how individuals are turned into symbols of systemic problems

or certain groups. In the early 2010s there was a lot of liberal talk about the hatred of white men, the hatred of cis people, etc. It was punching up culturally, but not always economically. The systemic issues of capitalism had found a partial source: indeed white men have done a great deal of evil over centuries, but the evils of capitalism were often not addressed. The cultural backlash to this led to the rise of the alt-right.

Crucially though, I suspect that the “anti-men” tweets were also attention-grabbing and pushed by various algorithms. It’s even embedded in Hexbear’s algorithm: ever notice how more controversial posts show up on the front page? More nuanced critiques of capitalism are buried by the algorithm and steaming hot takes are dumped onto the internet to stimulate it.

i think if our lives were structured around anything like a community then we could start talking seriously about Restorative Justice. instead of just exacting retribution on a criminal element, we might concern ourselves with identifying and rectifying interpersonal harm and enabling healing.

The worst part about all of this is that it’s middle school bullying except done using buzzwords and warped versions of feminism and social justice.

i literally paused the video and yelled “that’s just Silence of the Lambs – you just saw a movie and thought it was real”

it’s fuckin demoralizing to say the least