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Could we do without the derogatory „SJW“ insult? It’s blatantly obvious that it never leads to any discussions of value. And as far as insults go, it’s an incr

Could we do without the derogatory „SJW“ insult? It’s blatantly obvious that it never leads to any discussions of value. And as far as insults go, it’s an incredibly lazy one. Because there is absolutely no defense against it: the mere advocacy of, for example, anti-discrimination or against AI arms trade will expose you to being called an „SJW“. It’s an insult of last resort, because actually engaging for discrimination or selling drones to child soldiers in Western Africa or whatever would make you look like a deranged crank. Therefore, you use precisely the fact that something is generally recognized as good as an argument against the speaker. Theoretically, I guess there’s a „no-risk“ accusation included as well (see also: virtue signalling). But apparently, organizing a walk-out and risking your career (see: this article) doesn’t actually qualify as „risk“.

weberc2 7y ago
Earnest question--what is the non-perjorative word? "Progressive" is the closest I've found. I genuinely want to debate ideas, but I'm not sure what the most precise term is.
- shaki-dora 7y ago
  Yes, I think that would be fine. But maybe you just don’t need to talk about people with some term encompassing a multitude of different issues. It’s long been said that the left/right dichotomy isn’t entirely meaningful, leading to an expansion into a 2D economic/social space. Still, left/right or progressive/conservative, or SJW/fascist tend to lead to just stereotypes that everyone projects their opinion on.
  - weberc2 7y ago
    It's not possible to communicate the full nuance of any ideological group, especially not in every HN post or tweet. We need meaningful definitions even if these definitions don't 100% apply to every individual in the group. And we need to be able to talk about ideological groups (however fuzzily) to advance our (inter)national conversation.
- silversconfused 7y ago
  I like progressive. SJW is only used (in what I have seen) by those trying to diminish the value of the work and sacrifice that others have made. Attempting to lump someone in with a movement for easier criticism of their opinions is never done in good faith.

weberc2 7y ago

Earnest question--what is the non-perjorative word? "Progressive" is the closest I've found. I genuinely want to debate ideas, but I'm not sure what the most precise term is.

shaki-dora 7y ago
Yes, I think that would be fine. But maybe you just don’t need to talk about people with some term encompassing a multitude of different issues. It’s long been said that the left/right dichotomy isn’t entirely meaningful, leading to an expansion into a 2D economic/social space. Still, left/right or progressive/conservative, or SJW/fascist tend to lead to just stereotypes that everyone projects their opinion on.
- weberc2 7y ago
  It's not possible to communicate the full nuance of any ideological group, especially not in every HN post or tweet. We need meaningful definitions even if these definitions don't 100% apply to every individual in the group. And we need to be able to talk about ideological groups (however fuzzily) to advance our (inter)national conversation.
silversconfused 7y ago
I like progressive. SJW is only used (in what I have seen) by those trying to diminish the value of the work and sacrifice that others have made. Attempting to lump someone in with a movement for easier criticism of their opinions is never done in good faith.