Social Media Outrage/Cancel Culture

[falafel]

I have no idea which side of all this I'm supposed to be on.

First, a dipshit N.Y. guy is caught on camera berating several Latina women for speaking Spanish to each other in a N.Y. restaurant (an employee speaking spanish to a customer). The same old "I pay your welfare, least you can do is speak English in my country" garbage. Then SJW twitter user "outs" this guy and calls for him to be identified.

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Within one day, he is identified as a N.Y. lawyer named Aaron Schlossburg and is tracked down to his office. He is followed by reporters asking him "questions" about what he meant while the racist tries to hide under an umbrella and a beanie.

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A group of people started a gofundme to pay for a Mariachi band and a taco truck outside his office for a Latin party.

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Now headline-grabbing NY lawmakers are asking for the guy to be disbarred over this.

Additionally, two elected officials have already filed a complaint against Schlossberg with the state's Office of Court Administration. Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. want the state to take action against the hate spewing lawyer. That could include anything from sanction and censure to law license suspension to removal from the state bar.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.4003514

Now there are multiple videos that show Schlossberg engaging in similar conduct over the years, yelling at people and calling one dude (an American) an "ugly f*cking foreigner!" and threatening to call the police after Schlossberg rammed the guy.

Man, I can't believe the energy exerted by all sides. I can't believe I even had the energy to make this post.

[CardiacCoug]

Yep I followed this saga of the asshole, racist NYC lawyer.

He’s a bad dude for sure but seems like being disbarred is a little much.

Definitely needs some anger management work — I do think there are a few people out there like this guy who feel emboldened and inspired by our racist President.

[Northwestcoug]

Disbarred, no. But I looooove the go fund me idea with the mariachi band. Public humiliation with a comedic bent is just what this guy needs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

https://arcdigital.media/outrage-is-...e-db777f41d208

Outrage Is Currently America’s Deepest Core Value. It Shouldn’t Be.

Americans have spent the last few years, both consciously and subconsciously, fixing moral outrage at the very center of society.
...
If observing how a culture behaves enables us to discern and interpret its values, it is inescapable that, in recent years, moral outrage has stealthily but authoritatively emerged as America’s newest and most central core value.

Today, bubbles have taken over mass media in the form of Twitter, Facebook, and cable news; our latent desires to constantly feel aligned with those moral voices with whom we agree dictates how we consume information. Anyone who looks will find an outlet for outrage, the ever-present incentive to indulge in it; they’ll find that the real product of cable news isn’t coverage of the day’s issues that aims to accurately capture what really took place, but a narrative that exports outrage as a means of harnessing political action and, most importantly, high ratings.

Interesting discussion on Keziah Daum - the girl from SLC that had the audacity to wear a Chinese dress to prom.

The reason for this disproportionate response? Because this type of moral outrage is reactionary, defensive, and socially instrumental; it is not generated in order to right any meaningful wrong, but either to solidify the status of the disapprovers within their in-groups, or to satisfy their sense of moral injury.

Twitter user Jeremy Lam identified a moment to express his moral outrage, have it validated by others, and enjoy the dopamine spike that accompanied the entire spectacle, all while contributing to the upkeep of outrage culture. He famously tweeted at Daum, “My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress,” and with that, the cultural outrage ritual was complete. His tweet went viral, as was likely his wish (if not his expectation), and thousands of others joined him in expressing their outrage and signaling their supposedly high and nuanced moral standards to one another. Obviously, 177,000 Twitter users can’t be wrong.

Great essay. Worth the read.

[frank ryan]

Interesting discussion on Keziah Daum - the girl from SLC that had the audacity to wear a Chinese dress to prom.



Great essay. Worth the read.

That was a weird incident, and a good example. I remember she got a lot of messages from actual Chinese people saying they were flattered that she chose to wear that pattern of dress.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That was a weird incident, and a good example. I remember she got a lot of messages from actual Chinese people saying they were flattered that she chose to wear that pattern of dress.

That is the funny/sad part. She had overwhelming support in China. They were flattered. I guess they need to learn about the satisfaction that comes from sanctimony and outrage.

[swampfrog]

https://arcdigital.media/outrage-is-...e-db777f41d208

Great essay. Worth the read.

Thanks for the link. It expresses well the current culture that many are caught up in. Eric Weinstein recently postulated about why protected class identities (which is where all of the outrage is) have become the new battleground instead of the typical working class. His premise was the working class actually expected a return on the promises (better jobs/pay) made that their oppressors would be subdued and forced to capitulate. The cost to court them was too high, so the backers behind crony capitalism began inquiring into where a cheaper voting support base could be found. Identity politics is where it's at, if you can cultivate a set of victim classes and keep them outraged, the will keep voting for you. This appears to lead to what the article alludes to.

they’ll find that the real product of cable news isn’t coverage of the day’s issues that aims to accurately capture what really took place, but a narrative that exports outrage as a means of harnessing political action and, most importantly, high ratings

Watching this from about 6 minutes in was helpful to me to understand how this culture of outrage is affecting real people.

[YOhio]

From Dave Barry's (he reminds me of our beloved PaloAltoCougar) 2018 Year in Review:

For their part, the Democrats appeal to voters with a three-pronged message:

PRONG ONE: The Democrats are the party of fairness, diversity and inclusion.

PRONG TWO: Anybody who disagrees with the Democrats about anything is Hitler.

PRONG THREE: But more racist.

[frank ryan]

Let's use this if people want to continue talking about catholic high kids and the related fallout.

[Northwestcoug]

Berating a little girl about abortion at the Women's march. Very classy, but it's OK because, you know, lib owning:

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This qualifies for righteous social media outrage, not the fake kind.

[swampfrog]

Let's use this if people want to continue talking about catholic high kids and the related fallout.

Joe Rogan hosting Bari Weiss on this topic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYIQkSnQr4

[frank ryan]

Joe Rogan hosting Bari Weiss on this topic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYIQkSnQr4

I'm not really a Rogan fan. I've listened to him enough to know that. He's usually high. I appreciate that he likes his guests talk though.

[swampfrog]

I'm not really a Rogan fan. I've listened to him enough to know that. He's usually high. I appreciate that he likes his guests talk though.

I'm not even sure what a Rogan fan would look like. He has some interesting guests and asks them leading questions, being high may or may not facilitate the discussion. His conversation with Weiss (a NY Times reporter) is some part interesting, some part boring--but they are directly discussing the situation for the first 30 minutes or so.

[Commando]

I'm not really a Rogan fan. I've listened to him enough to know that. He's usually high. I appreciate that he likes his guests talk though.

I definitely am. I don't agree with probably 50% of his takes- especially about religion and he uses the phrase SWJ, which annoys me, but I love how he treats his guests and the interviews he gets from them. I'm a big Smashing Pumpkins fan and he did a fantastic interview with Billy Corgan, (who I'd say about 90% of his interviews are horrible b/c of an unprepared interviewer who wants to ask cliche questions)-- probably the best since Howard Stern, who has a relationship with BC. He did another interview with Jake the Snake Roberts- the old WWF wrestling guy; absolutely fascinating podcast where I never thought that would be something I'd sit through. He does do more than his fair share of MMA podcasts of course and those are skippers for me, but his podcasts go as long as 3 hours and can be facemeltingly good. Kanye recently tweeted to complain about nobody taking mental health questions and discussion seriously. Joe Rogan replied "we can talk about it for as long as you want" and they are now set to do a 'cast. I'll be listening.

[Pelado]

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/arti...mpression=true

The story is a Rorschach test—tell me how you first reacted, and I can probably tell where you live, who you voted for in 2016, and your general take on a list of other issues—but it shouldn’t be. Take away the video and tell me why millions of people care so much about an obnoxious group of high-school students protesting legalized abortion and a small circle of American Indians protesting centuries of mistreatment who were briefly locked in a tense standoff. Take away Twitter and Facebook and explain why total strangers care so much about people they don’t know in a confrontation they didn’t witness. Why are we all so primed for outrage, and what if the thousands of words and countless hours spent on this had been directed toward something consequential?
If the Covington Catholic incident was a test, it’s one I failed—along with most others. Will we learn from it, or will we continue to roam social media, looking for the next outrage fix? Next time a story like this surfaces, I’ll try to sit it out until more facts have emerged. I’ll remind myself that the truth is sometimes unknowable, and I’ll stick to discussing the news with people I know in real life, instead of with strangers whom I’ve never met. I’ll get my news from legitimate journalists instead of from an online mob for whom Saturday-morning indignation is just another form of entertainment. And above all, I’ll try to take the advice I give my kids daily: Put the phone down and go do something productive.