james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2012-04-24 11:25 am

Really?

"leftist SF critic James Nicoll"? Leftist?

[identity profile] mindstalk.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
More polite to the guy who backed off the violent language than to the guy saying "you're a basement dwelling masturbator" right now, yes. Drawing attention to public posts is one thing. Gratuitous insults and asshole behavior are another. Compare to Doug M., who often makes the same points in discussion without being an aggressive asshole throwing personal insults aroun.

But *you've* probably never been accused of being a troglodyte living in your parent's basement while you were visiting and helping your parent who was dying of cancer. For me Carlos isn't just someone who happens to other people.

And you seem to be leaping to conclusions with the 'trollbait'.

[identity profile] carloshasanax.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Empathy is hard, isn't it? But a lack of empathy is inhuman. You see someone being picked on, and so your heart goes out to them; I see someone being cruel to strangers, and so I mirror it back to them.

I'm terribly sorry for your loss.

[identity profile] mindstalk.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"I see someone being cruel to strangers, and so I mirror it back to them."

Has it ever worked? To make them less cruel?

RPG.net has a bunch of ex-conservatives, or conservatives who've become friendlier to gay and trans rights and universal health care. But they seem to have become that way by polite discussion and getting to know people, not by direct frontal assault, which in my experience just makes people defensive and closed. Being victimized doesn't make better people most of the time, just victims and often more victimizers.

But beating on people self-righteously sure feels good!

[identity profile] carloshasanax.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, actually.

Haven't you ever made yourself better because you failed to live up to a standard? But maybe you're a special flower for whom such tactics fail to work. Coasting, feeling self-righteous because someone dared pick on you, never living up to your potential as a human being while fantasizing about the Singularity.
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[identity profile] agent-mimi.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
And you seem to be leaping to conclusions with the 'trollbait'.

Just because you disagree with me doesn't mean I'm inherently wrong.

refugee50s didn't back off the violent language, he's still doing it, as Carlos has already pointed out.

I gather you have a history with Carlos and hate him. That's your thing and you're welcome to it. But don't you dare pull the "I've had it worse than you" card -- not on me, not on anyone you don't know. You rail about Carlos being personally insulting while never realizing that, perhaps, if you pull the "I've had it worse than you" on someone who doesn't deserve it, you're personally insulting them.

It's not just you who has had it bad. It's never just you.

Since we're oversharing anyway: Several years ago a lady on alt.religion.kibology named Darla got me an invite to Kingdom of Loathing. When I stopped playing it because I was taking care of my terminally ill mother, Darla attacked me by saying I had "betrayed" her, repeatedly stating that she was more important than my mother and inventing a host of lies to bolster her claim that I was mentally ill and had irreparably hurt her. All because I didn't log into KoL much anymore. This went on from 2004 until 2009, and may still be going on for all I know. I understand your anger more than you assume.

Yet if Darla was here mocking refugee50s, I would still agree with her. I would not automatically defend refugee50s because of some skewed "enemy of my enemy" ideal. I don't say this as automatic gainsaying. I say this because it's how I try to live my life.

How you deal with past hurts and injustices is your business and none of my concern. What is my concern is when someone immediately pulls the "you haven't had it rough like me" gambit, which is disrespectful and diminishes my entire life. What is my concern is when someone tries to diminish extreme violent rhetoric, racist screeds, and anti-woman hate by telling people who complain about it to shut up. If you want to be nice and give the benefit of the doubt, fine, but trying to silence others is way out of line.

[identity profile] mindstalk.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
But I never told you to shut up about complaining about violent rhetoric etc. There's a difference between complaining about bad or hateful ideas and endorsing the use of low personal insults.
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[identity profile] agent-mimi.livejournal.com 2012-04-25 06:03 am (UTC)(link)
I've thought about it and decided to delete my response. I genuinely apologize for responding this time. You probably get replies in email and I've wasted your time, which wasn't my intent.