Technology is political.
If your project or organisation has a “no politics” clause, you’re saying you’re happy to exclude people whose very existence is political in our societies.
It’s only defensible if you’re coming from a place of privilege where the dominant politics are to your advantage so you can take them as given.
There is no such thing as “no politics”; there is only “no politics other than the politics of the status quo that I benefit from, which I’ve internalised as normal.”
@aral Female hair is either long or political. Sexual orientation is either heterosexual or political. Gender identity is either cis or political. Clothing is either gender stereotyped and boring or political. City infrastructure is either car-focused or political. Energy is either fossil fuels or political. Education is either white christian propaganda or political.
Everything follows the same pattern, tech included.
@ix9 @robparsons @aral @dawngreeter Conflict is about nothing but power: allow the powers-that-be to enforce the status quo that they are happy with; and - voila! - no conflict!
Conflict can also be avoided or addressed in other ways; but those involve work from the aforementioned powers, & sometimes even change 😱😱
A powerful and effective weapon used by opponents of change is discomfort. Opposition to equality for gay men has the easiest access to this. All anyone has to do in order to make everyone in the room want to talk about something else is say, "We don't want someone's agenda shoved down our throats."
Funny how that metaphor comes up every single time, but almost never for any other issue, eh?
Well noted.
@diebarschlampe @ix9 @aral I feel like there's room to discuss approaches to moderation as separate from the "no politics" bullshit.
Cryptofascists have very successfully weaponized "no politics, please" approach as both a way to shut down even basic recognition that various minorities exist AND as a way to make shouting "kill all trans people" somehow equally political as a game having a character that is trans.
@diebarschlampe @ix9 @aral I hear you. You're not wrong that it is a problem. I certainly don't have a blanket working solution.
But, if taken at face value, this argument literally circles right back to nazis wanting to kill trans people is equal to trans people existing.
And just to be super clear, I am in no way saying this is your point. It is just what "no politics" always amounts to. Though I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for not wanting to be the person adjudicating that online.
@robparsons @dawngreeter @aral
I knocked on literally thousands and thousands of doors during my politically active days. The following is, I admit, not quite a literal transcript, but it captures the substance of a conversation I had more than once:
ME: Which way do you go?
VOTER: We mostly vote Republican.
M: Ah. But do you look most at the party, or at the person?
V: Oh we look at the person.
M: That's great!
V: To see if they're a Republican.
@dawngreeter @aral "Female hair is either long or political."
Until a woman turns 40. Then long hair becomes political.
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