Can this community play a role in changing the culture?

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Theodiskaz
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04 Mar 2017, 2:07 pm

When I heard about the safety pin thing around the time of the American election, I decided it was mostly good for helping people of good intentions feel like they were doing something to help, but not so much good for people who need the safety. It made me sad.

I read an opinion piece ridiculing the wearing of a t-shirt which said in bold lettering "I Am A Safe Space". I thought I would gladly wear one if it did the trick of attracting people who need help, say on the street or at the store, to me. Then, if possible, I could drop everything, whip out my phone ready to record and see if I can understand the need and meet it. Heck, I could literally wrap my arms around a stranger who was frightened. I could take a punch meant for a victim and feel very well used indeed.

But I'm not sure apparel is a big part of the answer. Perhaps in addition to drawing attention to ourselves as a people/person who resist/s bullying, we should also be using our observational skills and start SEEING bullying. The hard part is to adopt the conviction that whenever you see bullying you will stop it if you can, and then live that conviction out in you daily lives online and in the analog world. Call a manager, call a teacher, call a cop, pm a moderator. Be insistant, persistent and consistent. These are some of our strengths, are they not?

There is power in numbers, even for misfits or non joiners.

Personally, I would like to know every person on the spectrum I chance to meet is on the spectrum, like me. I would like to be identifiable to them. What if we had a greeting? what kind of greeting would be most readily understood and not misinterpreted by the spectrum? Crazy idea, I know. My thoughts are these. I don't like people shooting their appendages out at me, expecting physical touch, so a secret handshake is probably out.

I like the bow I see practiced by some Asians. Cultural anthropology informs us of other practices. But if we are building a culture, why not fully intentionally, why not do the fieldwork to know what people on the spectrum are doing, and not doing, and what is working for whom under what circumstances? Perhaps the greeting is already being used.

What values do people on the spectrum, by being on the spectrum, gravitate towards, if any? Honesty? Freedom from bullying? Freedom from propaganda? Freedom from injustice? Freedom from inconsistency?

I am going to read that book about neurotribes.


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Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. Albert Einstein

S. Dana Johnson


Theodiskaz
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Joined: 13 Nov 2016
Age: 61
Gender: Male
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Location: The Iron Range

04 Mar 2017, 3:48 pm

One thing I forgot to mention, the reason why I am willing to appear quite as foolish as to seriously try to lay the groundwork for a conscientious cultural shift. It is because of the assault on truth itself shaping up in America. I believe that if the President succeeds in becoming the de facto arbiter of truth, then the world, due to America's outsize influence, will suffer. Therefore we should not tolerate the American presidents assault on truth, but rather resist it, and as a community.


_________________
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. Albert Einstein

S. Dana Johnson