It’s funny because it’s true: we joke a lot around here about the Democratic tendency to undermine progressive efforts with infighting and circular firing squads, but we give short shrift to the reality that this culture starts right here at home.
And right here at home we have a problem. And it begins with leadership. And by leadership I am referring to some of the more visible, well-known, posters who are not taking enough responsibility for wielding their social influence in a productive manner. Instead, some are simply having way too much fun fanning crowd frenzy and self-righteously pinning outcast flags on unpopular or rough-hewn voices.
What is especially troubling to me is the yawning lack of pushback against high-school level cliquish bullying — the failure to call out abusive behavior toward our own, abuse of community-monitoring standards, and abuse of name-calling based on hunches rather than evidence. (Someone should not be labeled a “troll” just because you have a hunch they are trying to upset you.)
I am not going to point out specific names, and I don’t have the stamina to perform a deep archeological investigation to support my impressions. I know we are famous for pie fights, and I know we are obligated to defend ourselves from, say, conspiracy theories and anti-Democratic postures. But I have observed increasingly drunken behavior from some of our most powerful (i.e., popular) icons who wield their declarations like swords, and then sit back to enjoy the feast as the vultures descend on the shared prey.
Folks. A healthy culture is healthy precisely because it contains all sorts of voices and perspectives — even ones that annoy you. There is value in your particular voice, unashamed and unafraid, even when you feel you’ve been ignored or misunderstood. Habermas wrote about how each voice and perspective is like one tiny bubble in the giant, thriving swamp of culture. Meaning, culture lives thanks to all the tiny voices combined, not in spite of them. The tendency to diminish individual voices for fun and profit is anti-culture.
Today I recommended the tip jar on a diary (that I didn’t agree with, in large part) solely because it had been inappropriately flagged and descended upon by some of these cliquish bullies who appropriated it as their morning playground. The diary was called
Georgia Voters feel “betrayed” by Democrats already: Honor the $2000 promise!
It was written by a known Bernie supporter who is not a fan of “moderation.” It included direct quotes to support the perspective that some Georgia voters are feeling misled because Dems are now fighting for new $1400 checks instead of the $2K they campaigned on. Ostensibly, the author was making a legitimate political push for Dems to re-embrace the $2K, or at least to better explain why $1400 does, in fact, honor the campaign pledge. There is really very little mystery about the author’s arguments, but because those arguments were deemed weak and insignificant, the diary was flagged, and the deluge of “troll” accusations began, along with demands that the author delete the diary, as if it was their ecstatic duty to erase the fact that it ever existed.
Too many here have made it their hobby to seek out and pounce upon every instance of perceived error, every off-kilter word choice, every clumsy framing, etc. I’m not saying we should always bite our tongues when we think someone is unenlightened about our issues, but we can learn to do so with more generosity of spirit and less ruthlessness.
Now. How about this headline from last week?
Funny as hell, right? Is it possible, at this time in history, someone is actually willing to make this statement publicly with a straight face?
No, as it turns out, the author (me) was not stating this with a straight face. And anyone whose blood was warming at the sight of these words should have immediately checked for a snark tag. Then, if they found the writing unfunny, they should have either moved on or contributed their own funnier thoughts. But because my satire was deemed unfunny, too long, too subtle, the piece was rapidly flagged with self-righteous indignation — and I, a member of this community in good standing since 2008, was roundly labeled a troll. It was great fun for all involved (except me), with well-known members here offering recipe after recipe, ignoring my self-defense, comparing me to tRump, as if I was claiming satire the way he liked to claim sarcasm after being caught lying. Furious demands for me to delete the diary were followed by furious demands that I delete my entire account.
Again what was most discouraging was not that some commenters were cruel — that’s par for the course. It was that even some of the more “mature” among us were not willing to defend me on principle as the flags were flying. I had been deemed unpopular, so I was on my own. I did my best to defend myself with good humor, but since one cannot flag within one’s own diary I had to rely on others to call out abusive behavior, but, alas, no one was willing to do so.
As with the first diary I mention here, there was a stomach-curdling glee in the piling on, with people offering unsubstantial rationalizations for their flags. One in my diary said they hadn’t initially deemed my piece flag-worthy, but after seeing what a dick I was in the comments (as I tried to defend myself) they decided to go ahead and mete out my proper punishment.
Folks. The times have been rough. But the times are a-changing. Crude crowd frenzy must give way to respect — and offering our fellow Kosacks the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise we stifle voices with intimidation, which means we stifle creativity and expansive thinking, leaving behind only a facile crowd mentality. I will continue to appreciate the plucky reporting that makes this site invaluable, but we are on the verge of wiping out anyone’s desire to offer boundary-pushing thought pieces or political ideas and even humor that’s not immediately agreeable to the average reader.
We must do better. I am calling on the well-known, mature, popular voices here to play their intended role in this community. Because we are mostly self-patrolled, it is almost entirely up to us to decide whether our culture continues to bubble with diverse life.