Ken WhiteFeb 3, 2023

A mentally ill homeless guy walked onto a high school campus in my suburb, wearing all black, carrying a big duffel bag. Now, it’s reasonable to be concerned about that and want to identify who it is, assure he’s not carrying weapons onto the campus, and so forth.

But the community (as, perhaps, poorly represented on Facebook) is coming completely unhinged.

/1

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/2 The cops found him at a local Starbucks, identified him, determined he had no weapons, and gave him a trespassing ticket. The community is OUTRAGED. They’re stalking him around the community and taking pictures of him at Starbucks and McDonald’s and demanding that he be kicked out. They want him jailed or institutionalized.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023

/3 They’ve found his Twitter and Facebook accounts and are printing out the stuff there - kind of crazy, not notably crazy on Twitter — taking it to the police demanding he be arrested. They’re keeping meticulous logs of his activities.

I am considerably more afraid of my neighbors than I am of this mentally ill homeless guy.

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/4 The real question is .. will I keep my mouth shut and stay out of the neighborhood group where people are wigging out? Or will I comment?
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/5 It is … not going well.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/6 when people unclear on the concept try to insult me
Show threadKen White
/7 Still not going well. However, I have worked very hard to be polite. I just had a donut, which I awarded myself for refraining from the phrase “mob of crazed torch-waving Karens”
Feb 3, 2023 at 6:37pmWeb
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/8 People have an absolute right to have fears, and voice them, even if the fears are irrational in nature or proposed remedy. But some people seem to thing that fears, particularly about children, should be above dissent or critique, which is weird.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/9 I give them this: they’re up front about it.
Show threadGojira1000Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat They're going full frontal Nazi, which is refreshing to see
Show threadWrenFeb 3, 2023

@Gojira1000 @Popehat

No self-awareness what-so-ever.

Show threadTVNFeb 3, 2023
@Gojira1000 @Popehat the sad part is this person could well be a Democrat. NIMBYism tends to be pretty bipartisan.
Show threadGojira1000Feb 3, 2023
@TVN @Popehat You're soooo close to realizing something important about American con/lib politics. (I don't mean that sarcastically, either)
Show threadAlexFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat What a charm life that donut lives.

I wonder if he'd be comfortable knowing that I consider his activities to be stalkerish - and feel that he is the one exhibiting "concerning behavior".

Show threadWeakCookiesFeb 3, 2023
@mentallyalex My thoughts exactly! Let’s get that guy’s personal life under a microscope and maybe we will see who’s doing some “concerning” things.
Show threadAlexFeb 3, 2023

@WeakCookies Honestly, striking fear into these types by explaining the areas they are hypocritical in, never works.

They aren't being an earnest person, they are trying to find someone who will openly support them. This is a scared little man who feels like he is immune to reprisal from punching down.

People like that are just a waste of anger. He's hopeful someone will fuel his rage and give him purpose. Ken is smartly acknowledging the bad-actions and appreciating the boldness of the claims. That'll make most people back away since the guy is obviously in the wrong.

Show threadFear and Tooting in Las VegasFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Real strong "we had to burn the village to save it" vibes here.
Show threadMr. MustacheFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat

NIMBY behavior is the worst

Show threadTim BrayFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Must be astonishing to live in a neighborhood where there's nobody who's weird or twitchy.
Show threadThat Anonymous CowardFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat

AYFKM?

Concerning behavior...
Like being Irish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, the list it goes on and on...

We forced citizens into camps because their behavior was "concerning" to some people.

That bit where the immortal points out humans can not learn from their own history, keep repeating the same things over and over like they never happened before.

So if the brown people on the plane speak arabic and that concerns you, we should throw them off then?

Show threadFreedomFeb 3, 2023

@That_AC @Popehat

We still do. What do you think "migrant detention centres" are? Why do you think that sexual and labour exploitation takes place there? Why do you think that children are snatched from their parents and handed over to whites to raise? Why do you think that inhumane conditions such as lack of water and freezing temperatures abound there? Why do you think that so many victims die of communicable diseases?

We have concentration camps. We have had them for ages.

Show threadArquinsiel TeknogrotFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I guess that is "perfectly reasonable" if you model your society on sphagetti westerns.
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat holy shit. I'm scared of your neighbors.
Show threadBrian WooleyFeb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @Popehat

Deservedly so

Show threadThat Anonymous CowardFeb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @Popehat

I think the trade-off is maybe worth it... he now knows to not let his children outside alone lest the neighbors show up with torches and pitchforks.

Show threadSteve RehrauerFeb 3, 2023
@mmasnick @Popehat His neighbors saw “First Blood” and took the fictionalized town of Hope to be a blueprint.
Show threadFlorian 'floe' EchtlerFeb 3, 2023
@introversion @mmasnick @Popehat It starts with "run the vagrant out of town" and ends with pitched machine gun battles.
Show threadWrenFeb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @Popehat

scary stuff

Show threadPhillip WinnFeb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @Popehat

You seem convinced your own neighbors are better. Maybe they are! I’m not sure mine are, but that’s why I don’t use Facebook or NextDoor. I don’t want to find out!

Show threadMike Masnick ✅Feb 3, 2023
@pwinn @Popehat I am not convinced of that at all. I'm sure my neighbors are just as bad.
Show threadIron Curtain (Chiptunes)Feb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @pwinn @Popehat I live in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and I live near Arabs and Muslims and since I have lived here my whole life, I wasn't scared of them at all, not even after 9/11.

So I think there's a good case that my neighbors are better (then again my next-door neighbor is an Elon Musk stan).

Show threadSocialistStanFeb 3, 2023
@pwinn @mmasnick @Popehat I care so little about what my neighbors think of me I'm not sure I even know how to get on NextDoor
Show threadAT HayesFeb 3, 2023
@mmasnick They sure are exhibiting concerning behavior.
Show threadSean C.Feb 3, 2023

@mmasnick @Popehat from the new episode of Shrining on AppleTV:

Why don't you go home and post some shit on NextDoor on how the neighborhood's changing?
—Liz, Shrinking

Show threadHorst Albermann 🇪🇺🇩🇪Feb 3, 2023
@mmasnick @Popehat ... because you do not know your own neighbors? 🤔
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Feb 4, 2023
@h_albermann @Popehat i made no comment about my own neighbors.
Show threadMike ParsonsFeb 3, 2023
@mmasnick have you checked your local Nextdoor? Pretty much everyone’s neighbors are that awful.
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Feb 4, 2023
@mparsons oh i know
Show threadLuke KaniesFeb 4, 2023
@mmasnick @Popehat @icymi_law I’m scared of everyone’s neighbors
Show threadMighty OrbotFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat A person who is exhibiting “concerning behavior” should receive an intervention by a mental health social worker, not be forced out of the community.
Show threadjkiFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat these people should’ve watched more Disney movies so they’d know they’re acting like stereotypical baddies
Show threadTonyFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat How we see them:

How they see themselves:

Show threadKrupoFeb 3, 2023
@tonyca @Popehat is it bad I'm not sure which image is associated with which text? :P
Show threadkugelblitzFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Reminds of the time I was called up for jury selection for a trial between the police and a Hispanic man accused of breaking into a pawn shop. I'll never forget the old white lady standing up in front of 100 potential jurors, the judge, and lawyers on both sides and saying, "I can't be impartial with those type of people." She wasn't talking about the police.
Show threadExtinction (our fate)Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat Their fear isn't about this guy. Separate them from this guy if you can. Point out the basis of their fears is media reports and disinformation. Find allies.
Show threadWrenFeb 3, 2023

@aka_quant_noir @Popehat

Am curious if other allies have found the courage to join in & speak up since you opened the door?

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
@wren @aka_quant_noir Few.
Show threadBitnikFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat @wren @aka_quant_noir yes, happened to me, too. Guy says "Hackney is full of <outgroup>. I was scared to leave the house." *Applause*. Me: "my autistic teen daughter often walked through Hackney." *Expressions of disbelief.* And when I said the time she felt afraid was when racists from the north (EDL) came to our racially diverse neighbourhood, the response deterred me. Beyond redemption. I left.
Show threadExtinction (our fate)Feb 3, 2023
@Bitnik @Popehat @wren Can't leave the planet. But you did what you did for your daughter's sake. Shame your daughter's experience wasn't understandable to these people *because children.
Show threadRhett DerrickFeb 3, 2023
@wren @aka_quant_noir @Popehat Facebook is for old people. They should be hitting their afternoon naps here soon.
Show threadGojira1000Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat I'm even more cynical. They don't care about kids, they just want to be "inarguably right"
Show threadMitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي)Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat NIMBYs are genuinely the worst.
Show thread~stern Feb 3, 2023
@msprout @Popehat what on earth is a NIMBY?
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
@stern @msprout Not In My Back Yard
Show thread~stern Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat @msprout thank you! ❤️
Show thread~stern Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat that’s America in a nutshell.
Show threadT. Austin BrownFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat most of those people view children as property with a tendency to get out of control.
Show threadTon ChrysopraseFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat Hasn't that always been the case? There's so much rot in the social fabric of this country. The confidence with which people randomly declare things as 'gross' or 'inappropriate' without having to show any of their work sat rather odd with the insistence on being a free society.
Show threadJohn EddyFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I didn't realize you were surrounded by so many Ron DeSanti (pretty sure that is the right plural of DeSantis) with all that thinking of the children.
Show threadIron Curtain (Chiptunes)Feb 3, 2023
@jaydeflix @Popehat Naw, "DeSantis" means "Of The Saints" (though a case could be made for "DeSantes").
Show threadAlexFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat You've earned that donut Sir.

People have a right to be uncomfortable, but as you've said - they do not have a right to just assume their fears are absolute or unimpeachable.

Show threadSteffani CameronFeb 3, 2023

@Popehat problem with America is it’s been drilled into them that something bad WILL happen, that badness is inevitable. America is fear writ large.

(I’m Canadian and this doomsday thinking spills over here too but at least we aren’t terrified of guns and don’t have to presume every black duffel bag is a mass shooting about to happen.)

Show threadK Smith MIFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat as others have noted, probably including yourself, the number of BAD rules and laws that are created "for the children" is really something.
Show threadPyroClaireFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat
Show threadRob ShearerFeb 3, 2023
@Popehat I wish people kept front of mind the banning of gay men from the teaching profession. How does history view that attempt to protect children from “harm”?
Show threadIron Curtain (Chiptunes)Feb 3, 2023
@rvcx @Popehat One of my teachers was gay and I'm straight as an arrow and cisgender. Queerphobia can jump off a cliff.
Show thread~stern Feb 3, 2023
@Popehat I’m proud of you, friend!