Obey! (part 3)

October 31st, 2023

Crank, conspiracy theorist, anti-semite, xenophobe, left-wing commie, right-wing nazi, bleeding heart, trans-phobic…

If you disobey the current narrative, if you obey the natural curiosity of your mind, if you disobey the implied consensus on any given subject, if you obey being the to yourself — then you can expect the barrage of epithets like those above to be directed at you. And those words stick — to a person, or a name, or your origins, or background. Once they stick, they will follow the said person forever — there is no place for redemption or personal growth. One strike and you're out, of course — that doesn't apply to the very rich and very powerful. If you are one of those, you can say anything you want without consequences. For the rest of us, one step away from what is currently accepted in style and what the currently accepted portrayal of the issues is will mean ostracism and the attack of the (virtual) angry mob.

Losing one’s face, and especially losing one’s face and a good name on social media, is a terrible fate. No one wants it, so the preferable choice is to stay quiet or rehash the same points as are allowed by public opinion. That means that people have lost their capacity to disobey and to disagree. They are not even aware of the fact that, in their words and thoughts, they obey something that was imposed on them. I wonder what my capacity to doubt, to criticize, and to disobey is. I believe that disobeying is my right, yet I am rarely bothered to exercise it. Of course, in my case, it comes from paralyzing fear and anxiety. Somehow, that realization makes it even worse.