Morals
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2022
This is a bigger conversation. There is a lot of behavior on Twitter that is intended to intimidate people that hides behind pro-social rationalizations.
Tell me if youāve heard the following excuses for *truly* antisocial posting:
A) Itās perfectly legal.
B) Itās just a joke!
C) The public has a right to know!
D) The person targeted is successful so itās not a problem.
E) The data is publicly available.
F) Iām just shitposting.
G) Oh, heās an edge-lord.
H) She had it coming.
I) We give our targets a chance to respond.
J) He brought the issue up first.
K) She just has such a punchable face.
L) I donāt view commies as people.
M) I donāt view the AltRight as human.
N) First day on the internet?
O) No justice, no peace.
P) Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette.
Q) Anyone who posts under their real name deserves whatās coming.
R) Libtards are such whining crybabies.
S) Iām a critic!
T) Iām saving the public from charlatans.
U) Well, my audience liked it.
V) Famous people are asking for it.
W) Iām a journalist.
X) Chapelle is way worse than I am.
Y) Iām just a small account.
Z) Itās fun.
Ok. Now what?
The 1st thing to say is that a lot of those excuses are being used to cover up intentionally interpersonally destructive behavior. That is, folks who WANT to hurt others are generally on the look out for how they can hurt people and NOT pay the social price of being a psychopath.
MORAL I: If you enjoy the pain from hurting other named people, you are generally going to find a way to explain that what you are doing is for the good of the world. That is, *every* sadist can find an excuse between āThis is normal.ā and āI do it for society. Thank me later.ā
How can you tell the difference between a psychopath and say a true comedian, journalist, etc? Psychopaths do not attempt to minimize damage to families. Regular folks try to target institutions before named individuals. They regularly attempt to give others generosity of spirit.
MORAL II: Excuses work because they muddy the water of abuse. The above excuses are appropriated from contexts where they make sense. But most internet critics are nothing of the kind. A criticism helps us course-correct. A stalker doesnāt want you to improve. They want anguish.
MORAL III: A lot of what is visible on Twitter hides behavior offsite, and even offline. An apparent Twitter critic may be real-life stalker/sadist. Thereās no way to understand what is happening to public figures like @elonmusk by just looking at Twitter. This is just surface.
MORAL IV: Many people on Twitter feel that the very rich on the site have so much money that they never need to worry about anything. This is close to being the dumbest idea ever.
Remember: Any billionaire with a child they love is vulnerable to any psycho with an opportunity.
MORAL V: Free speech is about restraining ourselves w/ culture so that we donāt need rules to tell us what we can say. Itās NOT a free-for-all for sadists. Free speech would NEVER develop in a culture in which Mores were not strong, shared and effective in prohibiting sociopathy.
FINAL MORAL: If you want to be a critic, a journalist, a comedian, or even a troll, develop a code of ethics. Donāt hybridize w/ abuse Check in w/ yourself as to whether youāre really working out abuse, rage, envy or status issues. Try to minimize unnecessary damage to others.
My thoughts anyway. Eager to hear yours. š
Shabbat Shalom to one and all.
