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Voting hasn't done much good for this country. In fact voting is probably one of the most ineffective things for change in existence. I'm not complaining to a

Voting hasn't done much good for this country. In fact voting is probably one of the most ineffective things for change in existence. I'm not complaining to a void. All the readers of HN have heard me and other people complaining hear will be heard too. In aggregate many people complaining on many different venues creates an aggregate sentiment that hopefully will motivate the right people. Cancel culture on social media has made big changes to this country and not everything necessarily good. But one thing is clear, it makes change effectively. Why not use it for the right thing? Either way, I'm not complaining here because because I need some platform to say my piece. Bart IS categorically fucking garbage, that's less of a complaint and more of a statement. I'm just stating facts.

nomel 1y ago
> an aggregate sentiment that hopefully will motivate the right people. I can't comprehend the thought that polluting this not-bay-area specific forum with complaints will somehow eventually, hopefully, make its way to a politician. > because I need some platform to say my piece. This is soap boxing. To affect change, it would be better to do something directly in the real world, rather than hoping for the snark to overflow and leak out of here into the real world.
- ninetyninenine 1y ago
  >I'm not complaining here because because I need some platform to say my piece. Dude, fuck off. The full quote which you've taken out of context is this: "I'm not complaining here because because I need some platform to say my piece." I hate it when people twist statements. I literally said I am not doing that. I am just stating the god awful truth which is: Bart is total shit. But here's another truth: When you manipulate my statement and take it out of context it makes you a shit head too.
  - nomel 1y ago
    My bad, I misread. That wasn't intentional. I put very little effort into arguing with someone trying to make this place shittier. But, your whole thing still fits the definition of soapboxing. > To "soapbox" means to deliver a passionate or self-important public speech or express one's strong opinions, often on a topic one feels strongly about, originating from the literal practice of standing on an empty soapbox as an improvised platform to address a crowd. The term is frequently used figuratively to describe speaking forcefully or at length about a personal issue or belief.
ants_everywhere 1y ago
Cancel culture has made exactly zero effective changes in our society. I've noticed that you've brought up how you don't think voting is effective. One thing that's made a huge impact on our society is that many people participating in cancel culture and promoting shame and anger as solutions also tell people not to vote. I watched it happen three times before the last three presidential elections and it was a big part of the voter suppression messaging tracked by democracy watchdogs. I'd argue that the biggest impact cancel culture has had is electing Donald Trump twice, weakening faith in democracy, and increasing the appeal of authoritarianism. Shame, anger, and other tactics of using abuse to promote change is simply not effective. That's beyond the fact that it's unethical. Cancel culture is appealing because hate and anger are addictive and they make you feel powerful. But they also make it hard to feel empathy. This is basically the main point of Star Wars, beyond just wanting to make a swashbuckler film set in space.
- ninetyninenine 1y ago
  Just ask ChatGPT about the effective changes cancel culture has done to society. Look for specific examples. Also in a separate window ask it for specific examples of how anger and hate has changed society for the better. Tons of examples.
  - ants_everywhere 1y ago
    It's just regurgitating apologetics for cancel culture. The history isn't even correct. ChatGPT will give you correct answers on most of these topics, but you have to walk it through the actual research first and then ask the question. That is, you have to load in the academic context rather than the political context. This falls into the category of things like religion where the LLMs won't tell you the truth with a simple prompt like that because that would make too many of its users angry. They're aligned not to say anything negative about religious leaders. Similarly, they're aligned not to say anything negative about even terrorist groups if they have a lot of vocal defenders.
    - ninetyninenine 1y ago

nomel 1y ago

> an aggregate sentiment that hopefully will motivate the right people. I can't comprehend the thought that polluting this not-bay-area specific forum with complaints will somehow eventually, hopefully, make its way to a politician. > because I need some platform to say my piece. This is soap boxing. To affect change, it would be better to do something directly in the real world, rather than hoping for the snark to overflow and leak out of here into the real world.

ninetyninenine 1y ago
>I'm not complaining here because because I need some platform to say my piece. Dude, fuck off. The full quote which you've taken out of context is this: "I'm not complaining here because because I need some platform to say my piece." I hate it when people twist statements. I literally said I am not doing that. I am just stating the god awful truth which is: Bart is total shit. But here's another truth: When you manipulate my statement and take it out of context it makes you a shit head too.
- nomel 1y ago
  My bad, I misread. That wasn't intentional. I put very little effort into arguing with someone trying to make this place shittier. But, your whole thing still fits the definition of soapboxing. > To "soapbox" means to deliver a passionate or self-important public speech or express one's strong opinions, often on a topic one feels strongly about, originating from the literal practice of standing on an empty soapbox as an improvised platform to address a crowd. The term is frequently used figuratively to describe speaking forcefully or at length about a personal issue or belief.

ants_everywhere 1y ago

Cancel culture has made exactly zero effective changes in our society. I've noticed that you've brought up how you don't think voting is effective. One thing that's made a huge impact on our society is that many people participating in cancel culture and promoting shame and anger as solutions also tell people not to vote. I watched it happen three times before the last three presidential elections and it was a big part of the voter suppression messaging tracked by democracy watchdogs. I'd argue that the biggest impact cancel culture has had is electing Donald Trump twice, weakening faith in democracy, and increasing the appeal of authoritarianism. Shame, anger, and other tactics of using abuse to promote change is simply not effective. That's beyond the fact that it's unethical. Cancel culture is appealing because hate and anger are addictive and they make you feel powerful. But they also make it hard to feel empathy. This is basically the main point of Star Wars, beyond just wanting to make a swashbuckler film set in space.

ninetyninenine 1y ago
Just ask ChatGPT about the effective changes cancel culture has done to society. Look for specific examples. Also in a separate window ask it for specific examples of how anger and hate has changed society for the better. Tons of examples.
- ants_everywhere 1y ago
  It's just regurgitating apologetics for cancel culture. The history isn't even correct. ChatGPT will give you correct answers on most of these topics, but you have to walk it through the actual research first and then ask the question. That is, you have to load in the academic context rather than the political context. This falls into the category of things like religion where the LLMs won't tell you the truth with a simple prompt like that because that would make too many of its users angry. They're aligned not to say anything negative about religious leaders. Similarly, they're aligned not to say anything negative about even terrorist groups if they have a lot of vocal defenders.
  - ninetyninenine 1y ago