Subnostr

Help me with some thoughts I'm having. I saw a video of a blue haired youth making statements about their identity. The content of their beliefs are neither here or there for me but the delivery, the foot stamping conviction, the we are victims of an oppressive system and those not with us are our enemy were what stood out. The comments were a chorus of rallying round. Then I started to think that we see that too amongst bitcoiners, gold bugs, economists and then, frankly, a whole range of other groups. Narratives are taken as fact. Now I have no problem with having conviction about ones own beliefs but is it the technical/digital aspect of communication on social media that has spawned this sound bite style radical interaction? I have lived with a socialist/communist society my whole life and I've only ever seen that type of sloganeering and state sanctioning of that psychology in people in that context so I'm also thinking about whether this resent/spite is also being encouraged by certain groups. The "FengQiao JingYan" is worth considering as an example of the supposed logic of mobilising the masses to maintain order against the "enemies". There were always state trusted leaders assigned to sway the groups and in turn groups would be totally willing to rally round those influencers with those emotions encouraged by narratives to fuel the fire. Keeping your head down, and as my father in law used to say "Just smile, nod and try to move along", becomes almost the focus of daily life, at risk of being accused and being on the receiving end of the anger of the mob. Given that in the west it is not only socialist influenced groups who exhibit this stance, I find it unsettling to see. The social mob, especially in the Anglosphere, seems to show so much of this when someone gets called out for a "transgression" and it's that mob that pushes for the transgressor to lose a job or be de-platformed etc, and not necessarily the government/state that implements that punishment.

I'm also willing to consider that as a Gen X I think too much.

😎

Anchorite 2y ago

It's a function that serves a legitimate purpose. What's worse is to have no conviction or direction at all, or to just smile and nod, boxed into a corner and living a coward's life. At least when you're wrong, you will know it, and be able to move on to a new life, figuratively or literally, once you have the conviction to stand for your beliefs.

The legitimate purpose is the same as white blood cells: to avoid infection and death. Try living as a slave, getting abused and exploited your whole life. Try seeing your family starve in the street because of politicians you've never met. There are legitimate reasons to exclude bad and dangerous things and ideas from your group.

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

SovereigntyQuest 2y ago

Yes, there is a subtlety though that maybe could be also be effective. In Cantonese there is an expression "唔好攪攪震", something like "don't make trouble". While it is used paternalistically by authority to discourage challenging the status quo it also has a connotation of observing that we can often avoid attracting too much attention to ourselves and thereby be able to achieve what we want without unnecessary friction. Our conviction is strong but we recognise that a head on collision might not be to our advantage. For example, from my observation would Bitcoin adoption be different if it was less vocal about being in an antagonist position against the criminal financial power and the state. Quietly building the infrastructure without the slogan and rhetoric that attracts attention may also be considered. Ice vs water. I'm not sure that that might be too idealistic as I've certainly faced many situations where direct hard confrontation is the only choice. It shouldn't be our first choice though.

It's the pathology that seems to pervade so many peoples, online at least, emotional lives that seems self destructive. I used Bitcoin as an example just for the sake of explanation, not necessarily because I think that problem is particularly evident amongst the bitcoin advocates.

As a side note, many who did keep their heads down lived to finally escape whereas most that resisted were simply imprisoned/killed. That's a whole other area of discussion though as there's nuance there.

Anchorite 2y ago

Yes, there is always a balance to be struck. Living is an art. As Bruce Lee says, "Water can flow, or it can crash."