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Top-level
I don't disagree on principle. But I do think that it's worth remembering that what you call "purity testing" is sometimes the result of hypervigilance. I also think the language "purity test" is...not the best. It belittles their position and their reaction in ways that scream "privileged" to me, because the more marginalized you are the less wiggle room you've got for "live and let live" attitudes. 10 comments
 @johnzajac I’m inclined to give people a whole lot of leeway on health stuff, but there’s a still point past which it’s still bad and counterproductive behavior. Most of what I see here (and most of what I mentioned) is people exercising social discipline because someone else drove a car, linked to youtube, posted on another network, expressed excitement about voting, or used an iphone. As someone who grew up in fundamentalist purity culture, I think that stuff is classic purity culture. 🤷🏻 @johnzajac (And as someone on the way vulnerable and very isolated end with covid, I can understand and even sympathize with even fairly terrible behavior while also believing it’s doing the opposite of helping.) Haha for sure! When I was doing high school arts advocacy I had this staff of just post-college age activists working with me, and we'd often argue about stuff like this. My position was that sometimes the right thing to do isn't the strategic or effective thing to do, and that where the left often falls apart is that they do the right thing rather than the effective thing. I also had a soft spot for slacktivists, which irked them to no end lol. I think managing those "purists" is part of being an effective and strategic change agent. I've found that if you build a mutual and trusting relationship with them you can temper that energy and bring it to bear. I mean, this is the internet so whatever. Half of them are probably just trying to have a fight with you so they can let off steam. I just wanted to inject hypervigilance because the ideas we get on here can bleed into everyday life, and I hadn't seen anyone else do it. @kissane @johnzajac I've recently boiled down what's happening here to: "I understand you're [!SITUATION] but I still don't want to be treated like that." Everyone has their threshold for interaction and that MUST be respected. I mean, that's obvious to me, and it's part of why block function exists. We are the ones lobbing our ideas into the cyberscape, though, so we bear some responsibility for inviting the trampires in. @johnzajac I'm sorry: I'm not sure what you're trying to explain to me, or why you're explaining it to me, as we're strangers and none of this has been an information problem, just me chatting with a person I actually know about something we largely agree on. There's no query or debate in this situation to address. Anyways, I hope sometime we have the opportunity to discuss something on real terms, because your work looks interesting. Have a good day?  @johnzajac @kissane as someone who's marginalized in a few different ways, I disagree: I have very little wiggle room to purity test people because I can't afford to be picky about who I accept help from |
Gregory's Server
@johnzajac I don't find this to be true at all! I've always found that people who have been victimized and Othered, who are part of out groups, are more likely to extend understanding to people. Don't mistake purity testing for having and asserting boundaries (particularly with outsiders) or standing firm around values, these are not the same thing and purity testing happens within marginalized groups too and is equally toxic within the group. To be clear, purity testing isn't about discussing and maintaining values. @kissane
@johnzajac I don't find this to be true at all! I've always found that people who have been victimized and Othered, who are part of out groups, are more likely to extend understanding to people. Don't mistake purity testing for having and asserting boundaries (particularly with outsiders) or standing firm around values, these are not the same thing and purity testing happens within marginalized groups too and is equally toxic within the group. To be clear, purity testing isn't about discussing and...