9 ms·

Announcing the Winners of the 2018 MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award

92 points by laurex 8y ago

jacquesm 8y ago
I don't think MIT should be anywhere near these kinds of things after the whitewash re. Aaron Swartz. They stopped being 'cool' and they won't get that image back by pretend stuff like this. http://swartz-report.mit.edu/ http://swartz-report.mit.edu/ Having Aaron win the Disobedience Award would have been a fitting punishment, instead they took it to the max.
- strikelaserclaw 8y ago
  Institutions support social justice as long as its not too risky for them. It makes them look progressive. I'm afraid it's just good business tactics, instead of money they gain social wealth.
- danso 8y ago
  The MIT Media lab is operated by its researchers, not the MIT administration, and according to Wikipedia, is primarily funded through outside companies.
  - Cursuviam 8y ago
    Agreed. For example, the Media Lab and administration took opposing sides during the whole Senior House fiasco. The MIT administration overall is incredibly lawsuit/risk averse after a bunch of heavy settlements, such as the Shin case, the sodium case, and the Wellesley girlfriend stabbing.
  - primroot 8y ago
    Speaking of outside companies... "It is as part of this PR campaign that Bin Salman’s visit should be viewed. In exchange for cash, elite universities offer the veneer of a progressive agenda. For instance, Bin Salman’s foundation, MiSK, was accepted as a “member company” to MIT’s Media Lab in 2017, which requires a minimum annual contribution of $250,000 (with a three-year commitment) to the lab. In return, MiSK receives access to the lab’s personnel, technology, and intellectual property." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-universities-selling-themselves-mit-harvard-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-...
  - DonHopkins 8y ago
    I attended and gave a presentation at one of MIT Media Labs sponsors meetings years ago, and had a fascinating discussion with the guy from Phillip Morris about their use of visual programming languages in the tobacco industry. But he didn't get into specifics about how they were using visual programming to convince people to smoke more tobacco, though. http://www.ordiecole.com/logo/media_mit_edu_sponsors.pdf http://www.ordiecole.com/logo/media_mit_edu_sponsors.pdf
    - theNJR 8y ago
      "Digital Life" ... wtf.
      - DonHopkins 8y ago
        That's where you go after you die of lung cancer!
    - nikofeyn 8y ago
      do you have any further information regarding their visual programming languages? are they known environments or are they in-house developments? are there any publications or documentation publicly available? thanks.
      - DonHopkins 8y ago
        I vaguely remember he was talking about some known environments and languages that were defined by industry standards that they were using, but that I'd never heard about before (but not a common one like LabView, Max, PD, etc). I didn't get the impression they were developing the language themselves, just using it, and also interested in things people at Media Lab were doing along those lines.
- Junk_Collector 8y ago
  Well sure. You'll notice that this award is being given out for a socially acceptable and academically approved form of disobedience that does not actually require disobeying anything. Aaron broke the academic status quo and generated bad press. That's pretty unacceptable in the quest to make the world a better place for an organization that is primarily about image.
  - commandlinefan 8y ago
    > does not actually require disobeying anything Or risking anything. You want courageous disobedience? Let's talk James Damore.
    - jancsika 8y ago
      Schwartz faced massively disproportionate criminal charges for copying publicly funded research. Criminal charges which still exist today, which no reasonable person would take on for fear of doing serious time in a federal prison. Those disproportionate risks make it very difficult to do any kind of civil disobedience to protest these federal laws and the prosecutorial overreach associated with them. Also, finding some way to protect the right to publish publicly funded research actually makes it possible for many people to read and redistribute the primary research related to Damore's memo. That is something most people can't currently do without risking criminal charges. Given those difficulties and risks, I'd strongly suggest thinking a little more about the Schwartz object lesson rather than shifting to a different topic. (Esp. given we're also discussing MIT.)
  - rdtsc 8y ago
    > approved form of disobedience that does not actually require disobeying anything. Would you say they are constraining the window of acceptable discourse here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window) by claiming "This is what disobedience looks like, don't disobey more than this or you'd be labeled a crazy fringe fanatic"? I like what they are doing in general. All those are good awards and issues to talk about. Not sure MIT is necessarily the place that these ideas would seem controversial and require a "disobedience" label associated with them. I can think of other countries and places where creating a #MeToo movement would be very controversial.
- ancorevard 8y ago
  They lost me at "social justice experts" and "toxic masculinity".
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - Pfhreak 8y ago
    Why? Both of those terms have definitions based in rational discourse, but they are often misunderstood. E.g. "toxic masculinity" does not mean that masculinity is toxic, it means there's a subset of masculine behaviors that can be toxic when over-represented. If reading the term 'toxic masculinity' is enough to cause you to disengage, I'd encourage you to take a moment and understand why that just happened.
    - belorn 8y ago
      Toxic masculinity get judged based on the meaning it express as words. Languages in the end is all about expressing meaning. If we talk about toxic Muslims as the subset of terrorist behavior, then most people would still see it as an generalization that invoke a expression of racisms and hate. Lumping together all Muslims, only to then say "Its a misunderstanding, I only meant this small subset that is toxic among Muslims" don't work. Does not work for racism, and it does not work for sexism either. The term toxic masculinity will always seem like veiled hatred against men, and no amount of "that is only a misinterpretation ..." will change that.
      - DonHopkins 8y ago
        So whenever anybody mentions "toxic food", you jump to the conclusion that they're saying all food is toxic? When somebody warns you about eating toxic food like Romaine lettuce, do you assume they hate all food? Or do you go out of your way to eat Romaine lettuce just to spite them, like so many people who disengage from rational discourse, thump their chests, and grandstand to defend all men from the perceived slight of being called toxic?
primroot 8y ago
So this is how cool and forward-thinking MBS is. Now the prince of KSA supports organizations handing out disobedience awards. Who would have thought? [0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-universities-selling-themselves-mit-harvard-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-...
sandov 8y ago
>Toxic masculinity lmao
nickysielicki 8y ago
If I was giving out a disobedience award for 2018, it would go to Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed. (This is not to imply that I think anyone in this article is undeserving of an award for things they've done.)
- catacombs 8y ago
  He's a straight, white male. Not a good choice. /sarcasm
- SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
  Agreed. I’m not sure how #metoo is “disobedient” in any way. It’s the popular position of almost the entire media, Hollywood, and liberal leaning people in the USA. It’s the safest stand you can possibly take in 2018. However, Defense Distributed should get the disobedience award, not Cody Wilson.
khawkins 8y ago
It is a colossal misstep for the MIT Media Lab to move into social activism, and that is what this award is doing. If you'd like to be perceived as scientists, you lose your credibility to do impartial investigation of social trends. It's hard to trust a paper you've published on the impact of #MeToo when your department is literally rewarding the founders. If you'd like to be perceived as engineers, you demonstrate a serious lack of focus. The Media Lab has historically been focused on innovative human-computer interfaces. When most people have spent significant time and several years interacting with social media, the Media Lab is no more qualified to speak on social media movements enabled by technology than the average person. They're borrowing the reputation of the lab to promote a political position, but its reputation is harmed by doing so.
- cdent 8y ago
  Huh. I'd say work on "human-computer interfaces" is one of the pinnacles of social activism and always a highly politicised endeavour. The Media Lab has always had (in my fairly long memory) a reputation for empowering individuals in the face of authority. Disobedience is a perfect fit. If being an "engineer" means not being involved in social activism, why would anyone want to be called or perceived as one?
- pfd1986 8y ago
  Disagree. I think this is like saying Einstein shouldn't have been vocal about the Bomb. I think scientists (and scientific institutions) should use their visibility to make a social point, and that shouldn't at all undermine their scientific credibility.
  - khawkins 8y ago
    The integrity of a hard science like physics is rarely compromised by political persuasions. I have little idea how his positions on the bomb would have affected his ability to produce unbiased scientific results. The conclusions of those papers have little ramification on the ethics of nuclear weapons. But if you're trying to do research which investigates the social ramifications of a movement like #MeToo, then a biased researcher will seek out methods which highlight how positive and powerful the movement is, while ignoring metrics which make it look weak, unpopular, or causing negative impacts. Getting the title "Doctor" doesn't magically remove one's bias, especially when there is a systemic bias promoted by the institution at large.
Zigurd 8y ago
Somewhere, a woman undergrad read this thread and said to herself "screw this" and transferred out of computer science.
- catacombs 8y ago
  *female undergrad
  - Zigurd 8y ago
    I'm sure you have some snark reason. Because snark about the difficulties women face in this industry is such a good look.
    - stevew20 8y ago
      For the good of the human race, let's all assume that catacombs was just being petty, please!
    - catacombs 8y ago
      Huh? Not snark if the previous commenter used "woman" as an adjective when it is a noun. The proper use is "female."
      - Zigurd 8y ago
        Actually it is a correct use of "woman" as an appositive noun. It may be arguable if it is a desirable style, but it isn't outside of grammatical correctness.
- swiley 8y ago
  I understand the sentiment here but can we shut up about it for five seconds? As a guy I feel like I'm walking on eggshells every time I'm around women after reading enough of these. I feel like I'm going insane.
  - Zigurd 8y ago
patrickg_zill 8y ago
Stunning and brave... To support as "disobedience" something that every large corporation, every media organization, and a large swath of government supports.
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  MeToo was started in 2006. If "everybody" supports that anyway, why was there even anything to start? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/me-too-movement-tarana-burke.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/me-too-movement-tarana... > In 1997, Tarana Burke sat across from a 13-year-old girl who had been sexually abused. The young girl was explaining her experience, and it left Ms. Burke speechless. Have female friends ever confided stories in you that left you speechless, helpless, and angry? And even that would normally just be the tip of an iceberg, not a full, detailed report of all the stuff that is going on... not even in their life, not to mention the world. The abuse that is going on is greater than our capacity to even face it. And it is hard for people to speak about this stuff, and while I agree that it might not be "as brave" to encourage others to speak out, I think it's absolutely fine to award her. She's not the kind of person who gives a shit about awards. She wants actual abuse to actually end, she wants actual wounds to actually heal -- nothing more, nothing less, fair enough, godspeed, you go girl, all the good things... not just for her, but for the people she represents, and who are acknowledged by this award as well. > Tarana Burke said she will not let her movement that she founded in 2006 and that has resulted in her getting death threats and having to challenge black leaders to support it, be co-opted by pretty girls and Hollywood. So everybody agrees -- except the abusers, the people who don't want to hear about abuse, and the people sending death threats of course :P https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/metoo-founder-tarana-burke-blasts-the-movement-for-ignoring-poor-women/ https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/metoo-founder-tarana-burke... > “We heard every manner of excuse ‘It’s really about white supremacy because our folks don’t have a history of that kind of thing back in Africa’ or ‘the real issue isn’t sexual violence, it’s false accusations against black men’ or my personal favorite ‘This is not a social justice issue; this is a social work issue.’ ” > She cited statistic after statistic about women who aren’t famous but attacked because of their gender identity or economic powerlessness. But the worst, she said, was the fate of indigenous and Native American women “the group we talk about the least,” she said. > She cited a Justice Department study that found that an estimated one in three Native American women will be assaulted in their lifetimes, that 92 percent of Native American girls reported having been forced to have sex against their will — and that nine of 10 Native American women and girls who survived rape or sexual assault were attacked by assailants of a different color, most of them white. > “That’s definitely a racial justice issue,” she said. “And, at the end of the day, it’s a human rights issue.” She seems to have the heart in the right spot, I'll say that much. Every "movement" can always attract anyone to do anything in its name, but I am absolutely down with what I read of that woman so far.
adbge 8y ago
So, in a nutshell, the System's neatest trick is this: - For the sake of its own efficiency and security, the System needs to bring about deep and radical social changes to match the changed conditions resulting from technological progress. - The frustration of life under the circumstances imposed by the System leads to rebellious impulses. - Rebellious impulses are co-opted by the System in the service of the social changes it requires; activists "rebel" against the old and outmoded values that are no longer of use to the System and in favor of the new values that the System needs us to accept. - In this way rebellious impulses, which otherwise might have been dangerous to the System, are given an outlet that is not only harmless to the System, but useful to it. - Much of the public resentment resulting from the imposition of social changes is drawn away from the System and its institutions and is directed instead at the radicals who spearhead the social changes. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ted-kaczynski-the-system-s-neatest-trick https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ted-kaczynski-the-sy...
stevew20 8y ago
#MeToo is... Disobedient? To whom? 17th century white male Lord's who live by rule of thumb? It is just ridiculous. Apparently this is just a generic "Good Award", for doing "Good Things in General"! Good job #MeToo, you did something good, and MIT Media Lab wants to recognize you for it! Jesus, this is literally bad for both sides.
nafizh 8y ago
I am surprised Alexandra Elbakyan did not win this because of her work with sci-hub. What could be the biggest disobedience of all other than freeing science from the grasp of Corporate profithood by sacrificing your own freedom of movement? Specially when the award is given by a science lab.
- nkurz 8y ago
  Yes, I think she'd be an obvious candidate. I'd be interested to know if she was nominated, and if so, what the discussion was. My guess (as an outsider but with some small insight into the group making these awards) is that Elbakyan would have generally strong support for her direct work on Scihub, but would be unsupportable to some because of her political beliefs. That is, I think her anti-capitalist ideology and less-than-full-fledged support for modern liberal beliefs may more of a problem for the committee than her anti-copyright stance. Here's a presentation where Elbakyan talks more about her political beliefs: https://openaccess.unt.edu/symposium/2016/info/transcript-and-translation-sci-hub-presentation https://openaccess.unt.edu/symposium/2016/info/transcript-an...

92 points by laurex 8y ago

I don't think MIT should be anywhere near these kinds of things after the whitewash re. Aaron Swartz. They stopped being 'cool' and they won't get that image back by pretend stuff like this. http://swartz-report.mit.edu/ http://swartz-report.mit.edu/ Having Aaron win the Disobedience Award would have been a fitting punishment, instead they took it to the max.

strikelaserclaw 8y ago
Institutions support social justice as long as its not too risky for them. It makes them look progressive. I'm afraid it's just good business tactics, instead of money they gain social wealth.
danso 8y ago
The MIT Media lab is operated by its researchers, not the MIT administration, and according to Wikipedia, is primarily funded through outside companies.
- Cursuviam 8y ago
  Agreed. For example, the Media Lab and administration took opposing sides during the whole Senior House fiasco. The MIT administration overall is incredibly lawsuit/risk averse after a bunch of heavy settlements, such as the Shin case, the sodium case, and the Wellesley girlfriend stabbing.
- primroot 8y ago
  Speaking of outside companies... "It is as part of this PR campaign that Bin Salman’s visit should be viewed. In exchange for cash, elite universities offer the veneer of a progressive agenda. For instance, Bin Salman’s foundation, MiSK, was accepted as a “member company” to MIT’s Media Lab in 2017, which requires a minimum annual contribution of $250,000 (with a three-year commitment) to the lab. In return, MiSK receives access to the lab’s personnel, technology, and intellectual property." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-universities-selling-themselves-mit-harvard-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-...
- DonHopkins 8y ago
  I attended and gave a presentation at one of MIT Media Labs sponsors meetings years ago, and had a fascinating discussion with the guy from Phillip Morris about their use of visual programming languages in the tobacco industry. But he didn't get into specifics about how they were using visual programming to convince people to smoke more tobacco, though. http://www.ordiecole.com/logo/media_mit_edu_sponsors.pdf http://www.ordiecole.com/logo/media_mit_edu_sponsors.pdf
  - theNJR 8y ago
    "Digital Life" ... wtf.
    - DonHopkins 8y ago
      That's where you go after you die of lung cancer!
  - nikofeyn 8y ago
    do you have any further information regarding their visual programming languages? are they known environments or are they in-house developments? are there any publications or documentation publicly available? thanks.
    - DonHopkins 8y ago
      I vaguely remember he was talking about some known environments and languages that were defined by industry standards that they were using, but that I'd never heard about before (but not a common one like LabView, Max, PD, etc). I didn't get the impression they were developing the language themselves, just using it, and also interested in things people at Media Lab were doing along those lines.
Junk_Collector 8y ago
Well sure. You'll notice that this award is being given out for a socially acceptable and academically approved form of disobedience that does not actually require disobeying anything. Aaron broke the academic status quo and generated bad press. That's pretty unacceptable in the quest to make the world a better place for an organization that is primarily about image.
- commandlinefan 8y ago
  > does not actually require disobeying anything Or risking anything. You want courageous disobedience? Let's talk James Damore.
  - jancsika 8y ago
    Schwartz faced massively disproportionate criminal charges for copying publicly funded research. Criminal charges which still exist today, which no reasonable person would take on for fear of doing serious time in a federal prison. Those disproportionate risks make it very difficult to do any kind of civil disobedience to protest these federal laws and the prosecutorial overreach associated with them. Also, finding some way to protect the right to publish publicly funded research actually makes it possible for many people to read and redistribute the primary research related to Damore's memo. That is something most people can't currently do without risking criminal charges. Given those difficulties and risks, I'd strongly suggest thinking a little more about the Schwartz object lesson rather than shifting to a different topic. (Esp. given we're also discussing MIT.)
- rdtsc 8y ago
  > approved form of disobedience that does not actually require disobeying anything. Would you say they are constraining the window of acceptable discourse here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window) by claiming "This is what disobedience looks like, don't disobey more than this or you'd be labeled a crazy fringe fanatic"? I like what they are doing in general. All those are good awards and issues to talk about. Not sure MIT is necessarily the place that these ideas would seem controversial and require a "disobedience" label associated with them. I can think of other countries and places where creating a #MeToo movement would be very controversial.
ancorevard 8y ago
They lost me at "social justice experts" and "toxic masculinity".
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Pfhreak 8y ago
  Why? Both of those terms have definitions based in rational discourse, but they are often misunderstood. E.g. "toxic masculinity" does not mean that masculinity is toxic, it means there's a subset of masculine behaviors that can be toxic when over-represented. If reading the term 'toxic masculinity' is enough to cause you to disengage, I'd encourage you to take a moment and understand why that just happened.
  - belorn 8y ago
    Toxic masculinity get judged based on the meaning it express as words. Languages in the end is all about expressing meaning. If we talk about toxic Muslims as the subset of terrorist behavior, then most people would still see it as an generalization that invoke a expression of racisms and hate. Lumping together all Muslims, only to then say "Its a misunderstanding, I only meant this small subset that is toxic among Muslims" don't work. Does not work for racism, and it does not work for sexism either. The term toxic masculinity will always seem like veiled hatred against men, and no amount of "that is only a misinterpretation ..." will change that.
    - DonHopkins 8y ago
      So whenever anybody mentions "toxic food", you jump to the conclusion that they're saying all food is toxic? When somebody warns you about eating toxic food like Romaine lettuce, do you assume they hate all food? Or do you go out of your way to eat Romaine lettuce just to spite them, like so many people who disengage from rational discourse, thump their chests, and grandstand to defend all men from the perceived slight of being called toxic?

primroot 8y ago

So this is how cool and forward-thinking MBS is. Now the prince of KSA supports organizations handing out disobedience awards. Who would have thought? [0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-universities-selling-themselves-mit-harvard-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/elite-...

sandov 8y ago

>Toxic masculinity lmao

nickysielicki 8y ago

If I was giving out a disobedience award for 2018, it would go to Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed. (This is not to imply that I think anyone in this article is undeserving of an award for things they've done.)

catacombs 8y ago
He's a straight, white male. Not a good choice. /sarcasm
SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
Agreed. I’m not sure how #metoo is “disobedient” in any way. It’s the popular position of almost the entire media, Hollywood, and liberal leaning people in the USA. It’s the safest stand you can possibly take in 2018. However, Defense Distributed should get the disobedience award, not Cody Wilson.

khawkins 8y ago

It is a colossal misstep for the MIT Media Lab to move into social activism, and that is what this award is doing. If you'd like to be perceived as scientists, you lose your credibility to do impartial investigation of social trends. It's hard to trust a paper you've published on the impact of #MeToo when your department is literally rewarding the founders. If you'd like to be perceived as engineers, you demonstrate a serious lack of focus. The Media Lab has historically been focused on innovative human-computer interfaces. When most people have spent significant time and several years interacting with social media, the Media Lab is no more qualified to speak on social media movements enabled by technology than the average person. They're borrowing the reputation of the lab to promote a political position, but its reputation is harmed by doing so.

cdent 8y ago
Huh. I'd say work on "human-computer interfaces" is one of the pinnacles of social activism and always a highly politicised endeavour. The Media Lab has always had (in my fairly long memory) a reputation for empowering individuals in the face of authority. Disobedience is a perfect fit. If being an "engineer" means not being involved in social activism, why would anyone want to be called or perceived as one?
pfd1986 8y ago
Disagree. I think this is like saying Einstein shouldn't have been vocal about the Bomb. I think scientists (and scientific institutions) should use their visibility to make a social point, and that shouldn't at all undermine their scientific credibility.
- khawkins 8y ago
  The integrity of a hard science like physics is rarely compromised by political persuasions. I have little idea how his positions on the bomb would have affected his ability to produce unbiased scientific results. The conclusions of those papers have little ramification on the ethics of nuclear weapons. But if you're trying to do research which investigates the social ramifications of a movement like #MeToo, then a biased researcher will seek out methods which highlight how positive and powerful the movement is, while ignoring metrics which make it look weak, unpopular, or causing negative impacts. Getting the title "Doctor" doesn't magically remove one's bias, especially when there is a systemic bias promoted by the institution at large.

Zigurd 8y ago

Somewhere, a woman undergrad read this thread and said to herself "screw this" and transferred out of computer science.

catacombs 8y ago
*female undergrad
- Zigurd 8y ago
  I'm sure you have some snark reason. Because snark about the difficulties women face in this industry is such a good look.
  - stevew20 8y ago
    For the good of the human race, let's all assume that catacombs was just being petty, please!
  - catacombs 8y ago
    Huh? Not snark if the previous commenter used "woman" as an adjective when it is a noun. The proper use is "female."
    - Zigurd 8y ago
      Actually it is a correct use of "woman" as an appositive noun. It may be arguable if it is a desirable style, but it isn't outside of grammatical correctness.
swiley 8y ago
I understand the sentiment here but can we shut up about it for five seconds? As a guy I feel like I'm walking on eggshells every time I'm around women after reading enough of these. I feel like I'm going insane.
- Zigurd 8y ago

patrickg_zill 8y ago

Stunning and brave... To support as "disobedience" something that every large corporation, every media organization, and a large swath of government supports.

PavlovsCat 8y ago
MeToo was started in 2006. If "everybody" supports that anyway, why was there even anything to start? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/me-too-movement-tarana-burke.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/me-too-movement-tarana... > In 1997, Tarana Burke sat across from a 13-year-old girl who had been sexually abused. The young girl was explaining her experience, and it left Ms. Burke speechless. Have female friends ever confided stories in you that left you speechless, helpless, and angry? And even that would normally just be the tip of an iceberg, not a full, detailed report of all the stuff that is going on... not even in their life, not to mention the world. The abuse that is going on is greater than our capacity to even face it. And it is hard for people to speak about this stuff, and while I agree that it might not be "as brave" to encourage others to speak out, I think it's absolutely fine to award her. She's not the kind of person who gives a shit about awards. She wants actual abuse to actually end, she wants actual wounds to actually heal -- nothing more, nothing less, fair enough, godspeed, you go girl, all the good things... not just for her, but for the people she represents, and who are acknowledged by this award as well. > Tarana Burke said she will not let her movement that she founded in 2006 and that has resulted in her getting death threats and having to challenge black leaders to support it, be co-opted by pretty girls and Hollywood. So everybody agrees -- except the abusers, the people who don't want to hear about abuse, and the people sending death threats of course :P https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/metoo-founder-tarana-burke-blasts-the-movement-for-ignoring-poor-women/ https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/metoo-founder-tarana-burke... > “We heard every manner of excuse ‘It’s really about white supremacy because our folks don’t have a history of that kind of thing back in Africa’ or ‘the real issue isn’t sexual violence, it’s false accusations against black men’ or my personal favorite ‘This is not a social justice issue; this is a social work issue.’ ” > She cited statistic after statistic about women who aren’t famous but attacked because of their gender identity or economic powerlessness. But the worst, she said, was the fate of indigenous and Native American women “the group we talk about the least,” she said. > She cited a Justice Department study that found that an estimated one in three Native American women will be assaulted in their lifetimes, that 92 percent of Native American girls reported having been forced to have sex against their will — and that nine of 10 Native American women and girls who survived rape or sexual assault were attacked by assailants of a different color, most of them white. > “That’s definitely a racial justice issue,” she said. “And, at the end of the day, it’s a human rights issue.” She seems to have the heart in the right spot, I'll say that much. Every "movement" can always attract anyone to do anything in its name, but I am absolutely down with what I read of that woman so far.

adbge 8y ago

So, in a nutshell, the System's neatest trick is this: - For the sake of its own efficiency and security, the System needs to bring about deep and radical social changes to match the changed conditions resulting from technological progress. - The frustration of life under the circumstances imposed by the System leads to rebellious impulses. - Rebellious impulses are co-opted by the System in the service of the social changes it requires; activists "rebel" against the old and outmoded values that are no longer of use to the System and in favor of the new values that the System needs us to accept. - In this way rebellious impulses, which otherwise might have been dangerous to the System, are given an outlet that is not only harmless to the System, but useful to it. - Much of the public resentment resulting from the imposition of social changes is drawn away from the System and its institutions and is directed instead at the radicals who spearhead the social changes. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ted-kaczynski-the-system-s-neatest-trick https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ted-kaczynski-the-sy...

stevew20 8y ago

#MeToo is... Disobedient? To whom? 17th century white male Lord's who live by rule of thumb? It is just ridiculous. Apparently this is just a generic "Good Award", for doing "Good Things in General"! Good job #MeToo, you did something good, and MIT Media Lab wants to recognize you for it! Jesus, this is literally bad for both sides.

nafizh 8y ago

I am surprised Alexandra Elbakyan did not win this because of her work with sci-hub. What could be the biggest disobedience of all other than freeing science from the grasp of Corporate profithood by sacrificing your own freedom of movement? Specially when the award is given by a science lab.

nkurz 8y ago
Yes, I think she'd be an obvious candidate. I'd be interested to know if she was nominated, and if so, what the discussion was. My guess (as an outsider but with some small insight into the group making these awards) is that Elbakyan would have generally strong support for her direct work on Scihub, but would be unsupportable to some because of her political beliefs. That is, I think her anti-capitalist ideology and less-than-full-fledged support for modern liberal beliefs may more of a problem for the committee than her anti-copyright stance. Here's a presentation where Elbakyan talks more about her political beliefs: https://openaccess.unt.edu/symposium/2016/info/transcript-and-translation-sci-hub-presentation https://openaccess.unt.edu/symposium/2016/info/transcript-an...