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I’ve been struggling with this. I’ve recently started using a new handle as a way to distance myself a bit. I wouldn’t expect it to hold up under scrutiny thoug

I’ve been struggling with this. I’ve recently started using a new handle as a way to distance myself a bit. I wouldn’t expect it to hold up under scrutiny though. And then I wonder about the moral obligation to say what is right. So is it worth, or even morally right, to create a new pseudoanoynomous identity?

lantry 2y ago
It is easier to change your behavior, but it is better to change your government.
- stevenAthompson 2y ago
  We can not change the government without changing the people, and the people do not want to change.
  - mfuzzey 2y ago
    why? Serious question - as a European I'm really baffled by the US these days?
    - stevenAthompson 2y ago
      I can only speculate, but I suspect it's related to our infantilization. A proper democracy requires an informed and rational electorate, and we just don't have that. As I said elsewhere in this post, most adults now read below the sixth grade level. Popular media has been getting shorter and shorter, all while relying less and less on the printed word. Meanwhile the most popular news sources are targeted to people with the comprehension and reading skills of children, and the most popular movies are literally based on children's comic books. Hell, video games outsell movies by an ever increasing margin and the majority of adults now find it impossible/unpleasant to sit through even an entire comic book film without checking their cell phones. Even music has become increasing simple and repetitive, designed not to challenge the listener. Our shared culture is almost entirely the culture of children. So then, do we really expect these adult-sized children to be capable of facing down hard choices, or making rational informed decisions? No, they accept the "obvious" (but often incorrect) answers offered by charlatans and simpletons in lieu of genuine reason and the hard work of finding actual (and often painful) solutions for the very messy real world.
      - masfuerte 2y ago
        I find it unpleasant to sit through an entire comic book film. The problem is not my attention span.
        ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        I don't think it's fair to characterise all "comic book" films as being immature, although there's a lot of shallow super-hero films being pumped out of Hollywood these days. Maybe if more people in the U.S. were familiar with "V For Vendetta" (despite Alan Moore's loathing for that film) then their attitude towards government might well be different. (Trying to think of another good example and the Watchmen series tackled racism head-on, also Persepolis is a great animation covering the Iranian revolution)
        SauciestGNU 2y ago
        The problem with "cape shit" is explicitly Disney. They sacrifice the last vestiges of art and integrity to keep the pipeline full of slop that happens to be easily digestible to those people who read at or below a primary school level.
        ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        Yes, although I am currently enjoying Daredevil: Born Again. Also, I thought that Andor was a superb series.
    - giraffe_lady 2y ago
      I don't mean this in a shitty way but how much of what you know about the US comes from recent (say last 40 years) media and culture sources? Because if you read into its history, I mean we started with a genocide and chattel slavery. Then created & implemented an entirely novel and comprehensive social-legal framework to justify and manage an apartheid society for another few generations. Lynching was a beloved public spectacle just a century ago. Hitler & Hendrik Verwoerd looked to us for inspiration. I'm american and not particularly an america-hater overall, I could create an equivalent list of positive things we've accomplished. But both are true, and the above are facts. What's happening now has always been part of our country too. We have never really reckoned with this, and it will keep coming back until we do.
    - whatshisface 2y ago
      One of the biggest signs that nobody knows was the difficulty of predicting the outcome of the past election.
- muzzledman 2y ago
  >> it is better to change your government. Not really possible in the US since 2023. Specific political speech, even writing op-eds, has been criminalized or black-list-worthy by both sides of the political spectrum -- democrat and and republican.
  - pk-protect-ai 2y ago
    Wait... Trump did it, and he violates the constitution every day since he took office... The democrats and republicans are irrelevant already. He and those money behind him, already changing the government. Do I get it wrong?
lukan 2y ago
"So is it worth, or even morally right, to create a new pseudoanoynomous identity?" It is your life, you choose your battles. But if not enough dare to speak their mind openly, then this will be the new normal.
stevenAthompson 2y ago
Fifty four percent of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. The situation in America is not some temporary aberration, it is a permanent change in the status quo. Anti-intellectual populism is the new normal, and any thinking person who values their safety should be weighing anonymity and silence as viable options.
- whatshisface 2y ago
  The Bolsheviks didn't want people who got the message and shut up. They were extremely paranoid about them. They wanted people who had been raised in the new system or who had supported it when the choice was free. I don't think that self-interest is morally right as a guiding principle or that people who have written things as clearly "aware" as your comment have the option you're suggesting.
  - stevenAthompson 2y ago
    I understand and respect your moral position, I just feel that I have an even stronger moral requirement to take care of myself and my family first, and I think that others should do the same. As the stewardesses say, you should always put on your own oxygen mask first.
    - whatshisface 2y ago
      Sure, but nobody is going to read that comment and think, "this guy is a solid Bolshevik."
      - stevenAthompson 2y ago
        You're not wrong.
- kenfox 2y ago
  I wonder if the low literacy rate is partly an artifact of non-English speakers. The 54% stat seems to come from PIAAC which only evaluates English literacy in the US https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/faq.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/faq.asp The US hasn’t historically had high literacy rates though I definitely agree we are back to McCarthy levels of anti-intellectualism. Probably worse.

lantry 2y ago

It is easier to change your behavior, but it is better to change your government.

stevenAthompson 2y ago
We can not change the government without changing the people, and the people do not want to change.
- mfuzzey 2y ago
  why? Serious question - as a European I'm really baffled by the US these days?
  - stevenAthompson 2y ago
    I can only speculate, but I suspect it's related to our infantilization. A proper democracy requires an informed and rational electorate, and we just don't have that. As I said elsewhere in this post, most adults now read below the sixth grade level. Popular media has been getting shorter and shorter, all while relying less and less on the printed word. Meanwhile the most popular news sources are targeted to people with the comprehension and reading skills of children, and the most popular movies are literally based on children's comic books. Hell, video games outsell movies by an ever increasing margin and the majority of adults now find it impossible/unpleasant to sit through even an entire comic book film without checking their cell phones. Even music has become increasing simple and repetitive, designed not to challenge the listener. Our shared culture is almost entirely the culture of children. So then, do we really expect these adult-sized children to be capable of facing down hard choices, or making rational informed decisions? No, they accept the "obvious" (but often incorrect) answers offered by charlatans and simpletons in lieu of genuine reason and the hard work of finding actual (and often painful) solutions for the very messy real world.
    - masfuerte 2y ago
      I find it unpleasant to sit through an entire comic book film. The problem is not my attention span.
      - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        I don't think it's fair to characterise all "comic book" films as being immature, although there's a lot of shallow super-hero films being pumped out of Hollywood these days. Maybe if more people in the U.S. were familiar with "V For Vendetta" (despite Alan Moore's loathing for that film) then their attitude towards government might well be different. (Trying to think of another good example and the Watchmen series tackled racism head-on, also Persepolis is a great animation covering the Iranian revolution)
        SauciestGNU 2y ago
        The problem with "cape shit" is explicitly Disney. They sacrifice the last vestiges of art and integrity to keep the pipeline full of slop that happens to be easily digestible to those people who read at or below a primary school level.
        ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
        Yes, although I am currently enjoying Daredevil: Born Again. Also, I thought that Andor was a superb series.
  - giraffe_lady 2y ago
    I don't mean this in a shitty way but how much of what you know about the US comes from recent (say last 40 years) media and culture sources? Because if you read into its history, I mean we started with a genocide and chattel slavery. Then created & implemented an entirely novel and comprehensive social-legal framework to justify and manage an apartheid society for another few generations. Lynching was a beloved public spectacle just a century ago. Hitler & Hendrik Verwoerd looked to us for inspiration. I'm american and not particularly an america-hater overall, I could create an equivalent list of positive things we've accomplished. But both are true, and the above are facts. What's happening now has always been part of our country too. We have never really reckoned with this, and it will keep coming back until we do.
  - whatshisface 2y ago
    One of the biggest signs that nobody knows was the difficulty of predicting the outcome of the past election.
muzzledman 2y ago
>> it is better to change your government. Not really possible in the US since 2023. Specific political speech, even writing op-eds, has been criminalized or black-list-worthy by both sides of the political spectrum -- democrat and and republican.
- pk-protect-ai 2y ago
  Wait... Trump did it, and he violates the constitution every day since he took office... The democrats and republicans are irrelevant already. He and those money behind him, already changing the government. Do I get it wrong?

lukan 2y ago

"So is it worth, or even morally right, to create a new pseudoanoynomous identity?" It is your life, you choose your battles. But if not enough dare to speak their mind openly, then this will be the new normal.

stevenAthompson 2y ago

Fifty four percent of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. The situation in America is not some temporary aberration, it is a permanent change in the status quo. Anti-intellectual populism is the new normal, and any thinking person who values their safety should be weighing anonymity and silence as viable options.

whatshisface 2y ago
The Bolsheviks didn't want people who got the message and shut up. They were extremely paranoid about them. They wanted people who had been raised in the new system or who had supported it when the choice was free. I don't think that self-interest is morally right as a guiding principle or that people who have written things as clearly "aware" as your comment have the option you're suggesting.
- stevenAthompson 2y ago
  I understand and respect your moral position, I just feel that I have an even stronger moral requirement to take care of myself and my family first, and I think that others should do the same. As the stewardesses say, you should always put on your own oxygen mask first.
  - whatshisface 2y ago
    Sure, but nobody is going to read that comment and think, "this guy is a solid Bolshevik."
    - stevenAthompson 2y ago
      You're not wrong.
kenfox 2y ago
I wonder if the low literacy rate is partly an artifact of non-English speakers. The 54% stat seems to come from PIAAC which only evaluates English literacy in the US https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/faq.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/faq.asp The US hasn’t historically had high literacy rates though I definitely agree we are back to McCarthy levels of anti-intellectualism. Probably worse.