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16 Oct, 9 tweets, 3 min read
1/ Earlier this week I had an exchange with a truculent rando that is typical for Twitter but I refuse to let it be.

He didn't agree with what I said, so he tried to hide his distaste as if it was an high-level intellectual matter but only by ignoring most of my words
2/ I know this is typical for online comments but why should that be so? He didn't engage with my words, willfully twisted the meaning, because ultimately he was assuming I did something wrong.

And even if I did... WHO CARES? Who cares if I'm wrong. It's a big world
3/ Bottom line: I'm in my 40s & I interact with people online as if (a) they were random encounters in real life, with names & faces, & as such I must initially treat them with courtesy & respect; (b) & if they are misbehaving, then online life allows me to block 'em & leave
4/ That's the key: I see the faces & people behind online words. I can't let the distance of the internet dehumanize them, or let them dehumanize me.

Abuse is never allowed, never OK.
5/ Add onto that my ability to read text (an advantage online) & bad-faith arguments scream out to me with a klaxonlike red-flag.

But bottom line, if I disagree with some stranger online - even if I've followed them for years - I must accept that it's none of my business
6/ The question "why should they care" is foremost in my mind when I respond online. I will actively try to send support - because that's something everyone appreciates - but if I disagree... who cares? I'm a stranger to them. They didn't ask.
7/ I blocked the fellow (because online swarming, bullying etc is always a threat and gimbuses who can't understand logic are also easily angered), but here are my comments for future reference:

part 1:


8/ pt2:

9/ @threadreaderapp please unroll.

@threader please compile.

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More from @JoshuaCypess

Joshua Cypess Profile picture
14 Oct
1/ I sent this last night so I wouldn't forget the point but I should elaborate: the red-brown horseshoe meets at "current society needs to be torn down so our preferred dystopia will magically appear" So both sets of terrorists want "acceleration"

2/ "Acceleration" means "do terrible things to destroy current society so our magical land will arise." I'm a rabbi & sociologist so I'm a committed believer in society as the best means to reach utopia on earth. These red-brownists are my exact opposite. Sedomalekites.
3/ RedRoses hate the Democrats more than their purported right-wing opposites for real reasons; Reds & Browns in actuality hate society while we political-society types love society. It's logical. "Acceleration" is incredibly evil
Read 13 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
12 Oct
1/ Those who blame the "do nothing" Democrats ignore how it took a combination of a major demography shift AND the #TrumpCrisis for a majority of voters to recognize the GOP's fascistic evil. The MSM hasn't caught up, BTW, & contributes to the Leftist nonsense about 'do nothings'
2/ Look at the MSM revival of their Her Emails tactic for Biden and 'CourtPacking' as well as every question for a Dem being 'how will you pay for that'

Democrats haven't been hamstrung by the GOP/MSM double-whammy ever since the Civil Rights Act!
3/ The Leftist critique of the Dems carries the same myopic/#Literalist fallacy of blaming victims for falling prey to structural problems.

Now that Dems have demography on our side, we have a chance to restore the FDR/LBJ America.
Read 4 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
12 Oct
13.01new/ I'm experimenting with a new procedure for my #RandomThoughts thread (linked below), which has gotten enormous and difficult to navigate. Each week I will make a separate thread & embed/link it in the original monster. Let's see if this works

13.02a/ We subscribe to the local NJ paper (Support Local News! Another Slogan!) & they invest heavily in Kings Feature & Creators Syndicate comics. As an amateur comics historian/artist, I have issues with the quality of both groups, but esp. with The Lockhorns & Andy Capp
13.02b/ I collect comic strip books (comics were a road not taken), my kids have a youth filled with some of the best (Calvin & Hobbes, Far Side, Cul de Sac, Citizen Dog, Peanuts) so the two martial strife comics are a jarring contrast.
Read 70 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
29 Sep
1/ It's definitely maddening that our country is on the verge of a fascist takeover by the GOP & a majority of Americans - and the entire press corps - is acting as if this will be a normal election

But.

I think this is actually a silver lining. Not kidding.
2/ The only way Trump (ym'sh) has been able to succeed has been to fake that everything is normal. This is Barr's main trick; how he nerfed the Mueller report etc.

But when they get sloppy & act too overt, the public outrage is enormous. See: Lafayette Square, or USPS
3/ That most Americans are expecting to vote in Nov. & have their vote counted is a major benefit to stop them successfully stealing the election. No white guy thinks it's OK for Barr's DOJ/DHS troops to seize ballot boxes or stop mail vote counting
Read 14 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
27 Sep
1/ My brother asked why many in the frum community resist medical knowledge - despite the mitzvah to follow doctors & paramount need to preserve health - as seen in their response to COVID.

Even if shuls were closed, many had backyard minyans & even now reject masks/distancing.
2/ Rejection of science is nominally part of the Daas-Toirah type of avoda-zara applied to their health & well-being

Again, it's 100% assur to endanger one's life except to prevent murder, arayot, or avoda zara

That the desire to risk lives is itself avoda zara is [chef's kiss]
3/ Daas-Toirah minim deny science b/c outside facts pierce the bubble of the patriarchal authoritarianism that they need to keep power. For this reason, I'm deeply cynical of religious leadership that suppresses science & freedom

God commands modern Orthodoxy as lichatchila IMO
Read 12 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
24 Sep
1/ I've seen 4 different populations when it comes to Trump (ym'sh):

(a) 2 who deny he's going to act on his terrible impulses & words

(b) those who take him as a serious threat & prepare

(c) those who act like he's already won

Group C need to stop panicking. I get it tho.
2/ I hope to be in group B, preparing for the eventualities w/a clear head.

But it's the first 2 that are interesting. They consist of (a) those who deny he'll do what he threatens & when he carries it out are appalled vs. (b) those who are fine with the result of his bad acts
3/ These 2 groups can be on the literal-thinking spectrum, but also just naïve, or just emotionally incapable of recognizing that Trump (ym'sh) is trying to be a fascist dictator

But when his threats materialize, a majority of Americans have shown they hate it and him
Read 10 tweets

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