the thing about “never attribute to malice what can be easily explained by incompetence” is that it’s rat-fuckable

when there is functionally no difference between the two, engaging with someone as if they’re incompetent means accepting their frame, that what they’re ultimately trying to accomplish isn’t *bad*, they’re just going about it in a way with bad side-effects, and people use in bad-faith our good-faith willingness to treat them as incompetent to push their agendas

engaging with someone as if they’re malicious, on the other hand, means rejecting the harmful frame, recasting the argument in terms of “why are you trying to do this bad thing?”, and not quibbling about the details of why the thing is bad

these age-verification laws whose implementations are a form of category error is a good example; if you engage with a proponent of them with “well here’s why your implementation is bad” you’re tacitly approving the larger idea that surveliance is good, and you just disagree with the techniques; bad-faith actors use this

If instead you come back with “why are you trying to surveil everyone’s computer use? Why are you laying the groundwork to prevent people from using their own computers?”, you re-cast the frame. Sure, there are probably incompetent people who don’t realize the results of what they’re going to do, but casting the larger idea into question AND KEEPING IT IN QUESTION is the only effective path I’ve found to debating people on things like this

so, instead:

don’t ascribe to incompetence something that is functionally malicious

Other than centuries of repugnant colonialism? They also killed more than 100 000 people in Indonesia AFTER World War 2.

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2022/02/how-the-netherlands-systematically-used-extreme-violence-in-indonesia-and-hushed-this-up-afterwards

#History #Indonesia #Netherlands

Lynx were a native species to Scotland before being driven to extinction.

It's estimated the Highlands could now support up to 400 of these iconic wildcats, an important step in restoring our nature and biodiversity. 🐈

"You may not instantly see why I bring the subject up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number."
"Er, five," said the mattress.
"Wrong," said Marvin. "You see?"
The mattress was much impressed by this and realized that it was in the presence of a not unremarkable mind.

#HitchhikersGuide #DouglasAdams #quotes #quote #bot

RE: https://tech.lgbt/@iamada/116455437413475828

a good time to remind y’all

MAYA ANGELOU ―the poet laureate, 3 time Grammy winner, National Medal of Arts and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree― once worked as a SEX WORKER; both as labor and management.

there’s a whole generation of BLACK nanas and aunties that had to do what they had to do to care for our families. sex work isn't just the sex. many Black brothels were social, cultural, health centers for our communities.

true allies stand by all sex workers.

#labor #sexWork