I drive food delivery for an online app to make rent and support myself and my young family. This is my new life. I once had a well paid job in what might be described as the social justice industry. Then I upset the wrong person, and within a short window of time, I was considered too toxic for my employer’s taste. I was publicly shamed, mobbed, and reduced to a symbol of male privilege. I was cast out of my career and my professional community. Writing anything under my own byline now would invite a renewal of this mobbing—which is why, with my editor’s permission, I am writing this under a pseudonym. He knows who I am.
In my previous life, I was a self-righteous social justice crusader. I would use my mid-sized Twitter and Facebook platforms to signal my wokeness on topics such as LGBT rights, rape culture, and racial injustice. Many of the opinions I held then are still opinions that I hold today. But I now realize that my social-media hyperactivity was, in reality, doing more harm than good.
Within the world created by the various apps I used, I got plenty of shares and retweets. But this masked how ineffective I had become outside, in the real world. The only causes I was actually contributing to were the causes of mobbing and public shaming. Real change does not stem from these tactics. They only cause division, alienation, and bitterness.
How did I become that person? It happened because it was exhilarating. Every time I would call someone racist or sexist, I would get a rush. That rush would then be reaffirmed and sustained by the stars, hearts, and thumbs-up that constitute the nickels and dimes of social media validation. The people giving me these stars, hearts, and thumbs-up were engaging in their own cynical game: A fear of being targeted by the mob induces us to signal publicly that we are part of it.
Just a few years ago, many of my friends and peers who self-identify as liberals or progressives were open fans of provocative standup comedians such as Sarah Silverman, and shows like South Park. Today, such material is seen as deeply “problematic,” or even labeled as hate speech. I went from minding my own business when people told risqué jokes to practically fainting when they used the wrong pronoun or expressed a right-of-center view. I went from making fun of the guy who took edgy jokes too seriously, to becoming that guy.
ht/ hot salsa
ESAD. Loser
“Many of the opinions I held then are still opinions that I hold today.”
So I guess he hasn’t learned much, other than he misses a bigger paycheck.
Give a upvote here , assistant suicide or really late term abortion? Flips coin, nah,,, just fucking with you!
Lost Me when He lumped in South Park with sarah silverman…
South Park at times can be very funny….SS? Not so much.
Whaaaa, whaaaa, whaaasa!
The guy doesn’t want to face up to the fact that the people and causes he supports are what are destructive.
He has learned nothing but to keep his identity secret.
Unlike say, Rush or Dennis Miller or James Woods or any of the conservatives who have the guts to write and speak out in the open.
Just get out of the virtual reality, virtual friends, virtual shaming, virtual praise and try to live in REALVILLE!!
Once you try REALITY, you will never go back to Fantasyland.
“SNITCH CULTURE.”
Exactly.
Good for him that he escaped – and, more importantly, realized the destructively totalitarian nature of – it!
For the visually inclined, watch “The Lives of Others”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/
For those text-based, see Niemoeller’s quote:
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
Yep, South Park has definitely had some ‘what???’ moments but generally nails leftists, sjw’s and generally PC culture.
All I learned from reading his article was SJW are qualified for only unskilled jobs. I’ll bet he would jump at another chance to do his online job again.
He still doesn’t understand his globalist views are the factors which caused him to be ostracized.
He said it himself, ” Social justice is a surveillance culture, a snitch culture. The constant vigilance on the part of my colleagues and friends…” This quote describes the core of socialism.
Until he stops pressing his nose against the window pane of social justice, he’ll never be free to live the way he wants without looking over his shoulder.
How did I become that person? It happened because it was exhilarating. Every time I would call someone racist or sexist, I would get a rush. That rush would then be reaffirmed and sustained by the stars, hearts, and thumbs-up that constitute the nickels and dimes of social media validation.
This. And betting this is what drives little twit Hogg, big twits Dunham, Griffin, and their ilk.
99th Squad Leader
Exactly right. Globalism is a precursor to Socialism. And why the Globalist continue to fight Trump so hard. The select few are bleeding cash.
At least he didn’t go straight to blaming Trump. That must have taken a lot of self-restraint. I give him credit for half a clue.
These people can’t really exist. I’m starting to believe we are caught in the Matrix.
This douche just gave me more certainty that joining Facebook or especially Twitter is nothing more than a big life mistake that puts a target on your back.
– No good comes from Twitter
– Some of the most “unassailable” and powerful people on Earth lose everything overnight based on some perceived slight on Twitter
Agreed, Bad Brad. These millenials have no idea how deeply sinister social justice can get – not until they’re the target.
A good example of cognitive dissonance.
Nothing below should be considered personal experience…
Let’s say that as a younger man you once lived a life style that was less than positive. Perhaps even to the point of finally reaching a point where change the life style was the only possible recourse (Change or die). Does anyone know the REAL adrenaline rush you get just before the shit hits the fan? A most addicting drug if ever there was one. We’re not talking about cyberspace here. If this poof ever saw something like “curb kicking” he’d loose his bowels in a heartbeat.
COD, probably the best movie of the genre I ever saw.
Rush turned us onto it several plus years ago.
And once judgment has been rendered against you, the mob starts combing through your past, looking for similar transgressions that might have been missed at the time.
No one ever apologizes for a false accusation, and everyone has a selective memory regarding what they’ve done.
I know some women like this.
Catalogue and file every mistake they witness and can bring up a relevant one to bash with in an instant. They can’t help but do it and they’re good at it.
It’s definitely a power thing always looking for a negative to hold over someone. Getting a compliment is almost impossible. It doesn’t serve the purpose of power.