I have another small test of decency, based on my life experience:
are people able to adapt their opinions on washing hair for different hair types?
Now, it is possible for children to grow up in a situation where they have experience of only one hair type (say ... oily hair), but in most industrialised societies, there is enough mixing of people that they will encounter people with, say, thin dry hair.
Those people who have oily hair need to focus on shampooing (and I am aware of the people who do not have access to luxuries like shampoo), whereas those with fine, dry hair need to focus on conditioning hair. In fact, some have to condition their hair before shampooing.
Now, if someone is unable to change their advice to suit hair types, I consider that a fair indication they have one or more problems such as amathia, FBU, addiction to social status, extreme insecurity, or bigotry - and I am quite serious about the last, as the previous problems can all lead to bigotry.
And civil war: some of my reading at the moment indicates civil wars are NOT started by the oppressed, but by those at risk of losing social status. See:
“Is the US Headed Towards Another Civil War? | Barbara F. Walter | TED” https://youtu.be/Yilgr2SJ3xQ?si=S3xHqLNj7koZvAeE The two major risk factors identified by the work described in this TED (not TEDx) talk were (1) whether the nation was a partial democracy, and (2) whether political parties in that nation are being formed around identity rather than ideology - both of which apply to the USA, and the model would have been predicted high risk of civil war in the USA in December, 2020. Also, civil wars are started by those at risk of losing social status ... I was dubious about the claimed change of ethnicity until I looked up https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demographics_of_the_United_States&oldid=1194963938 The commentary on what to do about these problems is interesting, and I am going to spend some time thinking about that - although I already agree with the need to address those who have been left behind, which was the working class in the USA, according to the speaker, and also the same here in Australia, based on my life experience - although some of that has a US bias. The comments about social media are significant
Now, building on from that, I wish to use an analogy to illustrate the problems of perspective - which can contribute to activist groups getting sidetracked/off track.
Consider an area of land that has been subjected to torrential rains. On one part of that land, a river is experiencing a devastating flood- washing away homes, people, animals, and creating massive damage that could make life impossibly difficult. Beside it, people are being critical of a local drainage problem that left a floor damp enough to be a slipping risk - which can cause injuries or even death, but pales in comparison to the raging torrent nearby ...
When you raise issues in meetings, are you focusing on the puddle at the expense of the flood? Are you making the mistakes of pointing out - correctly - that all lives matter in a meeting dedicated to Black Lives Matter, which is the issue that requires immediate focus - without dilution - in order to be effective?
Both have to be dealt with, but not at the expense of each other ...
A final point: I raise small issues like this as they can be of greater indication of the qualities of people, many of whom may create a façade of being good - or actually genuinely be good - on larger issues, but let their defences down on these smaller ones.
However, in considering these, it is important not to focus on the puddle (small issue) at the expense of the big issue (flood). It is just a tool for increased understanding - above all else (and this is personal experience), of yourself, Dear Reader ...
Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:
- there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”;
- I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2024 NO AI
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