Hey there! If you’ve arrived here from daintyeco’s post, go ahead and read my post below, and then after that, head over and read my reply to her post here.
It’s been a wonderful month exploring the indie web more and creating this website. This has become a very sacred self expression of mine and I have taken great care to divide my site so that the more sensitive topics are not out in the open, because I want to be able to meet and interact with people of all walks of life. However, over the last few years, there are some political and social topics that have become very important to me, and I’m not going to just stop talking about them because it might make some people feel uncomfortable. I have noticed during my short time here on the indie web, that many people will not even so much as associate with me if they come to find I have a different social or political belief than them. I could be having a great conversation with someone one minute, and then the next minute, I’m blocked because they stumbled across my Rabbit Hole page. Of all places where censorship is alive and well, my website will not be one of those places where I will ever censor myself. So I’m creating this post more out in the open, because I think it’s something that really needs to be addressed and talked about in a movement that supposedly defies what Big Tech has created.
It has been interesting to see in these spaces that cultivate individuality and self expression, and so-called “freedom” from big tech, that these spaces are not truly free, as many individuals have adopted and promote authoritarian practices when it comes to people they will promote in their webrings or even so much as associate with solely based on social/political differences. I have noticed that for many if not most, if you do not align with people’s echo chamber, you are not worthy to be a participant. Indie web aside, I’ve noticed this very heavily in the Fediverse as well, with the exception of a few servers. This censorship that I am seeing within the Fediverse in particular, where those who participate in Mastodon’s covenant snuff out voices they don’t approve of, it has actually drawn in the attention of big tech platforms such as Meta (Threads), Tumblr, and others. And no wonder; the censorship potential to completely block out any voice that does not align with the promoted narrative is probably more effective there than it is on centralized big tech platforms such as Facebook. If the Mastodon covenant can create a bunch of servers that actively participate in being a hive mind, it is far more effective with censorship than any centralized entity could be. That’s the power of the collective. The collective can be an incredible force to be reckoned with, for both good and evil, and my concern is that the last decade or so of social conditioning has created a collective that’s becoming completely authoritarian in its own right. That, to me, is more concerning than any government or big tech entity becoming authoritarian.
So let’s start with the heavy topics that usually bring about this authoritarian behavior in people. There is a very big difference between being hateful of something, and speaking an opinion about something that allows for open conversation and the exchange of thoughts. When it comes to sensitive topics of racism, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, etc., the removal of any opposing or meaningful conversation of these topics are automatically defined as “hate”. In reality, this is the removal of anyone who just doesn’t agree with you, because disagreeing in any form is just automatically deemed as being “hateful”, whether that’s actually the intention behind it or not. Having a different perspective on these sensitive topics is not inherently hateful. You can not preach tolerance by also being completely intolerant of anyone who you don’t agree with. That’s not tolerance at all, that’s complete intolerance. Being critical of certain ideologies is not inherently hateful, it can be extremely constructive, and it is extremely dangerous and authoritarian to completely block out anyone who has opinions on things that may challenge our own. It completely blocks any potential of bridging the gap and creating understanding and compromise between our fellow humans, and it creates further divide and hatred between people. That is what is being cultivated when we shut down or completely disassociate from people who hold social and political views we don’t agree with. I can promise you, unity and a peaceful world will never be achieved this way. Creating and surrounding yourself in your own echo chambers doesn’t fix how broken our society is. It makes it more broken. At some point, if we ever want to fix anything, we’re going to need to learn how to communicate with people who hold different views from our own.
What is the end goal folks are trying to achieve by completely disconnecting from any and all social/political opinions they do not like? Is it domination? Is it the illusion that somehow unity will be created by snuffing out the voices of others? Is it the eradication of those who don’t agree with them? Really think on that and ask yourself what the goal of that is and how it actually progresses us forward as a collective? Is it actually fixing the issue, or is it merely putting a band-aid on a deep and infected wound that continues to fester underneath? How are “safe space” echo chambers truly progressing society forward in a constructive and unifying way that creates healing and understanding between those who have opposing perspectives? Where does that leave any opportunity for open communication, creating peace and potential compromises that work for everyone?
I have had many discussions with people, very few are open to real communication and exchange for different perspectives. Although rare, I have encountered some folks who are willing to talk and exchange ideas in a fair and rational way, and those are the few glimmers of hope I get that maybe we as a society can still turn things around. Perhaps all hope isn’t lost and we can still find unity as a collective and heal all these divides that were cultivated. Real healing is painful and gets better with time, but you need to be able to address the wound in a healthy way. Ignoring it and leaving it to fester and overtake everything will leave us all worse off in the end. But another thing I have noticed is that a lot of people are addicted to the negativity, the drama, and the trauma, not actually wanting to heal but to allow the wounds to fester and the hatred to grow. I have a very difficult time understanding that mentality. It seemed at one time, humanity as a collective really just wanted world peace, and now it seems like folks want the complete opposite and people just want to continue to hate each other and grow the divide further.
If you’re one of the few who would actually like to see world peace and collective healing achieved one day, I’d like to offer a challenge. Something I’d really like to challenge people with, is to step outside of the echo chamber. Yes, it will be uncomfortable sometimes, but discomfort is often required if we want to make change of any kind, because that is where real growth is achieved; outside of our comfort zone. I think people will be surprised to see there actually are quite a few rational people who are not controlled by a hive mind. You might not find them right away, but they do turn up. Try having a real conversation instead of a debate. In debates, there is a clear winner and a clear loser. In debates, if the goal is to achieve real connection and understanding, no one wins. If the goal is to bridge the gaps between us, we are not changing anyone’s mind by debating. I know this, I’ve experienced this the past few years. Debates do nothing to enter the heart space of other humans. Actual communication is where it’s at, being a willing participant in listening, hearing the other person, and exchanging ideas in a constructive and respectful way with who you’re speaking with. That is the way to enter the heart of others. Because at the end of the day, we all just want to be heard. We all want to feel like our voice matters, and often times solutions do not have to be 100% against what the other person wants. Often times there are really reasonable compromises that can be made on both sides that can make everyone happy and feel included. But we will never even get close to achieving solutions like that if we never learn to communicate with each other, and that kind of communication requires free speech and being willing to talk to people who are outside of your echo chamber.
I want my website to cultivate a space for people who are more open and willing to step outside of their comfort zone. I would love for this space to cultivate real human progress between people who come from all walks of life. So I’ll take this opportunity to promote my webring here. The webring I host is welcome to people of all paths, social and political views. I have very few rules that are mostly just common sense. I encourage anyone reading this to join it if you see the importance of free speech and perhaps would like to be part of the solution rather than a participant in further cultivating the continuation of humanity’s divide. We do not have to agree with everyone we’re in the webring with, but acknowledging that everyone deserves a voice is the first step, and perhaps we could even use this ring as a tool to challenge ourselves and communicate with others we might not normally communicate with outside of our echo chambers.