• 10 Posts
  • 1.81K Comments
Joined 2 years ago
cake
Cake day: June 17th, 2023

help-circle




  • Unpicking your personal maladaptations helps a lot. This is how therapy and medication are so useful, particularly in tandem.

    Two of my big maladaptations were using stress to drive me through, and berating myself when I didn’t do as well as I knew I could. It turns out that this is quite corrosive to your wellbeing, and that wellbeing is the foundation supporting your self driven. I was consuming myself for fuel.

    I’ve gotten a lot better at redirecting my irritation. I don’t get mad at myself for not doing the washing up. I get mad at the washing up for existing. It’s a subtle, but powerful difference. I still do both, far too much, but I’m getting better at it.

    Lastly, remember to bask in your glories. We tend to forget to enjoy the results of our effort. We just move on, and so don’t get the dopamine hit. Set aside at least 10% of the time taken to bask and feel proud of yourself. To show off and enjoy. Suddenly your brain has a positive reason to power through, rather than just avoiding a negative.





  • Think of it as a medieval army forming up. An army didn’t generally march straight into battle. They took the time to organise and prepare. It also acted as an opportunity to intimidate your opponents into backing down.

    The protests are the army forming up. Connections are made, wills reinforced and tied to a more focused cause. In many cases, the powers that be recognise the danger this represents and back down. When they don’t, that’s when things escalate.

    Protests like this are a necessary part of reaching the goal. They are a link in the chain. People don’t want violence. It will be accepted, if required, but not joyously.

    Just remember, in a blunt head to head fight, the enemy would be the US military. You would need to either defeat them directly, or break their will. What would it take to cause large scale defections within the US army? Are people willing to pay that price?

    Failing that, the slower, less drastic methods must be employed. It’s a war of psychological attrition, not a fist fight.



  • Unfortunately, that’s not the type that counts. It’s the government backed/condoned that matters. The sort that even fox news would struggle to spin. The sort that should cause heads to roll within government organisations.

    A few " " “lone wolves” " " can be disavowed, no matter how heinous the act they do. Unless you can tie it unambiguously to the powers that rule.

    It’s a fucking shitty situation, but that’s the rules we are stuck working within. To change them, we have to win. To win, we need to play (mostly) within the rules.

    Fyi, the same could also apply to left wing “lone wolves”. Without the media, it’s harder to spin, but doable. If they happen to meet up and organise at a march, that’s nothing to do with the march. 😇


  • Well behaved as in a wild west high noon standoff. The first to flinch, and resort to serious violence will lose a LOT of public support.

    Violence now doesn’t gain much. It needs the over and support of a larger movement. It also needs to be focused, to not simply dissipate the anger.

    Right now, America is getting back into the habit/flow of protesting. That alone should make an intelligent government nervous. Don’t dip the stew over their heads, until it’s good and boiling.

    (And to clarify. I’m not saying to follow all rules, like good little drones. Bad behaviour just needs to be conscious and controlled)




  • Often it’s the shadow of violence that is most effective. A peaceful protest, that is safe enough for families etc is perfect for snowballing. Focused action and the threat of counter violence keeps the government in check.

    Too violent, and the support collapsed, letting the police simply overwhelm it. Too passive, and the whole thing can be ignored.

    The Irish troubles are a good example. Protests and marches showed popular support. While the Sinn Fein party provided a political face. The IRA then made sure that proper attention was paid. All 3 were required to achieve their goals.


  • cynar@lemmy.worldtoHolup@lemmy.worldContacts
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    6 days ago

    Fyi, if you’re bad with names, I would HIGHLY recommend adding photos to your contacts, as you add them.

    It helps hugely with putting names to faces. It also helps differentiate between people. E.g. When you have 5 marks in your phone, but can’t remember the surname. Lastly, it helps when you are describing someone to someone else. Being able to easily pull up a photo of them simplifies things.



  • It’s not an either/or situation.

    In the (supposed) words of Al Capone

    You get a lot more from a kind word and a gun than from a kind word alone.

    Critically however, a gun without the kind word is also far less effective. They are like the tip and shaft of a spear. The shaft has the range, but lacks the punch. The tip has the punch, but lacks the range. Together they are far more than the sum of their parts.

    In terms of protest. A peaceful protest is like the kind word. It’s a polite but forceful delivery of a message. Radical action and violence are the gun. They work best as an implied threat. The target much know that you are willing to escalate, if required.

    Too much violence, and you have a riot. These can be put down with force, and have little to no public backlash. (This is what trump currently wants to happen).

    Too little violence, and the protest can be safely ignored.

    The perfect balance has enough to keep the government on their toes, but not so much as to drive away supporters, and burn off the anger powering things.

    Currently, Trump and co are trying to goad people into over reacting and justifying an aggressive crackdown. In light of that, a message of don’t take the bait, err towards passive over violence isn’t so bad.


  • The seller thinks the value is net negative to them. The buyer thinks it still has a potential positive value. Both would agree to just hand it over.

    Unfortunately, UK law does not allow that. Consideration must go both ways. The simplest way is to sell for the minimum reasonable amount. $1 is traditional in the US. In the UK it is £1. The other commenters link has a good writeup on the practice.