The Orwell quote is perfectly placed here. What’s saddest about this for me is that people are so blind to their own insecurities and judgment. The need to lash out and project is becoming stronger than our ability to think critically and deeply, and it’s causing such a storm.
It's because of things like DEI and "words are violence", this idea that we're all equal (we are, we're all human), but we all have to be the *same* equal. One can't be "better" than someone else. Only, who decides what "better" is? Usually the person getting upset. Who then turns on and attacks the person they think is "getting ahead" or "getting out of line".
I remember school debate teams that actually debated; that encouraged disparate ideas in the classroom because talking things out there was safe and healthy. Now any sort of "dissent" is immediately attacked. And even the definition of "dissent" has changed for most people.
Sadly I think it’s not that we don’t change and stay the same, we become even more extreme in our sameness. That’s the rabbit hole we retreat into, at the expense of nuance.
“You talk about politics so much now.” These events aren’t really about politics anymore. They’re about community values, mental health, the spiritual state of our society, human relationships, etc. so how is anyone supposed to ignore it? I can’t help but talk about it. From the covert virtue signaling amongst work colleagues to the hard silences at dinner tables with friends, it’s infiltrated every aspect of our lives.
So, Stepf, I need your help putting these two things together, if they even go together:
1. "What we’re witnessing now is the swing back. The side that was once in cultural control—academia, Hollywood, newsrooms, the digital left—overreached. They institutionalized emotional coercion, and called it justice. They rebranded dissent as harm, and called it safety. They canceled nuance, and called it progress."
Q for 1: you address the "overreach" on, I'm assuming, the left, since you name "digital left."
Is there a place for "overreach" on what isn't "the left?"
The Orwell quote is perfectly placed here. What’s saddest about this for me is that people are so blind to their own insecurities and judgment. The need to lash out and project is becoming stronger than our ability to think critically and deeply, and it’s causing such a storm.
I'm sure they will prove our points beautifully in the comments soon enough.
Definitely.
It's because of things like DEI and "words are violence", this idea that we're all equal (we are, we're all human), but we all have to be the *same* equal. One can't be "better" than someone else. Only, who decides what "better" is? Usually the person getting upset. Who then turns on and attacks the person they think is "getting ahead" or "getting out of line".
I remember school debate teams that actually debated; that encouraged disparate ideas in the classroom because talking things out there was safe and healthy. Now any sort of "dissent" is immediately attacked. And even the definition of "dissent" has changed for most people.
Yes, absolutely. I've yet to see a convincing argument in favor of "equity"
They literally change the definitions so they can win in the shaming department not the debate department.
And that is about control.
Sadly I think it’s not that we don’t change and stay the same, we become even more extreme in our sameness. That’s the rabbit hole we retreat into, at the expense of nuance.
Yes—the peer pressure of not speaking out against XY or Z narratives causes conformity to the extremes you speak of (imo)
Oh, no. I fear I am one of the psychos who's still talking. 😬
I stay yapping
"silence is how they win"
Exactly right. For too long we have been cowed into submission.
No longer.
“You talk about politics so much now.” These events aren’t really about politics anymore. They’re about community values, mental health, the spiritual state of our society, human relationships, etc. so how is anyone supposed to ignore it? I can’t help but talk about it. From the covert virtue signaling amongst work colleagues to the hard silences at dinner tables with friends, it’s infiltrated every aspect of our lives.
So, Stepf, I need your help putting these two things together, if they even go together:
1. "What we’re witnessing now is the swing back. The side that was once in cultural control—academia, Hollywood, newsrooms, the digital left—overreached. They institutionalized emotional coercion, and called it justice. They rebranded dissent as harm, and called it safety. They canceled nuance, and called it progress."
Q for 1: you address the "overreach" on, I'm assuming, the left, since you name "digital left."
Is there a place for "overreach" on what isn't "the left?"
And:
2. "Because silence is exactly how they win."
Q for 2: Who is the "they" you're referencing?"