They found something in life that gave them some sense of purpose. And then it went away. And now they're back, to hate on me, because that past emptiness has returned.
I do not empathize with my attacker. I merely see, now, clearly and for the first time, that the reason these people say the vile things that they do online is not even because they believe what they're saying (though many do)—but instead, it's to make you feel as bad as they do. It's to release their sadness and anguish by finding someone else to instigate fights with via a computer.
They just want to take another minute, *another second*, away from your life.
It's not about logic. It's not about facts. You're not going to 'reach them'. You're not going to change their mind.
Don't feed the trolls. Not to be the better person: but because they are so very hungry, and the only thing they can eat is your peace.
One of my absolute favorite people in the world has fallen on some hard times. If you've got the ability to do so, a donation via ko-fi would be very much appreciated by the both of us. (She's also got some fantastic writing on her ko-fi site, so check that out too!)
People who become upset or threatened by the setting of a boundary are people who consciously or subconsciously take those boundaries as a personal affront or insult, some kind of criticism, or otherwise they are manipulative people who see that you will resist their control.
(Pronouns: he/him)Hi, I'm Sam. Originally from the US, currently living in Tokyo. I'm going to make this my home for talking about Japan-related stuff from now on.My interests:> graphic design (samthedesigner.com)> video games (currently Project Zomboid, Baba is You)> and films, TV, etc.Sometimes I get a bunch of follows at the same time, so if you want to be sure that I follow you back, please let me know in a comment or DM. Thank you 😊Founder of the ARA.よろしくね 😊