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I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a federal worker.
Right now I'm working on my resume. I'm open to work, preferably in finance as I have my accounting degree. If you know of anyone hiring please let me know.
As I have mentioned before, please do not post your political beliefs as I am not interested in debates or opinions. During this time, please remember that government employees are workers at risk of losing their job. It's scary as most of us have dedicated our careers to government and government operations is all that most of us know and now will be forced to look outside for other options and start over. No matter which side everyone is one, no one wants to lose their job so please be mindful of this. Remember that government employees are humans too and it is a very scary time for most of us and our families.
No, it does not mean extending solidarity to people who are ok with hurting everyone but themselves, they can go and fuck right off. So whatever solidarity you have in your mind, I for one won't be a part of that
yeah. it's not bad to help them incidentally-as a byproduct of helping everyone, but helping them specifically, even by extending a momentary gesture of compassion, is a moral failing.
i totally get what you mean, and of course i would never ever push anyone into it. i just read some kinda dark comments in this thread and i wished that people would be a little more compassionate
i know they don't deserve it, really - and i totally get how you can think of it as "aiding the enemy" or something.
but i genuinely believe that we can reduce harm just by being a bit more compassionate, a bit more patient, and a bit less aggressive
fascists believe that the world is polarized into "us" and "them", and they believe that "them" would stop at nothing to destroy them.
just a simple act of compassion can show them that there are choices beyond destruction
I think once you get past a certain point on fascism, you can no longer adapt to material conditions. you can no longer become not-a-fascist. both because of sunk cost/ego investment/identity, but also because of the way they treat the very concept of facts.
no point in treating them like humans after that. they very much are not. they cannot be healed. they cannot be cured. everything they accuse others of, they are-this only applies to fascists, and things like them. I can call you a chainsaw juggling lizard person, and I will gain no new skills.
edit: yep, just checked. no new skills or scales.
dehumanizing people is the first step on the road to genocide.
if you could click your fingers and everyone who voted Trump died, regardless of how they now feel about it, would you do it?
I gave this some thought.
Yes, I would do that.
Do you know how many problems that would solve middle and long-term? Yes, there would be short-term disruptions... a lot of short-term disruptions.
A huge chunk of the problem billionaires would be gone- literally all of the billionaires who own the major media outlets in the US would be gone. The Republican party would cease to exist instantly. There would be a precipitous drop in the number of the belligerently stupid and easily manipulated.
I did not dehumanize them. they did. I'm pissed about it.
every one? I dunno. I don't value human life very much, so maybe, but im certain a lot of them were just sloppy idiots with zero forethought, I expect not even a majority were to the point they were unrecoverable. every qanon? yes.
So they're not unrecoverable, but we still shouldn't treat them like humans?
you're being disingenuous, read what I said.
I know what you said.
I'm with you other than the part about not treating them like humans.
Bad take.
okay, so, what is a person? why does it matter?
and are there things that aren't human, that we should consider treating to at least some degree like people? hypothetical actual-AI, various large mammals, corvids, cephalopods, hypothetical aliens, superorganisms of whatever kind, etc?
if your answer is "because I want it extended to me" fascists will not do that. treating them like people does not forward your goal. disrespecting them might.
if your answer is about some fundamental capacities you respect, my bet is fascists have less of those than the average dog, and extending them any courtesy you would not extend to a dog should not be extended to fascists. not that you should extend them any of the courtesies you would extend to a dog. they are not good boys.
Really? This is where you want to take it? There's plenty of scholarly discussion about dehumanization (particuarly surrounding WW2 and the events leaading up to it)....
Here is something I found after a quick search (I'm sure there are better examples out there. Hannah Arendt is a good place to start):
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/anthem-companion-to-hannah-arendt/explaining-genocide-hannah-arendt-and-the-socialscientific-concept-of-dehumanization/9F5785E91D0742BD3429D7B1933156F1
I was going to copy/paste more before realizing I was just copying the entire page. I highly recommend you just read the thing yourself.
Nothing good ever comes from dehumanizing people.
Regarding your argument about other animals... I just... I don't even know what to say. We are talking about humans being viewed as less than human. Has nothing to do with treating animals like people (which is also something we shouldn't do, but for completely unrelated reasons).
I have no idea who you are or what you're referring to.
The fuck? First of all, what patients? What is it that you think that I do? Second... super classy, dude.
Edit: Oh didn't even realize you were the same person demonizing psychiatry in another thread. Wow you're just a bad take machine.
I'm not a psychiatrist, by the way, I just take issue with people saying ignorant shit about subjects they clearly do not understand. And I find it offensive that you would suggest that psychiatrists are rapists, or that I'm a rapist because (you think) I'm a psychiatrist. What an extremely aggressive and shitty thing to say.
Again, more Scientology shit. If you really aren't part of the Church of Scientology, maybe it's time to look into it because hatred of psychiatry is like the basis of their cult.
I disagree. These are the people who call compassion the "woke mind virus" and they are takers. They live their entire lives taking from others because they think they deserve it. Yet fight against others receiving support and care.
Expend energy on people who give back instead.
thanks for your comment, i completely understand your perspective, but, you know, they say exactly the same kinda stuff about the people that they hate. it makes me uncomfortable seeing MAGA reflected in their enemies
something something gaze into the abyss something
I don't care what they say because they're liars. That's the difference. There's objectively no value in meeting liars half way. There's no value in "hearing them out" and there's no value in acting as though we just need to empathize harder.
They don't care if they lie as long as it furthers their goal, they don't care to hear what anyone else thinks, and they don't have any interest in empathy. If any of my prior statements were false then we wouldn't be where we are.
Your attempt to normalize Nazis is fucked up, to be honest. I am not a hateful person, I am done giving hateful people comfort. You should be ashamed for trying to equate the two concepts.
maybe you could approach me with compassion and try to understand, instead of just riding in on a high horse to pass judgment
or don't, believe what you want. i know i'm right.
doing the right thing is often hard. i'm gonna keep punching nazis, but when i see trump voters having their lives ruined, i'm going to put hatred aside to try to create a better world. you may not agree with me, but i hope my comments moved at least a few people.
We are tired of the hate. The tribalism. At the end of the day us seeing their humanity might help them see ours. We’ve been doing the hate for the past 8 years and it’s gotten us here.
Empathy will get more converts while anger will further radicalize all of us
i totally get that, i really do. and if you don't think it's right for you, i fully respect that choice, and besides, some of us still need to be the "stick" so that the "carrot" gets put into perspective!
thanks for your reply! <3
Well, we have our differences, but - kudos to you for trying to make people more open and compassionate. It really matters