RE: Being Mean to Statists
When we attempt to shame or belittle others, its always an act of violence.
Are you sure about that? This sounds like a tactic one could use to avoid all forms of confrontation. If one bends their language so far that nothing substantive can be said because some people will be shamed as a result, is that not also violence by omission (because you failed to correct a bad behavior that bit them badly in the future)? I think one must understand that shame is a useful emotion if it is truly on correct moral ground. That is far more important, than protecting the egos of statist psychopaths.
I can also think of one biblical quote that disagrees...
"For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child." - Hebrews 12:6
Hey thanks for your reply.
Its got nothing to do with ''protecting the egos of statist psychopaths'' it is about actually changing the perspectives of people we disagree with.
Quotations from a book that is all about creating blind obedience to the self appointed authority of the church and state cuts no ice in me at all. In reality religion is one of most disturbing aspects to the control grid that we face.
Just look at Adam and Eve's reaction after eating the fruit. They experienced shame, and changed not one bit.
I was also schooled in the view that the light bringer Satan, was the figure who gave certain people the knowladge to manipulate, govern and enslave others. Inducing shame in others is a good way of doing that.
Yes, that one is kind of obvious and I hesitated about including it for that reason. But I remembered it because I studied the bible long before I became a voluntarist.
However, that quote still tells you that even those who promote such things know better. Larken already talked about changing the perspectives of those we disagree with in that video, but I would say that there are times when you just have to be blunt with the truth.
Yes, but notice that I said that one has to be on correct moral ground to use shame righteously. That makes all the difference in the world. The reason shame works negatively to "govern, manipulate and enslave others" is because they are already slaves to ego. It doesn't always work in one direction only.
My point is that shame will always lock people into their pattern.
Its just making ourselves feel better, feel more dominant. And I can be as guilty as the next person, and i feel a shame, i will be locked into that pattern and hate myself for it : )
And yea I have spent way too many hours reading the bible myself.
If that's how one feels after speaking truth, then it's not coming from a righteous place. I've seen shame come from a different place than that and work positively on occasion. I remember Stephan Molyneux has said something similar saying that using moral arguments is far more effective than using logical arguments.
Again, please don't take the fact that he is now a Trump statist as reason to not see the truth. This would be a form of argument known as "ad-hominem". The truth will often times show up where you least expect it.
I have not even bothered to look at any of Stephan Molyneux's stuff for years because he appears to be driven by ego. Some of stuff is ok and valid but his strategies are crap.
Anyway, we could apply your argument to a situation where I am in contact with person who is emotionally and physically violent to women and children. So I am in a violent situation where I deliver a blow to that person they fall to the ground so i drag the to a doorway and start to slam the door on this persons head between the door and frame around the door way. I may feel dominant and even 'righteous' but I m just a thug at that point. If I employ shaming, it will lock that person into the pattern they are in and I am still a thug.
Of course, but this isn't quite correct:
It's not about whether one feels righteous but whether one really is. Someone doing all the things you say above obviously isn't.
You have to make sure that you are on solid ethical ground and shame ideally isn't caused by accusation (as in public shaming), but by the realization of wrongdoing which can happen in multiple ways when the truth is exposed.
Yes your last paragraph is where all the juice is, its not shame you are really talking about here, its understanding. With new understandings comes the opportunity to make new choices.
The things that concerns me the most are the military and police. We will never win them over by trying to shame them or abuse them in some other way. It never works
However people are makes perfect sense in the context of their own personal experiences.