#folks

episode 7 really was something holy shit guys, i still am not recovered, but finishing this really helped with that

so they might have launched me into a four month art block…

BUT IM BACK, might not post tadc content for the time being, but we are so back

You call yourself a pacifist. Do you believe that violence is inherently wrong in every situation, or is there nuance to be taken?

The former seems hard to defend while the latter (“it depends”) is probably everyone’s take.

This is a really good question!

I don't condemn violence as wrong unequivocally, because, ideally, I want to reach a point where I can look past labels like "right" and "wrong" and see actions, the reasons behind them, and the damage or repair or preservation or creation that they do. I am not at that point. I use shorthands like "right" and "wrong" internally a lot. But I think those words eventually have a point where they're not helpful anymore.

Like: The world is so complex and chaotic! And every philosophy runs into problems with defining right and wrong, because no person can foresee all the results of their actions, and therefore it seems only fair to judge someone on intentions -- but intentions don't account for the damage actually done. This argument goes back and forth. I think it would be perhaps a kinder world if, instead of being preoccupied with labeling actions "right" or "wrong," we could think critically about responsibility and prevention.

Though, like I said and as pretty much all of you can attest, I call things wrong and right a fair amount. When pushing back against fascism, which normalizes corruption and dismisses the idea of virtuous people, I think there is some genuine use in calling things wrong? Fuck, y'all, I don't know. This is something I chew over sometimes.

Second, I also want to note that I am aware I am an ape. There have been a couple times in my life that I've had the fight/flight/freeze action take over, and in those instances, I have honestly had very limited conscious control over myself. The instinctive drive to survive is extremely strong. Honestly, I don't know what I would do in every life-or-death situation! So I don't rule out the possibility that I could engage in violence.

Finally, with all of that, why do I call myself a pacifist?

I think, at heart, that violence causes more problems than it solves. Hurting someone else can feel really good in the moment, when you're convinced that they deserve it, but when you get down to it, hurting people doesn't make them better. Humiliating people doesn't make them learn. Our media is full of people solving problems with violence, but the real world doesn't work that way. People just get hurt, and get hardened, and get mean, and stop learning. They end up in cycles of hurting themselves and other people.

Look, I am prepared to admit that there might be situations where violence solves more problems than it causes. But even in those situations, I'm willing to bet that there is (or was, before a violent path was taken) a non-violent path that would solve the same problems and cause fewer.

But in terms of judging other people who use violence? I'm not interested in Monday morning quarterbacking. There are probably tons of reasons they did that. People without support and kindness, exposed to violence or neglect, make violent choices, and I'm not interested in condemning it.

Overall... people are complicated, the world is complicated, and, often, right and wrong are illusions of control and context. But I don't want to be a person who hurts other people, and pursuing that is definitely the right choice for me (at this time in my life and in this context; again, I can't know how the rest of my life will go; ten years ago, I would not have anticipated this).