2020 is no different. It needs a new playbook. But it also needs the same old sincerity of purpose alloyed with deep self-awareness, critical self-scrutiny, systematic doubt, compassion even for the adversary/oppressor. The privilege of bending the arc is hard-earned.
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Changing history does not come cheap. You have to destroy and recreate yourself. The personal histories of past social justice leaders makes that much clear. They were *far* harder on themselves in pursuit of inner growth than they were on those they fought or the world at large.
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I personally am not a huge fan of Gandhi. I think he got lots of things wrong intellectually, philosophically, and morally. But damn the man made sacrifices and lived his “experiments with truth” in extreme ways. I couldn’t put myself through a fraction of it. Gotta respect it.
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That phrase is important. If your social justice work isn’t a set of real, rigorous “experiments with truth” (Gandhi’s autobiography title, in case you don’t recognize the phrase, one of the few books in the literature I’ve read), you are not bending the arc. You’re grifting.
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Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Venkatesh Rao
Gandhi stub. I don’t want to overstate his role in the global story here. He’s just a key reference point for me personally for obvious reasons. To be Indian you have to sort out how you feel about Gandhi, just as you have to do that re MLK if you’re black https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1295040796593283072?s=21 …https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1295040796593283072 …
Venkatesh Rao added,
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While we’re on the subject, most stuff expected of white people like the white fragility book, is bullshit. Probably the biggest thing for white people to do is realize that these battles that are live ones for many groups, are deep in the past of European history for you.
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To the extent you can unconsciously enjoy many freedoms others must consciously craft, that ability rests on battles fought hundreds of years ago for you. There are basically no groups currently living that did not at some point in the past have to fight for justice.
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Social justice is not a minority story. It’s a universal story. All humans must at some point fight for justice because all humans are capable of being monstrously unjust to others. It’s the same fight. The fight against monsters includes the fight against your inner monster.
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This is the meaning of “nobody is free until everybody is free.” The hard part is recognizing that this is not just something to preach at the currently privileged, oblivious of the poisons in their freedoms. It’s a call for the currently oppressed to face their inner monsters.
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I’m only slightly evil tho
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