Thread by @ireneista

when you're trying to build a sense of group identity from nothing, for a demographic who until very recently have been isolated, never knowing each other... there are a lot of challenges #pluralgang

there is no single "plural culture", nor will there ever be. ask one system what their culture is, and you'll get five opinions.

the culture we get is the culture we all build, together.

however... that amorphousness doesn't mean we all get to shrug and say: whatever will be, will be. no. we all have to *individually* take responsibility for building a culture we want to be part of. for living our ideals.

that means that as community controversies come up, it's incredibly important for each of us to be the best example that we can be. things right now are so undefined, so new, that every little thing has an impact.

when unpleasant truths come to light, it's important to acknowledge those truths. it's important to think: what does justice mean in this situation? what is the ethically best course of action?

if our experience trying to hold the tech industry accountable has taught us one thing about ethics, it's this: you never get to stop asking the questions.

you never get to pretend that you know "the" answers to ethical questions, as some sort of unchanging truth. the process of holding yourself accountable is a lifelong one. the process is the point, because there is no perfect solution, not within this lifetime at least.

there are a lot of open questions facing our nascent community. we're personally white, so we should lead by saying that one of those issues is how we all handle race and cultural appropriation.

we don't have any great insights on the best way to do that. please listen to systems of color on that topic. all we feel qualified to say about it right now is that it's important.

another issue is that we need to figure out what justice means to us. is it about punishment? is it about keeping people safe? is it about working towards the best outcomes? is it about passing judgement?

there's a lot of visions of "justice" in the larger world. systems who are in a position to spend time thinking about this stuff should be studying up, and trying to figure out your personal beliefs.

we aren't any sort of authority figure. you shouldn't do stuff because we say to, or because anybody else says to, either. you should figure out *your* beliefs. this is about what we are building *together*, not something top-down.

another issue we all face is how to handle social media bullying. that's one where, at least, the plural community is on an even footing with everybody else. the whole world was caught off guard by how social media makes the sharp edges of society so very, very sharp.

finally, and the one everyone who's been paying attention this week is probably waiting for our view on: how do we handle predatory behavior?

well... that's a question of justice, but with a constraint. we absolutely cannot allow that behavior to thrive.

whatever solutions we come up with, they have to be solutions that ensure that abuse, of all the various kinds, does not become the norm in our social spaces. we have to all work really, really hard to handle that stuff responsibly.

this is all stuff we get to actively define together. there are no firm answers to it. like we said at the start of the thread: we all have to figure out what we believe, and then *live* it. do our best to model it for others, in case anyone's watching and learning from us.

thank you.