2 upvotes, 5 direct replies (showing 5)
View submission: What would I do?
Building on #3, it’s not just right-wing communities - what do you do about subs like BlackPeopleTwitter? Or TwoXXChromosomes? Or ChapoTrapHouse? Where exactly does the line for bigotry fall and how does it not end up being just as arbitrary?
I don’t make a distinction between rhetoric “We should gas all the Jews” and “Kill the rich” - both are equally reprehensible, but I doubt the Reddit hive mind would agree based on the rhetoric I see regularly on default subs. How do these hypothetical arbiters being brought in not just become culture police?
Comment by redesckey at 05/06/2020 at 16:10 UTC
12 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I don’t make a distinction between rhetoric “We should gas all the Jews” and “Kill the rich”
The rich aren't oppressed.
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 17:36 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by deleigh at 05/06/2020 at 23:11 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I don’t make a distinction between rhetoric “We should gas all the Jews” and “Kill the rich” - both are equally reprehensible
You should make that distinction because words have historical context and it's important to keep that historical context in mind when discussing slurs. When you use anti-Semitic language, it calls back to the hundreds of years where Jews were murdered because of their ethnicity. The conspiracies about Jews running the world or conspiring against non-Jews. You cannot separate that history from that language.
Hatred of rich people, on the other hand, has no such history. Rich people have enjoyed incredible privilege throughout history. They suffer no societal consequences for being rich. That is why saying "eat the rich" will never be as reprehensible as "gas the Jews." One solicits an eye roll, the other refers to an atrocity where over 6,000,000 people were murdered by a fascist regime.
That is why I state that I want bigotry and harassment banned. What qualifies as bigotry and harassment is pretty clear. Saying you support Donald Trump isn't bigoted, even if Donald Trump himself supports bigotry. Calling trans people slurs, that is bigotry. Using dogwhistles like "13/50" or "(((them)))" is also bigotry. Sending users threats is harassment. Following them into every post to insult them is harassment. Brigading a support subreddit to disrupt it is harassment. These are clear things that are currently not seen as banworthy under reddit's current system. They may say it's against the rules, but practically speaking, no one gets banned for doing these things.
Yes, I disagree with bigotry and harassment. Yes, I think both need to be banned. No, I'm not the final authority of what constitutes those things, but I think there is consensus on the most egregious examples.
Comment by JaFakeItTillYouJaMak at 06/06/2020 at 01:55 UTC*
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Bigotry isn't arbitrary. While it's not always clear like black and white what is and what isn't bigotry. That doesn't mean bigotry is completely indistinguishable from non-bigotry. For instance TwoX, BPT, and even Chapo none of those are bigotry.
The fact that sometimes the line isn't clear doesn't mean we ignore the fact there IS a line. That's like 17 year olds complaining that one more year won't make a difference and they should be allowed to [X] now.
It's a stupid argument not because they're wrong but because they miss the point. The point is we have to draw a line somewhere. THAT line **IS** arbitrary but **IS NOT** pointless. The line of bigotry is neither.
I don’t make a distinction between rhetoric “We should gas all the Jews” and “Kill the rich” - both are equally reprehensible
Of course you do because one of those represents real world violence and the other is a mostly facetious statement with zero power. You pretending you don't see a difference is just one of the reasons we look to scholars to assess these things and not arbitrary liars on reddit.
Comment by wtysonc at 05/06/2020 at 12:48 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is an insightful question that I hope gets a meaningful answer