Thank you for reading! So grateful to have Gillian's essay here to nail down exactly what's so pernicious and counter-productive about the "silence is violence" mindset. Happy you enjoyed it too!
Dec 19, 2023Liked by Salomé Sibonex, Joseph (Jake) Klein, Gillian Florence Sanger
I remember hearing the chant "Silence is violence" by ACT UP supporters in the late 1980s in response to President Ronald Reagan's ignoring the AIDS epidemic.
I’m still not sure if “silence is violence” holds up even in that context, but obviously it’s a hell of a lot closer. It goes to show the degree of concept creep we’re facing. Once a powerful political weapon is found, activists will devalue it by applying it in more and more situations where it is less and less relevant.
Interesting! It's been around longer than I realized. This is a great example of the concept creep phenomenon the author mentioned. There's a wide gap between a president ignoring an on-going epidemic and an individual not posting a black square on Instagram!
Dec 18, 2023·edited Dec 18, 2023Liked by Gillian Florence Sanger
If silence is violence, why is so much social media posting sound and fury, signifying nothing?
Great piece, and a timely reminder of how life actually works.
My good works are manifest in the real world and not for the inspection of the Twitterati. This is not only because it ain’t their business, but because integrity is what you do when no one is looking.
I do so very much few will ever see. This is good.
I appreciate anyone sharing the importance of nuance, particularly in this context. Thank you. Black and white thinking is too often missing significant parts of a discussion, and saying anyone is good or evil based on what you perceive their intent to be is both foolish and potentially harmful. I'll easily dismiss something said that I disagree with, but I cannot call it evil without in-depth understanding of motives, perceptions, and context.
Voicing a narrative that is being regurgitated is violence. It's peaceful to stay silent, if your words don't call for positive action then what's the point. It's all constant complaining lately...
Thanks for sharing, ignore the rants that have nothing to offer.
Much as I agree with virtually every word, I'm not convinced all of us are wired to detach ourselves voluntarily (speaking as one guilty of both yielding to temptation and stoically resisting, depending on situation). Algorithms, profit drive, and ancient human emotions and desires make for a very powerful concoction.
I think Haidt and Lukianoff have helped to fight back
Merry Christmas to you too Jethro! I'm glad this resonated with you. I'd love to know more about this idea of being about to 'detach ourselves voluntarily'.
Sure, I just think, looking around at myself and our society, it seems many of us aren't very good at following your suggestions, despite some of us fully agreeing that they make sense and would theoretically be fruitful for society.
I guess I wonder if hoping to inspire a sea change in societal behavior is best accomplished by trying to inspire people to change their individual behaviors through writing and other forms of media (such as your article).
We've seen how well this does and doesn’t work with the current environmental movement, and what I would view as a pretty lukewarm societal buy-in from most of the West that tends to be regional and political in its relative fervour.
I wonder if incentives towards a society that is more community focused and less digital might work better
Use social media however you want, but this idea is nothing new. It and you are a product of middle class white hippies from the 60s frustrated that they didn’t have a successful revolution, so they all turned to individualist answers. Since then introspection, meditation, and hugging fascists or whatever has supplanted solidarity and organizing for systemic change.
It's fascinating that you put introspection and meditation in the same category as "hugging fascists", and that you think, of all things, introspection and meditation (ancient Eastern practices that FAR predate "middle class white hippies") are to blame for society's problems.
What people villianize speaks volumes about what they idolize.
Yes, I’m sure we all would have rather been in China in the 60’s when they did kill individualism in favor of “solidarity and organizing for systemic change” during their oh so wonderful Cultural Revolution.
I agree with Salomé that I'm a bit confused about meditation/introspection being in the same pot as hugging fascists.
It's hard to explain the power and importance of things like introspection, mindfulness, and meditation if one has not explored these themselves. It's like trying to describe the taste of an apple; you can't know it unless you bite in.
This essay is spot on and articulates so well all the things I’ve been feeling since 2020.
I'm so glad this hit the mark for you! Right there with you in the feelings.
So happy it resonated with you! I know what you mean. It just feels good to see these truths fully articulated in one place.
Everything I haven’t been able to articulate myself. Thank you, Gillian.
I'm oh so glad this resonated with you, Michelle :)
Thank you for reading! So grateful to have Gillian's essay here to nail down exactly what's so pernicious and counter-productive about the "silence is violence" mindset. Happy you enjoyed it too!
I remember hearing the chant "Silence is violence" by ACT UP supporters in the late 1980s in response to President Ronald Reagan's ignoring the AIDS epidemic.
I’m still not sure if “silence is violence” holds up even in that context, but obviously it’s a hell of a lot closer. It goes to show the degree of concept creep we’re facing. Once a powerful political weapon is found, activists will devalue it by applying it in more and more situations where it is less and less relevant.
Interesting! It's been around longer than I realized. This is a great example of the concept creep phenomenon the author mentioned. There's a wide gap between a president ignoring an on-going epidemic and an individual not posting a black square on Instagram!
If silence is violence, why is so much social media posting sound and fury, signifying nothing?
Great piece, and a timely reminder of how life actually works.
My good works are manifest in the real world and not for the inspection of the Twitterati. This is not only because it ain’t their business, but because integrity is what you do when no one is looking.
I do so very much few will ever see. This is good.
I'm so glad this essay resonated with you. Thanks for reading!
This is so good and puts into words so much of what I’ve been feeling, thank you for writing it.
I love hearing that something I've written puts words to what others have been feeling. Thanks for reading it and for your comment!
I appreciate anyone sharing the importance of nuance, particularly in this context. Thank you. Black and white thinking is too often missing significant parts of a discussion, and saying anyone is good or evil based on what you perceive their intent to be is both foolish and potentially harmful. I'll easily dismiss something said that I disagree with, but I cannot call it evil without in-depth understanding of motives, perceptions, and context.
Completely agree - and yes, "potentially harmful" too. Thank you for reading and I'm glad it resonated.
Voicing a narrative that is being regurgitated is violence. It's peaceful to stay silent, if your words don't call for positive action then what's the point. It's all constant complaining lately...
Thanks for sharing, ignore the rants that have nothing to offer.
I'm very glad to hear this resonated with you. Thank you for reading it!
Wonderful article Gillian
Much as I agree with virtually every word, I'm not convinced all of us are wired to detach ourselves voluntarily (speaking as one guilty of both yielding to temptation and stoically resisting, depending on situation). Algorithms, profit drive, and ancient human emotions and desires make for a very powerful concoction.
I think Haidt and Lukianoff have helped to fight back
Merry Xmas
Merry Christmas to you too Jethro! I'm glad this resonated with you. I'd love to know more about this idea of being about to 'detach ourselves voluntarily'.
Sure, I just think, looking around at myself and our society, it seems many of us aren't very good at following your suggestions, despite some of us fully agreeing that they make sense and would theoretically be fruitful for society.
I guess I wonder if hoping to inspire a sea change in societal behavior is best accomplished by trying to inspire people to change their individual behaviors through writing and other forms of media (such as your article).
We've seen how well this does and doesn’t work with the current environmental movement, and what I would view as a pretty lukewarm societal buy-in from most of the West that tends to be regional and political in its relative fervour.
I wonder if incentives towards a society that is more community focused and less digital might work better
Use social media however you want, but this idea is nothing new. It and you are a product of middle class white hippies from the 60s frustrated that they didn’t have a successful revolution, so they all turned to individualist answers. Since then introspection, meditation, and hugging fascists or whatever has supplanted solidarity and organizing for systemic change.
It's fascinating that you put introspection and meditation in the same category as "hugging fascists", and that you think, of all things, introspection and meditation (ancient Eastern practices that FAR predate "middle class white hippies") are to blame for society's problems.
What people villianize speaks volumes about what they idolize.
Yes, I’m sure we all would have rather been in China in the 60’s when they did kill individualism in favor of “solidarity and organizing for systemic change” during their oh so wonderful Cultural Revolution.
I’ll keep my individualism, thank you.
I agree with Salomé that I'm a bit confused about meditation/introspection being in the same pot as hugging fascists.
It's hard to explain the power and importance of things like introspection, mindfulness, and meditation if one has not explored these themselves. It's like trying to describe the taste of an apple; you can't know it unless you bite in.