Some of those have been of strangers, but recently Iāve had the experience of seeing people I know and love targeted and taken down. In most cases, very complex realities get watered down into one flawed aspect of these peopleās personalities, or one mistake or misunderstanding. A mob mentality takes over then, an evisceration of character that is punitive, traumatizing, and isolating.
This has happened with increasing frequency over the past year, such that Iām wondering if those of us with an intention of transforming the world have a common understanding of the kind of justice we want to practice, now and in the future.
What we do now is find out someone or some group has done (or may have done) something out of alignment with our values. Some of the transgressions are smallāsaying something fucked-up, being disrespectful in a group process. Some are massiveāfalse identity, sexual assault.
We then tear that person or group to shreds in a way that affirms our values. We create memes, reducing someone to the laughingstock of the Internet that day. We write think-pieces on how we are not like that person, and obviously wouldnāt make the same mistakes they have made. We deconstruct them as thinkers, activists, groups, bodies, partners, parents childrenāfinding all of the contradictions and limitations and shining bright light on them. When we are satisfied that that person or group is destroyed, we move on. Or sometimes we just move on because the next scandal has arrived, the smell of fresh meat overwhelming our interest in finishing the takedown.
I say āweā and āourā intentionally here. Iām not above this behavior. I laugh at the memes, I like the apoplectic statuses, the rants with no named target that very clearly critique a specific person. Iāve been examining thisāwhy I can get caught up in a mob on the Internet in a way I rarely do in life (the positive mob mentality I participate in for, say, BeyoncĆ© or Bjƶrk feels quite different, though I know there is something in there about belongingā¦eh, next book). I have noticed that at the most basic level, I feel better about myself because Iām on the right side of historyā¦or at least the news cycle.
But lately, as the attacks grow faster and more vicious, I wonder: is this what weāre here for? To cultivate a fear-based adherence to reductive common values? What can this lead to in an imperfect world full of sloppy, complex humans? Is it possible we will call each other out until thereās no one left beside us?