Post No. 2,596 - Social media and damage [Content warning: mention of abuse, including of children (child soldiers), assaults, violence, war]

One of my long term projects, should I ever get to it, is about the scars that most, if not all, of us have, and the effects of that. 

This is probably most obvious with abused animals - for example, abused dogs may become extremely withdrawn or extremely aggressive. However, the effects are also obvious with human animals, and include: 

• neglect and abuse of children - which is banned in, I think, all nations ... at least to the extent that the scarred leaders/legislators of those nations are capable of understanding it - which is why activism, including education, is so essential, although the events around the Voice referendum in Australia (see posts over on my political blog) show some people are so scarred/brutalised that they are incapable of changing to be decent people in this incarnation;
• abuse and assault of adults, including slavery, bullying, workplace bullying, etc - again, to the extent that the scarred leaders/legislators of those nations are capable of understanding it - which, again, is why activism, including education, is so essential, although the events around the Voice referendum in Australia (see posts over on my political blog) show some people are so scarred/brutalised that they are incapable of changing to be decent people in this incarnation; 
• those subjected to violence - who may themselves have been warped by violence. I am thinking of some forms of military training (not all), including the brutalisation of child soldiers shown, for instance, in the movie “Blood Diamond”.
  

These more extreme forms of scarring aka brutalisation are decried by most people, with the exceptions themselves, in my experience, being such extreme victims of scarring/brutalisation they do not recognise that they are damaged - they have been brainwashed/emotionwashed by what they have been subjected to, and have form of Stockholm  Syndrome (see also here and here) directed towards violence/brutality itself. 

Less obvious is the scarring/brutalisation of the business world - which I have been writing about in my recovering from a corporate life series. 

As an examples of that, consider: 

• the extreme obsessive-compulsive addiction to “the company” shown in the late 20^th century in Japan, continuing to now and leading to an epidemic of problems including deaths, although with increasing pushback for a saner life; 
• a Project Manager I worked with who questioned everything along the lines of “how does that benefit my client?” - to the extent of effectively questioning OHS and other workplace laws against bullying/overwork/abuse/slavery, professional codes requiring CPD; and all climate crisis action!!!
  That extremely unbalanced individual (who was an extreme minority - other were OK, some struggled with their craft, and some were actually very good and helpful) needed, IMO: 
• psychological assistance; 
• to be spoken to by their managers; and 
• if needed, legal action; 
• less extreme but still concerning, the focus on profit ahead of worker wellbeing - which may also reflect the elites in upper management being out of touch with, for instance, how younger workers lived, and the aggressiveness of admin sections of companies which assume bad faith on the part of those who have .
  

The response to the abuses committed by such scarred people must, first and foremost, be to stop them doing harm to others: 

• if scarred/brutalised people are committing physical violence, call the police and get the police to stop the aggressor - and charge them if warranted, then heal the victim, then and only then consider healing of the aggressor;
• if scarred/brutalised people are committing emotional/psychological abuse, the same sequence applies: contain and/or stop the harm, get the victim(s) safe and start healing them, and then and only then consider healing of the aggressor.
  

My experience is that this is actively being played out - played out well, not so well, and sometimes badly - on most forms of social media, and that can be wearing. Most wearing is the defensiveness of bigots and people who deny (and thus defend) structural bigotry and the continuation of the bigotry/structural bigotry, with things like “reply guys”, “pile ons”, etc, but the actions of trolls and the like is also wearing, and it can all turn what is supposed to be enjoyable into something that is dreaded.

And that is why I am taking another break from social media. 

At least that will allow me more time and energy for other pursuits in life ... such as healing from decades of abuse. 

PS - there is another aspect to all this as well: self care. After decades of being focused on others - including working so I could support family, especially for health and study needs - it is difficult to focus on self care. I was meant to give a short prayer at a Peace Festival today, but health problems stopped me going. I nearly forced myself to go, but that would have been (a) unsafe for me, and (b) tainted whatever I did with nonBPM energy.

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below, and there’s also Instagram and Mastodon. 

Vote Yes for the Voice in Australia - see this backgrounder.  

Finally, remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, and to mind our Mӕgan.