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This weekly thread will focus on the phrase “The Cruelty Is The Point”, which may take some explanation.

Frequently on Lemmy (and elsewhere), I see the phrase in comment threads. In my experience, it has been referencing any policy that is contrary to a Liberal or Leftist belief that the thread discusses. I have found the phrase when discussing trans issues, housing, taxes, healthcare, abortion, and many more.

This does not mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere, it is simply where I see it since I spend much of my social media time on Lemmy. If your experience differs, please let us know!

Some Starters (and don’t feel you have to speak on all or any of them if you don’t care to):

  • Do you believe this? If so, why?
  • Is it true / false in some or all scenarios?
  • Is it with certain groups or regarding certain things?
  • Do you feel that speech like this is conducive to fixing societal issues?
  • Is what is considered “kind” always the best course of action?
  • Ace T'KenOPMEnglish
    1•17 days ago

    I’ll probably be using this as next weeks weekly thread, but I would argue that current immigration policies hurt the non-wealthy which would include any white men who aren’t wealthy. It’s one of the few policies where I don’t agree with any political party.

    Not to break into my Econ schooling, but also DEI initiatives, social assistance policies, scholarships, grant funding, many hiring initiatives, and almost everything I experienced in many predominantly non-white countries overseas could be framed as “hurting white men” in the same way the policies you listed above. It really depends on the lens you use to view things.

    Most of these (including things you mentioned) are put into place by the wealthy to maintain things as they are, and yes, some white men are wealthy. I’d remove race and sex from things though and draw the battle lines elsewhere, say “gross and abusive amassing of wealth.”

    • 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦MEnglish
      1•17 days ago

      It’s easy to remove race and sex from things when you’re not in the group that’s taking it in the neck.

      The Tulsa Race Massacre wasn’t done by people performing “gross and abusive amassing of wealth”. It was done by ordinary white folk who didn’t like black folk enriching themselves in Greenwood (the so-called “Black Wall Street”). Again the cruelty was the point. It was specifically used to destroy hope for black folk. You can pontificate all day about the “real point” but at the end of the day all these “real points” are directed at specific people and cause cruel suffering to those specific people.

      When does the pattern click for you?

      • Ace T'KenOPMEnglish
        1•14 days ago

        I wanted to make sure I came back to this when I had the time in real life. For what I state, you should know that I was an extremely meek child and hardly a troublemaker.

        • When I lived in Saudi Arabia as a white 14-year old male. I was held at assault rifle point multiple times and robbed.
        • When I lived in Thailand at 15, I was sexually assaulted by a trans-woman.
        • When I lived in Cincinnati at 16, I was beaten by a group of African American kids I went to school with.
        • When I lived near Edmonton at 17, I was beaten by a teacher for missing my homework.
        • When I lived in Medicine Hat at 10, I was punched in the face by a teacher for sitting in the wrong spot.

        None of these are made up or exaggerated experiences. Cruelty wasn’t the point of any of these. The point was (in order) robbery, sexual gratification, power, power, and power.

        Misassigning motive is harmful because it stops you from addressing the issues presented and assumes that people are “lost causes.” I don’t believe that to be the case. You can’t fix something where the point is cruelty, because people can’t get a fix of cruelty in other ways. You can try to repair other issues however.

        We want the same outcome, but I want to find out how to get there without pushing people out of the solution.

          • Ace T'KenOPMEnglish
            1•14 days ago

            I… Am kinda taken aback here and legit don’t know what you’re referring to. I could delete my posts if it would help?

            I’m sorry if I pushed buttons I should not have, but I genuinely do not grasp the friction here and would very much like to. I was enjoying the discussion and was happy that a thread actually took off for us for once.

            If this is a touchy subject that you would rather move on from, then we will.