Thread by @polotek

I've been having some form of this conversation with white men for years now. My understanding of it as a moral ideology gets more and more refined over time. "Build nameless, faceless systems and blame them for the world's ills so that individuals cannot be held accountable."

https://twitter.com/KelgoreTrout/status/1478988781562654721

Let me be extra clear in the statement that I'm making. I believe that Western white supremacist capitalist imperialism requires this kind of mental gymnastics in order to justify and sustain its continued violence. No one is to blame. The violence simply emerges naturally.

Blaming nameless, faceless systems is the perfect form of disenfranchisement. Because every single human in the system can claim that they don't actually have any agency. Their decisions are simply dictated by the system and have nothing to do with their values.

This is why I keep giving people an alternative way of viewing these systems. There is no magic. It's just people. Each human in this system is making a decision that they can and should be held accountable for.

Ramsey makes decisions about whether to raise the rent on his tenants. He is empowered to make different decisions. Each decision impacts both him *and* others in the system. He chooses decisions that enrich him and displace others. It's not more complicated than that.

I have tried to bring this alternate understanding into every system I participate in. Pushing myself and everybody around me to engage directly with the decisions we are making as part of the system. It's much harder than I imagined.

Me: We shouldn't do that because it's bad for people

Them: We have to do it, otherwise I don't see a way to avoid X (where X is bad for "the system")

Me: I hear that. We should accept that downside and prioritize people.

Them: 🤯🤯🤯

This leads to one of 3 outcomes.

The first is shedding of accountability.

"Ok, but you take full responsibility for the downsides."

And later when the consequences come that we all knew and discussed. "This was his idea. He bullied us into it."

The second reaction is shedding of agency.

"I don't think we can get away with that. We'll get in trouble with X."

It doesn't matter what the level is of the person you're talking to. They pass the buck to some higher authority who is taking it out of their hands.

The third reaction is punitive action.

"You're being obstructionist and keeping us from moving forward. You will be reprimanded."

This is why people say things like "don't rock the boat". And why I talk about being a troublemaker.

https://twitter.com/polotek/status/883430513716875264?s=20