Thread by @JoshuaCypess

1/ One thing we all need to understand abt. any organization we establish & imbue with power: even if it's created for a benevolent purpose, abusers will pervert the power for their ends. That's what they *do*

So every 'policing' agency must have robust oversight

2/ I see this too often. E.g. unions, made to give power to workers, will be perverted by abusers once they've proven their effectiveness. It. Is. Inevitable.

My rule of thumb: the moment an org or movement becomes effective, it will immediately be ripe for hijack by bad actors

3/ My rule can now be seen with the sequela of MeToo, as seen with the Tara Reade hoax. Once we give victims even a smidgen of power, the bad actors will try to co-opt it

Again, it's the basic definition of abuse: perverting proper power for evil ends

4/ The problem is thus not with the org or power in itself, but with our not recognizing how dangerous unregulated power will be

We need police, but we gave them too much power with too little oversight & redress. Just as killing a cop is super bad, a killer cop IS WORSE

5/ I'm serious about making MeToo a movement of power to bring abusers to justice but without proper safeguards it will be adopted by the same abusers as before.

Why? Because abusers, by definition, misuse whatever power that becomes available

6/ Sorry to go around in circles in this, but for some reason this is obvious to me but I feel it's hidden in our culture

It's one reason my whole project for safety & equity has been exhausting: making all sorts of safeguards is difficult & esp. when ppl don't understand why