I started a job at a sawmill and at first things were good, it seemed liek the group I was working with was a good bunch of folks but a couple of things have stood out to me.
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This sweet older lady that I was shadowing for the first day, we were joking and talking the whole day and i thought she was just a really nice person. And then one day I overhear her in the lunch room saying “they just don’t deserve to live honestly” when referring to addicts, like wtf? how can someone be so pleasant and then turn around and say something so barbaric.
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I was shadowing another guy who seemed friendly and we were getting along well, and then one time while a group of us were standing around just talking, he was complaining lightheartedly about his wife when he starts dropping bombs like: “Best place for a woman is in the kitchen” and “A woman looks best behind a vacuum” there were more but I don`t remember cause I was honestly shocked.
I was looking forward to getting to know the people here and getting in on the group dynamic but now im not sure if im gonna be able to stand anyone here lol, so far it was only these two but going forward I want to be able to counter reactionary bullshit like this when I hear it. Chapos how do you counter this shit when you come across it without pissing off your coworkers?
99% of people in the real world have a bunch of stupid bullshit in their brain thats only there cos they have never really looked at it or been challenged on it, and also just say stuff for the sake of having something to say, maybe, I dunno. I like to think I would challenge that shit when I saw it but would probably just fake laugh out of politeness I don’t know I haven’t spoken to anyone new in like a year.
Right? I always thought I would be the first to call someone out on that, but then it happened and I just chickened out lol. Oh well, I intend to push back more the next time it happens.
It’s hard to navigate that situation because you don’t want everyone to end up thinking you’re a moralizing killjoy. People tend to rationalize their discomfort at being confronted by assuming the other person is just trying to feel superior and isn’t actually making genuine points. I run into this all the time with animal rights stuff. People are more likely to go down the “vegans are too preachy/intolerant/arrogant” route instead of engaging with the stuff you’re telling them about factory farming. It’s particularly difficult to navigate that in the workplace.
Only start challenging them when you’ve become part of the work culture imo. Once you have respect they’ll respect what you’ll say, but if they don’t then you might just make them think you’re annoying. But once you’re in a position where you can push back,
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Don’t get emotional. Even if someone’s saying something abhorrent, just casually ask questions socraticly, or maybe laugh a little if they say something particularly stupid, but never go beyond that.
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If you don’t know something say “I don’t know” or “Hmm, good point, I’ll have to look into that” instead of floundering, trying to own them. If they make a good point acknowledge it, find common ground where you can, and try to make the agreed upon aspect line up with your political vision.
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A good concept for Americans is the concept of positive liberty vs negative liberty. More effective as a starting point than any European or socialist sounding words. Also, in general try to formulate things in your own words instead of using slogans and words that people recognize and have built up readymade responses to.
Hey sounds like my workplace. The working class, especially the white working class, has been incredibly propagandized when it comes to damn near any cultural or economic issue. Most of these people have trauma that they’ve never really confronted and it’s excused via propaganda. I know a guy who does my job but wishes he was an engineer, who hates engineers, but falls back on, “well, I was a shitty student who didn’t put the effort in so I deserve this.” No motherfucker! If you want to be an engineer you should be able to go to school and try at least, but he’s so cowed and submissive to the system that he literally thinks he’s deserves to break his back because of grades in high school. So many people bitch about welfare recipients or welfare scammers and it’s like they don’t even know that the biggest frauds in the country are the assholes getting billions in tax breaks. I want to challenge them but I get so tongue tied, but maybe I need to speak up a bit more and direct their attention elsewhere. It’s like they have the anger and energy and it’s all pointed in the wrong direction. Same reason I can’t fault trump people who aren’t nazis: the system has failed, but they diagnosed it the wrong way.
The more you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, the easier it gets. Keep it up, and it grows till you’re comfortable again.
Try it out comrade. Keep in mind, these are people processing trauma that they don’t have the tools to properly handle. Why would you ever want to avoid sharing if it could help them?
And, in fact, Lenin and Sankara have popular quotes compelling us to share. It is truly our duty to reach out and bring our fellow humans to understanding, to try to resolve their suffering, to fight for their liberation.
“One of my best friends used to be a drug addict. It was a really hard time in his/her life, but he fought through it and now he has a stable job and contributes to society. Do you think they shouldn’t be able to live?”
