If you want to protect yourself from being harassed by instances with different norms and perhaps right-wing values. Software can give you shields.
If you want to stop people on those instances from harassing people, there are no software swords in a decentralized system. The way to make them stop is letting those who are willing to actually talk to them and show why the world is better without that behavior. Usually by being a kinder community than one built on harassment
why did so many SA Goons and KF types become trans furries? because we/they saw that these communities we hated on were actually happier than us. we realized it was a better way to be. and often that came after actually talking to someone who was trans or a furry or something who was willing to do that.
you don't have to care about changing minds but some of us do. let us do that. let us have spaces where we can talk to people we disagree with if we want to without casting suspicion
In college I befriended libertarians and shitty Anti-SJ philosophy students and now they're all anti-capitalists and/or trans.
that wasn't expressly my goal but when I graduated I got all these thank you letters from them for being that person who actually talked to them about their ideas and behaviors and why I thought they were harmful. for showing them a better world.
And I got a lot of flack from other SJ trans people for doing that. people were suspicious of me. was I a libertarian??
and yet once those former libertarians were SJ activists themselves they were often well respected and welcomed. Because changing someone's mind can bring and create some incredible useful talented wonderful people in our communities. And that requires being open to their perspectives and understanding them. Trying to change their minds one point at a time but not making their conversion or whatever the requirement for talking to them. Just being a person they talk to. Even a friend.
But maybe I mostly feel this way because I grew up in a cult founded by libertarians. even though I wasn't a libertarian, if you asked me five years ago what I thought about Betsy DeVos defunding public schools I'd have been ecstatic and very in favor. It took three years after leaving that place to really actually be in favor of public schools. If *everyone* pro-public schools never spoke to me, hid me from view, I'd have remained steadfast opposed to public schools.
Basically what I'm saying is it's nobody's responsibility or duty to reach across the aisle and you can block any instance you want.
but I would appreciate not being made to be afraid to talk to people on some of those instances. Block them but please don't block anyone who talks to them. You can ignore me but I'd just appreciate the good faith for those of us who do want to reach across the aisle
@shel As a died-in-the-wool libertarian, three cheers to that.