I talk to theoretically present intelligence officers through my webcam sometimes.
Well-adjusted to totalitarianism already...
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I'm joking, of course, but there is power in nudging a stranger who is trained to objectify you (literally) towards seeing you as human.
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One thing quickly to notice if you examine the mechanisms of mass violence, is it always relies on portraying the target as less-than-human.
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Taking out the person and replacing it with, say, "the enemy", "krauts", "ruskies", "primitives", "natives", "slaves", "freeloaders" etc.
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This particular word magic loses a lot of its power if you manage to somehow bypass it to reveal the human underneath.
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Fighting tribal/trained responses that see you as The Enemy by responding with similar tactics only works if you have the power to fight...
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... if you are too much weaker, you only succeed in deepening their commitment to seeing you as The Enemy, for no gain.
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If your enemy has a conscience (you'd be surprised), finding ways to subvert their training and be visibly Human is far more powerful.
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There are a lot of circumstances where this doesn't work (it is generally inefficient against nazis and other hardcore ideologues), but eh -
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- it is certainly more effective than bemoaning the lack of education and refinement on the part of an opponent that is more powerful.
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Calling Trump voters deplorable, shouting NOT YOUR WOMEN or otherwise entrenching antagonism towards people who could be won over... loses -
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- any gain you could have made, and keeps you firmly in the weaker position, as college-activism-as-leftism roundly demonstrates.
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With what we know alt human deciding making, it amazes me that people choose to antagonise rather than empathise.
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