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Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

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331–340 of 389 posts

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The non-equality of half and most is unaffected by any context.

I give you an upvote for that. But I think the idea is clear and you are needlessly discussing over one word instead of focusing on how this could happen. (Yes, I don't like Trump but I think we - at least Europeans - should respect Americans and their choice.)

Here's my reason why there's nothing i can respect there: One of my best friends is a person in the USA, requiring constant medical support (literally one skipped day can kill them) in a queer marriage. The people directly around trump would rather see my friend die, alone.

Not all of the people who voted for him, by far. Many are not even aware of the consequences this has already had. (Yes, various friends of mine have been accosted on streets by complete strangers just for existing.) Many can be talked to and would understand the situation.

But respect? For casting a vote to spite people? For casting a vote without having done proper research?

Sorry, i have none. Not until i know that my friend can live in safety and dignity.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very suspicious of people throwing these terms around. Especially because the left uses the terms "racist", "sexist", and "hateful" (etc) to demonize their opponents as opposed to actually addressing certain issues in debate rationally. The willingness to use these terms so freely to shut down debate means I simply don't believe such charges unless I'm shown something that actually meets a reasonable definition.…

If you don't know of the people banned, read about them. They're true white supremacists. Twitter is under no obligation to be a platform for the KKK as twitter is a private company.

I actually don't care about the people being discussed enough to look them up and I have little interest in substantiating someone else's claim. If you want me to believe someone is a nasty racist, you can tell me why and show me examples. A huge part of the reason that dialogue is breaking down in the U.S. is because these sorts of charges are so easy to fling out there and too many people take it for granted that they're justified. Worse, too often not taking for granted means you get the label yourself. It's no wonder that the polls missed how closely fought a thing the election would be.

My point about some people feeling justified in conceptually stealing the moral condemnation implicit in a term like "racist", while defining that term to mean something very different than what it does mean, stands without regard to whether or not that this is the case with Twitter and these individuals. No one should trust these accusations until the specific case is actually made arguing for the validity of the charge.

OK, I gave in... I looked the first name up that I came across, and what little I looked at and I tend to agree: it looked genuinely racist. By that I mean that it fit a definition of racism that is: decisions or beliefs about individuals using the non-volitional physical category of race/ethnicity of that individual as a factor in their conclusions. That and only that. Everything else, I said in the first two paragraphs stand.

[EDIT FOR ADDITIONAL POINT] Also, Twitter as a private company has no obligation at all to support/allow any position, even if that position: left or right, reasonable or unreasonable, substantiated or unsubstantiated. It's their ball, they can play whatever game they want. My points aren't about Twitter's rights as much as they are about no longer believing "naked" charges or racism, sexism, etc.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#333
post #294
post #290

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I don't want to go down the path of who was oppressed, or how, or why. I will say that advocating for genocide is wrong. This shouldn't be rocket science. Advocating for the death or oppression of any group "just 'cause" is wrong. People shouldn't do it. Their behavior shouldn't be condoned, or excused as "they don't really mean it", or "they're not really going to do it", or "other people have it worse". Personally,…

Sure, but can you at least recognize that conflating what's happening here to men (an internet campaign that has no signs of manifesting in the real world in any significant way) vs. what Jews have experienced is not a useful thing to do? It is a huge false equivalence. You can believe that both are bad, while also saying that one of the two is much, much worse to the point that the comparison is unjust.

> an internet campaign that has no signs of manifesting in the real world in any significant way

Then you're not paying attention. See my other links.

> You can believe that both are bad, while also saying that one of the two is much, much worse to the point that the comparison is unjust.

Your argument comes across that advocating genocide isn't really that bad, because they don't really intend to do it, and anyways, the Holocaust was worse.

I find that entirely unconvincing. Morally bankrupt may be a better description.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#334
To all those concerned, they were not suspended for being racist. They were suspended for trying to silence people they disagreed with via targeted harassment. If you do that, you might get banned, regardless of your political alignment. There are PLENTY of white supremacists who are doing just fine on twitter. According to twitter you are free to spread your shitty ideology as long as you don't actively prevent people from spreading theirs.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From what I see in my feed, it seems 100% of "progressives" have doubled down on their hyperbolic, established, in-group rhetoric Then that's a problem with your filter bubble. > I followed everyone that I follow because they are programmers, not because they are "progressives". Which is why your view of progressives produced by that is distorted. Programmers who happen to be progressives aren't representative of p…

Who is representative of progressives as a whole?

Other than a sufficiently large randomly-selected sample, no such group is particularly likely to be.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#337
post #133
post #79

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Agree, very disturbing trend and it only increases the animosity between groups. The trending method of improving diversity and inclusivity is through exclusivity. This will not work. People and groups who don't talk to each other grow further apart and trust each other less.

True. People flocked to Twitter to hear general opinion, which the press didn't provide. That is changing. They have also been controlling the trending #hashtags; trying to channel only certain type of discussion.

What happens if a group like the Koch brothers decides to buy Twitter and ban the other side of the spectrum and control hashtags in a different manner. It's a slippery slope

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's painting one group as a whole at all. No one is suggesting that all or most Trump supporters are racist. Only that many alt-right figure heads are. It's not a heavy claim. With Steve Bannon being appointed to the upcoming White House staff, there's been a parade of examples illustrating the blatant racism of alt-right figureheads. While I appreciate the sentiment that Democrats lost the election by…

> No one is suggesting that all or most Trump supporters are racist. "You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” - Hillary Clinton, Sep 2016

Half is an exaggeration, but they do seem a lot more common among Trump supporters than among Clinton, Sanders, Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Bush, and Kasich supporters.

Spend a while in /r/the_donald.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#339
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're twisting my words beyond reason. Just because being white results in additional privilege, that doesn't mean that white people are "privileged" (i.e. better off that non-whites) in general. Even if you reduce the multidimensional spectrum of different advantages a person might have compared to others into a single dimension (and call it "privilege"), by far the most important privilege is class (wealth), other…

Do you have a source that class privilege is greater than all other privileges, including race? I don't believe the common racial bias papers such as applying to schools with a "black" name would change if you could also tick a box that read "I'm rich"?

Poor people can't go to university. Rich people don't need to.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#340
post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Do you have references?

Well mine will now. Thanks for showing this to me.

I can't blame you for wanting to feel the same rush from promoting cruel radical ideologies with a postironic wink that the aforementioned alt-right leaders feel, so... good luck.
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