Sometimes it hurts to be invested in social justice
@lychee writes stuff - blog post #10
Accompanying listening music: Guilty Crown OST - Krone (re-arrange)
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When the #GamerGate controversy happened and there was a lot of drama surrounding "Social Justice Warriors" (SJWs) on the Internet, I was still in college.
At the time, I didn't follow politics or social issues very carefully, and mostly I was invested in anime and manga. This political apathy is very typical for most Chinese-Americans in the United States. My parents fled Communist China as a consequence of the Cultural Revolution (my mother was the daughter of a business tycoon family persecuted by the Red Guard), and they had an inherent distrust of anything political in nature. Furthermore, they leaned conservative on the political spectrum.
It was rather natural that I would grow up very neutral in almost every regard.
That said, both of my parents were scientists — and my current career path is also in STEM.
I have very strong respect for objective data and peer-reviewed research. I have a fundamental belief that most things that we see through our everyday lives are inherently biased to our local environments. Consequently, caution should be taken on conclusions made from personal inferences. For instance, just because I have personally never seen a murder does not mean that murder does not occur.
Consequently, an objective understanding about the true reality of the world requires a critical assessment of data collected by academic researchers.
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Somewhere around 2013, I met an anime blogger who went by the alias Frog-kun.
Exactly what he is like is somewhat irrelevant to the subject of this blog post. However, I had a powerful admiration for him that was essentially a crush. I loved the way that he wrote, I was absorbed by the subject matter he talked about, and I was starstruck by how down-to-earth, genuine, and overall likable he was. Many of his blog posts spoke to me, and he presented them in casual funny straightforward ways that anybody could connect with and understand. I sent him fanmail and we exchanged emails for a few years.
Frog-kun was thoroughly a feminist and he was heavily involved in social justice (IRL).
However, he was extremely cool about it. He was a chill, funny, laid-back, intelligent, and just plainly sensible. He didn't push his views too hard, and his life was filled with dozens of other things, but he frequently talked about his thoughts on his personal blog.
It's without a question that a lot of things that I talk about on NUF are in a sense things that I've picked up over time from other people. Consequently, the things that I write about are almost the summary collection of multiple influences and views that have pooled together over the years. I absolutely can't take credit for anything.
Not long after the #GamerGate scandal washed over online, my heavily admired Frog-kun wrote a series of blog posts where he talked about how he was proud to call himself a Social Justice Warrior (SJW). Despite the stigma of that term, Frog-kun argued that he believed in social justice, and he also considered himself to be someone who fought for those values. Consequently, what was wrong with using that term to describe himself?
SJWs have this stereotype of crazy man-hating feminists who run around plastering hate speech all over the Twitter profiles of "perfectly upstanding men". However, something critical recognize about the term is that it is a slur — the term is utilized by GamerGaters to describe anybody that they consider extreme and vocal in any way. It is rarely the case that the accused person self-identifies as an "SJW", since the label is applied externally by the opposing party. Consequently, the term "SJW" has collected tremendous negative connotation over the years, especially as it has evolved into the classic strawman entity that more socially conservative people decry.
In this sense, it was very unusual for Frog-kun to embrace the term.
Years later, the more I think about things, I've increasingly felt that I agree with Frog-kun's logic.
I mean, I hit all the criteria that people typically assign to the "Social Justice Warriors":
- I believe in a fundamental amount of Social Justice
- I believe about being vocal about expressing my beliefs (hence why I write blogs and forum posts)
However, I like to think that I'm generally quite respectful, logical, and reasonable nonetheless.
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Social Justice is something I care about because it touches close to home.
This is usually the case for lots of political movements. For instance, a mother who loses her child through a violent school shooting is infinitely more likely to support legislation in favor of gun control. In contrast, neutral parties are generally apathetic.
Social Justice is also something I care about because my career path has set me on a (relatively) close trajectory that orbits near systems of power. Some of the things I talk about are topics that I have the conceivable possibility to shape and influence at some point in my career — consequently, they are subjects I think about deeply because they have closer relevance to my own life. Any amount of dialogue that I have with other individuals is meaningful and beneficial for my personal development. The more empathy that I have for others and the more perspectives that I can collect over time is invaluable.
Power is a scary thing.
It caries a lot of responsibilities and weight.
It is actually terrifying to hold the lives and livelihoods of others in your hands.
I am not a religious person, but I don't take any degree of pleasure in "playing God".
Consider the scenario that you somehow became the dictator of your country. Perhaps you choose to raise taxes, but now 17 thousand people (imaginary number) in your country can no longer afford their monthly rent and are evicted from their apartments. However, failing to raise taxes or reallocate funds could result in the opioid epidemic raging in the the United States to claim more lives, resulting in dysfunctional families and deeply scarred children.
This isn't a multiple choice exam where an objective "correct answer" exists.
However, the outcomes aren't any less real on either side of the scale. The pain and suffering that is felt is something that ways on my mind constantly, because you know that you are responsible to some degree. Inaction speaks equally loud as action, and choosing not to save a drowning person when you have the ability/power to easily do so confers an equivalent sense of guilt.
And that's also why it's so scary to carry a weight of responsibility.
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The original reason why I wrote this post was because I was dwelling on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) again.
I said before that I have social justice issues that "touch close to home", and for me those three issues are (1) Mental Health, (2) Intimate Partner Violence, and (3) LGBT issues.
While I haven't personally experienced all of these, I have loved ones and friends who are tightly involved in each of these spheres. None all of these are issues are exclusively restricted to my local area, and in fact many of my online friends carry heavy burdens with respect to these topics. Consequently, I find it appropriate to talk and write and get those feelings out there.
More than anything, I believe in communication.
I don't necessarily believe that certain laws or policies need to be changed overnight, nor do I really think that it is altogether particularly effective. In my country, the political situation is highly volatile, and we often alternate between conservative and progressive administrations. This is normal for democratic systems of government and this is likely to be the norm indefinitely.
It is not practical for a minority to force their beliefs onto a majority.
Consequently, any real progress in social change requires a shift in popular opinion.
This is why I write about my thoughts and beliefs, and why I am vocal about them.
We can learn a lot about each other through communication, and with any amount of dialogue we need to be able to see each other eye-to-eye. I'm not more important than anybody else, nor is anybody else more important than each other. Our experiences stand equal in the grand scheme of things, which is why abundant communication is invaluable for being able to process thoughts and determine how to collectively move forward.
Each of us hold things very privately to ourselves, and lots of things can be incredibly challenging and difficult to talk about. However, I just wanted to say that every story I'm fortunate enough to hear is really a blessing (for me), and I'm able to grow through so many dimensions from hearing the things that all of you (for people reading this, you know who you are ) tell me.
Thank you so much, sincerely.
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I have a colleague who participates in the US Government Center of Disease Control (CDC) (note: this is the US government body that makes regulations about vaccines) research study on the National Intimate Partner and Violence Survey (NIPVS). Occasionally, I flip back to looking at the data and it's really depressing.
The numbers....
I'm a data-driven person, so it's mind-boggling to think about all the people out there...
...Who have experienced something that hits so closely to home.
And it hurts a little bit, I guess.
I don't really have that much to say other than that.
It just hurts a little to think about it. That's all, really.
Sometimes it hurts to be invested in social justice
Author
lychee
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