There’s actually some useful information here if you ignore the hyperbole.
If you act like a jerk and are mean to people, you will drive people away from your causes, even if you are taking a position that is strongly defensible from a moral and ethical view. If you take the view that “I don’t have to do the emotional labor to educate you, OMG read some theory, you’re fucking stupid if you can’t understand this, you don’t deserve to live if you think Y,” etc. you aren’t going to win people over. And yes, if you are always acting like an asshole, you’re probably going to drive people away that believe similarly to you, because they won’t want to be associated with assholes. That’s human nature, and something that you need to learn to contend with if you want to win adherents to any political or social position.
In other words: leftists and feminists, fucking get over yourselves.. You may not want to put in the emotional labor because it’s exhausting, but you know who will? Fascists, nationalists, misogynists, and religious fundamentalists. If you just want to make fun of and vent at people on the right, you’re only creating a more insular group that more and more people are going to end up hating. See also: hexbear,
My human nature wanted to rail against what you were saying at a certain point (especially when you called out feminists and leftists) since I can relate to your target audience, but yeah. Good words.
FWIW, I am very much a leftist. I’m mostly an anarchist, although I also recognize that having a large, diverse, functioning society is extremely difficult–bordering on impossible–without some degree of authoritarian control. (And I’ve also seen just how paralyzed radically democratic groups can get, when they have to vote on everything.) I want the people on the left, the people that want a more equal society, to do better, because I think we can be better.
Being kind to people–not fake kindness, not kindness with an agenda, but just kind–can go a long ways for leftists. For women, well, I’m not a woman. But having women as friends and them being open with me about what they experienced as women went a long way towards opening my eyes.
And, FWIW, I started from a position of being deeply conservative, very religious, and having absolutist views on gender identity and gender roles, and the godly nature of capitalism.
there’s a number of inauthentic right wingers that happily pose as leftists online to spur these sorts of things, its not something you can stop by lecturing people in online spaces.
This is good in person advice but in most cases this is a mostly online issue where bad actors and children are over represented.
I’ve absolutely, definitely met people IRL that have argued in exactly the way I outline. …Although “argue” is charitable, since they’re just haranguing their victim subject. I’ve also known plenty of people that claim that they know they aren’t going to change the mind of the person they’re verbally assaulting–because people can’t change, I guess?–but that they want to win the hearts of the people observing. …Which they also aren’t doing, since they’re appearing to be mean-spirited to observers. (And yes, there’s nuance here, and I still firmly believe in punching Nazis.)
David McRaney has been talking for a while about what actually works for changing the way people think and believe (and he just recently published, “How Minds Change”), and Anthony Magnabosco has been posting street epistemology videos on YouTube for years. Both of them have found–to be really reductive–that you need to emotionally connect with the person you’re talking to, and you need to ask open-ended questions that allow them to consider the foundations for their beliefs.
And to your point, yes, that’s hard to do online. I get it. I often fall into the trap of arguing instead of being empathetic. So I need to take my own advice.
There actually was a guy who wore a buttplug with a metal core in an MRT. The plug shot through his body like a high velocity bullet and was stopped by his sternum. He survived with severe internal injuries and sued the company selling the plug.
People like that guy is the reason some MRIs require you to walk through a metal detector first. People are stupid and will ignore safety measures all the time.
I had abdominal surgery several years ago and the surgeon mentioned that they left some clips inside. To this day I have no idea if they are magnetic or not.
Apparently once the clips are fully melded with your body that may no longer be an issue. Note I am not saying it won’t be an issue.
If going for an MRI fill in the questionare and bring it up with the doctor before stepping in the MRI no matter what. Better safe than shotgunning yourself.
Thanks. I did a bit of Dr. Google research (and everything on the internet is true!).
It seems that surgical clips are usually not magnetic, but it depends on the type and year of manufacture, etc. Mine are several years old. So yeah, I would definitely bring it up if I ever need an MRI. I’m used to doctors acting annoyed and condescending, so what’s one more time?
Hopefully they don’t perform MRIs on unconscious patients. Nothing in 'Murican healthcare would surprise me.
Radiologist here. Virtually all surgical clips (in the US) are made of titanium and safe for MRI and have been for quite a few years now. We routinely scan people with clips that are decades old and don’t have issues.
We do frequently scan unconscious patients and typically that involves reviewing surgical records and prior imaging, questioning family about surgeries/implants, and frequently the techs will check the patients skin looking for any surgical scars. If there is any question we get X-rays first to look for metal.
If I’m remembering correctly, the butt plug he was using was marketed as being 100% silicone, so he figured it would be safe. He didn’t know it had a steel core in it.
Broke my ankle recently and had to have surgery to fix it. I’‘m laid up at my parents’ place until after Christmas at least. It’s been rough because I have to rely heavily on my family.
Anyway, my bladder goes crazy at night and I was having trouble opening doors on my own because I hop around with the aid of a walker. Well last night my mom wouldn’t answer her phone to open doors for me. I had to piss so fucking bad that I risked my safety to open the necessary doors. It was actually really easy and everyone’s lives got so much easier because of it. I’m making a lil bag to hang on my walker so I can get my own snacks from the kitchen. I’ve also learned to use my cane to grab shit that’s out of reach. Being a burden on others is a really good motivator to figure out how to do shit that seems impossible physically.
I reported a hostile work environment at my old job, where my new manager told another employee that he was “going to make his life a living hell until he quits”. I was forced to enter EAP - I can’t remember what it stands for, but basically seeing a corporate therapist to “deal with my anger issues”.
All this started because I had no choice but to report him for violating literal federal law, which the company swept under the rug.
Jokes on him though - he eventually put his hands on me in front of several others and I got a year’s salary. I tried to walk away while he was screaming in my face. He put his hands on my shoulders and shoved me onto my chair. I could have sued for more, but I took the agreement and ran and found a new job shortly thereafter.
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