Post B5hMpGh88iwc7hHDGa by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
(DIR) More posts by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
(DIR) Post #B5gUk3MYstXlnpii5g by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T11:35:50Z
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Bullies like to say that "might makes right" but they don't *really* want to live by those words. The entire meta of being a bully is based on targeting the weakest people to show that you *might* not follow the same rules as everyone else if you don't get your way. Your transgression, your disregard for social order scares the mass of people into simply giving you what you want **without a fight.**As soon as people start fighting back? Bullies loose. They are outnumbered.
(DIR) Post #B5gVAjR15JsvocWcfQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T11:40:39Z
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Simply fighting back will send a bully into a fit of confusion and fear. This is why the redistricting fight was so effective. "But YOU aren't supposed to be like this. You always follow the rules and norms."Bullies count on us being more in love with our own moral standing than protecting the people we care about. That's a big mistake with me at least.
(DIR) Post #B5gW0aQ7qST8urpo8G by tshirtman@mas.to
2026-04-26T11:50:00Z
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@futurebird yeah, i think that's one thing trump clarified to me, he, and other bullies, looks for *exploitable weakness*, and often finds it because people are unwilling to fight, but the people who actually stand to him gain respect others never will.
(DIR) Post #B5gXiviA9BLHe1yo5I by RogerBW@discordian.social
2026-04-26T12:09:10Z
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@futurebird I've heard this a lot but it it not my experience.The bully gets the victim on their own and beats them up. The victim, who is the one with visible injuries, is blamed by authority for fighting, whether they did so or not.
(DIR) Post #B5gezAaZIes86C7PJw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T13:30:37Z
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@RogerBW I think you are right it's a bit more complex than that. And it always starts with what people think they can get away with. A target who can't fight back who has as few allies as possible.
(DIR) Post #B5graOqaRvVcU887tI by Paraendroid@chaos.social
2026-04-26T15:51:46Z
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@futurebirdIf I fight back, it is because of my moral standing. If I don't fight back, it's because I think it is against the rules or because I fear the consequences or I just don't want to get involved.
(DIR) Post #B5gruenUrBKXkGLOS0 by apontious@dice.camp
2026-04-26T15:55:25Z
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@futurebird The next day after I heard about the California redestricting effort, I got a placard by some earnest-sounding organization full of quotes from patsy Democrats — and maybe Schwarzenegger? — bemoaning the lack of principles of it all.They were all ready to thwart it with the usual dirty tricks.Glad it failed!
(DIR) Post #B5gwtLkkg2C4A5Fwpc by CJPaloma@mstdn.social
2026-04-26T16:51:11Z
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@futurebird sure, they rely heavily on intimidation factors: "be compliant, or else," but they often DO follow through (enough), so that real harm or starting from a very disadvantaged position is a very real part of it. I think all of us born into cultures that built on colonization, which NECESSARILY normalized authoritarian based assumptions/values (even while mouthing democracy based values as well) have a difficult time "getting" just how many authoritarian based notions we live with
(DIR) Post #B5h0a4MzU0HyYyCi6y by iaruffell@mastodon.scot
2026-04-26T17:32:33Z
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@futurebird But there is a danger in replacing the oligarchic/autocratic might-is-right theory with the majoritarian ("democratic" or "populist") might is right doctrine.They were having those discussions two and a half millenia ago, which is presumably one reason the far right are keen to censor ancient Greek texts.Not that they really cracked it, more a case of reflecting on their disasters so we shouldn't have to repeat them.
(DIR) Post #B5hLub1VsxI8fJmsAi by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
2026-04-26T21:31:35Z
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@futurebird I'll admit, I've long cheered on non-partisan redistricting laws to try and draw things as fair as possible, even if it meant that the red states fucked around with shit and got advantages. Because I like fairness. But now that SCOTUS has said the VRA is all but dead, and there's no relief from the courts to be sought, and they're just going to blatantly steal seats in the middle of the decade? Yeah fuck that shit.
(DIR) Post #B5hMcAxMABRoYschpA by CanuckistanBob@cosocial.ca
2026-04-26T21:39:26Z
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@futurebird Bullies also think you are scared of taking a punch and will chicken out. Because THEY are scared of taking a punch. And they might be right too. Best cure for that is actually taking a punch. Getting punched in the face isn't fun, but it might be a lot less bad than you fear. You might find it more energizing than painful.In my experience, bullies though, when they actually do get punched back, cry a lot.
(DIR) Post #B5hMpGh88iwc7hHDGa by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
2026-04-26T21:36:21Z
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@ireneista @futurebird The "they go low, we go high" doesn't work when your opponents don't have any shame and a majority of voters either cheer on the sucker punching or at least don't mind the fact that it's happening.The only winning move is to race to the bottom.
(DIR) Post #B5hMpIWZKxgVnWLo5A by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T21:41:46Z
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@JessTheUnstill @ireneista I think this is also playing a role in the "it's fake" response to this shooting. It's not so much that anyone wants to make up a elaborate theory about how it was staged, it's more a desire not to be jerked around emotionally again. These very grim events are just media games and exploited so quickly and cynically it makes me feel like a chump to sit here going "I agree political violence is wrong"It's fake. I'm not playing along. Have fun.
(DIR) Post #B5hMyIl3pypZ83QG8m by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T21:43:29Z
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@JessTheUnstill @ireneista I cannot take this seriously. I do not have the energy to try and sort out any real harm from the fake drama. And I don't trust anything the white-house says since they lie so much.
(DIR) Post #B5hNBaRjNsyVkiiSPY by dresstokilt@mastodon.social
2026-04-26T21:45:50Z
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@futurebird it only took 16 years of operating norms being openly and wantonly violated for the Dems to buy a clue.
(DIR) Post #B5hNVlY1ooKnyWHePQ by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
2026-04-26T21:49:30Z
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@futurebird @ireneista That's not what I was trying to say and I apologize if that's how it came out. I, for one, don't think it was staged, but the response is straight out of their standard playbook they all have agreed upon in advance for any time "political violence" happens.
(DIR) Post #B5hNgmSelMrdze1VMO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-26T21:51:31Z
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@JessTheUnstill @ireneista I was just thinking of another example of "not playing nice" I didn't mean to tie that to your comment directly. But it's just that playbook that I'm sick of seeing people go along with as if any of the people calling for "respect" are even sad about anything. It feels fake.
(DIR) Post #B5hVTPb7G0M0x57HOq by huntingdon@mstdn.social
2026-04-26T23:17:31Z
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@futurebird The thing about bullies, as is true with football and baseball players, is that there's always someone smarter, faster, better coming up right behind them. Their hold on power is fleeting.
(DIR) Post #B5hYsEK2cEFt5Gehzk by Uair@autistics.life
2026-04-26T23:56:45Z
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@futurebird My line: By the time you hit a bully, he's already won.Violence is their game, not ours. The trick is to mock them early and often. Laughter is kryptonite to bullies.
(DIR) Post #B5hZQBvO2JslUfJkx6 by avirr@sfba.social
2026-04-27T00:02:56Z
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@futurebird The paradox of toleration needing defense
(DIR) Post #B5hbOCIHtMb5y6CqnI by allpoints@mstdn.social
2026-04-27T00:24:59Z
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@futurebird reminds me of a phrase I like. "Don't confuse kindness with weakness."
(DIR) Post #B5i06qcjhoYIgsawIy by Eh__tweet@mastodon.uno
2026-04-27T05:01:56Z
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@futurebird There's an old Italian saying that was used by Sandro Pertini, a leader of the Resistance Movement against the fascist regime during WWII and then President of the Italian Republic: "a brigante, brigante e mezzo".It translates "to brigand, brigand and a half".
(DIR) Post #B5j8IFozM64EogEfj6 by JoshuaACNewman@xeno.glyphpress.com
2026-04-27T18:08:21Z
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@futurebirdOne of the few effective lessons I learned in high school was that it's not even a matter of being outnumbered.Bullies pick on the people most unlikely to fight back because they're afraid.You hit back, as hard as you can, and they fuckin run. You put snow down their shirt one time, and they start bowing their head when you pass them in gym class.And then the other bullies sense not to mess with you.