December 29, 2017

• Safe Spaces and Lost Races

  The year is 2011. You want to write an aggressive post, promoting your demographic or beliefs, or putting down another group. You log into Xanga.com, or maybe it's already blogger, or wordpress. You start the blog...but then you stop. Because you think of your friend who will object, who belongs to that group. Or you worry that someone in the community will read your post and start a fight over it, a fight you may not win. Your site is not safe enough for your attitude. So you back down.

  But now the year is 2017. Your last overtly Republican friend defriended you in 2016. You're on Breitbart, or Jezebel, or another site that strictly caters to your viewpoint. Even if someone does try to disagree with you, a moderator will delete them, or their comments will be buried in thumbs down and minuses from people who agree with you. You finally have a safe space to tell us how you really feel about the Jews, the Christians, or white men.

  And so you become radicalized. Oh, you don't use that term. No, no, the other side becomes radicalized. That's for them Muslim terrorists, not for a good American boy like you! You don't even realize the extent to which you no longer tolerate dissent. You can't listen to CNN anymore, or go to your old church. They aren't direct enough, they are too soft and mild for you now.

  The year is 2020, and we'll be calling up each other's workplaces, trying to get "The Other" fired in the name of our god. The year is 2020, and you're telling me that 4chan methods of vicious trolling are not just legal, but right and good against the enemy. No, wait, we won't have to wait until 2020. It's already in progress. Because my space can only be safe if your space is being diminished, if the walls are closing in on your freedoms, your rights.

  Happy 2017, everyone! It's been a great year! Heh.

  • 11:21 pm
  • 1 Comment