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Hey Buso, I'm reading a book that I think you'd be interested in. It's Cynical Theory by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay.
Oftentimes on this forum, people pose questions such as "people are complaining to a business or to my business or about an industry or about my industry for some reasons regarding race, gender, or some other social issue, how should I respond or what's your view?" The reply ranges from "do not resist the complainer and let them cry themselves to sleep" to "incite more anger so that you can gain publicity." I don't agree with this. Neither would Pluckrose and Lindsay and let me explain and it'll be in your best interest to read this post and understand this argument too.
Pluckrose and Lindsay's argument is much different than these replies and they're critical of SocJus too. Learning about Pluckrose and Lindsay's argument would change your view about SocJus, how to evaluate their complaints, and what to do with regards to their complaints. The hope is that your business operation improves because of it.
The gist of their argument is that the social justice movement is a system of secular intolerance, with it's own meaning for everyday words, which erodes democracy, as it creates two groups, who speak the same language, but have totally different meanings for the same words. This difference in meaning prevents the two groups from reaching a compromise, solution, or resolution. For the social justice side, power is a zero-sum game and they won't stop until their goals are achieved. For the other side, because of the rhetoric of social justice, they're also in a position of a zero-sum game and must also not stop until their goals are achieved. This, therefore, undermines democracy, as the two sides do not have a common language to build a resolution with.
How does this have to do with business? The social justice movement does act against businesses and individuals whom it views as against its cause. This is called "cancel culture" or "cancelling" a person or group or company. Cancelling is a form of shunning, ignoring, rejection, and neglect. To go against SocJus is to risk being shamed, shunned, and boycotted. To go with it is to lose individuality, if you don't really believe in it.
What is a business owner to do? First, we must examine how SocJus works before we can act. SocJus is about perceived societal injustices. It separates the world into two groups, an identity group with power and an identity group without power. The one with power is deemed to be oppressing the one without power and is therefore viewed as bad. The one without power is deemed to be oppressed and, therefore, being freed from the oppression would be viewed as good.
SocJus argues that language is shaped by those in power and what's deemed as knowledge by that group is shaped by those in power, to reinforce their social hierarchy and power structure of that group. Therefore, SocJus argues that the oppressed group should have their own language, which reinforces a different power structure, one of their own creation. This is the problem that Pluckrose and Linsay talked about, as it ruins a common language between the oppressed group and the power group.
Therefore, what should a business owner do when facing someone from SocJus? The answer is simple. Calm down and listen to the complainer. Acknowledge their presence, acknowledge their complaint, and make a good faith effort to take their perspective into consideration.
By adding their complaint into your knowledge, where "your" is either you personally or on behalf of the company that you're acting for, it recognizes the complaint within the perceived dominant group's sphere of knowledge, which would prevent the need for the opposed group from acting against or a perceived member of the dominant group. Within the SocJus circle, remaining silent is viewed as accepting the power group's social structure and, therefore, opposing the oppressed group; however, acknowledging the complaint does not mean that you're a member of SocJus. It just means that you stand by them and have a similar interest and concern for the social inequality that they're advocating for. The stance says that you truly do hope that there would be a fairer society one day, one where people are in harmony with each other, where people live happy lives. Doing so makes it so that you recognize that there is social injustice today, that society is not fair for everyone, and that there are oppressed groups. Not doing so means that you're rejecting the idea of the existence of oppressed groups and in doing so, are oppressing the oppressed group.
However, the Social Justice Movement is not all social justice movements. It is only one way towards a fairer society. You don't have to join their cause to be for their cause. You can simply state that you're with them and have a different route to that aim. The SocJus member might question this, but if you share your personal experience of how you came to this conclusion and how you're well intended, they'll listen as personal experience is a form of knowledge in SocJus.
So, there you go. If you're ever in the situation where you have thousands of angry protesters demonstrating against your business online and offline, you've gone too far and need to turn back! Taking heed of this advice now would prevent that from happening. It starts with listening to SocJus when they're just one or two individuals, acknowledging their complaint, and sharing your story with them, if it is called for. SocJus is about personal narratives and allowing oppressed groups to be freed of their oppression, from whatever system that they happened to be oppressed by. Doing this will also allow society to function, as the mechanisms of SocJus actually hinders democracy.
Oftentimes on this forum, people pose questions such as "people are complaining to a business or to my business or about an industry or about my industry for some reasons regarding race, gender, or some other social issue, how should I respond or what's your view?" The reply ranges from "do not resist the complainer and let them cry themselves to sleep" to "incite more anger so that you can gain publicity." I don't agree with this. Neither would Pluckrose and Lindsay and let me explain and it'll be in your best interest to read this post and understand this argument too.
Pluckrose and Lindsay's argument is much different than these replies and they're critical of SocJus too. Learning about Pluckrose and Lindsay's argument would change your view about SocJus, how to evaluate their complaints, and what to do with regards to their complaints. The hope is that your business operation improves because of it.
The gist of their argument is that the social justice movement is a system of secular intolerance, with it's own meaning for everyday words, which erodes democracy, as it creates two groups, who speak the same language, but have totally different meanings for the same words. This difference in meaning prevents the two groups from reaching a compromise, solution, or resolution. For the social justice side, power is a zero-sum game and they won't stop until their goals are achieved. For the other side, because of the rhetoric of social justice, they're also in a position of a zero-sum game and must also not stop until their goals are achieved. This, therefore, undermines democracy, as the two sides do not have a common language to build a resolution with.
How does this have to do with business? The social justice movement does act against businesses and individuals whom it views as against its cause. This is called "cancel culture" or "cancelling" a person or group or company. Cancelling is a form of shunning, ignoring, rejection, and neglect. To go against SocJus is to risk being shamed, shunned, and boycotted. To go with it is to lose individuality, if you don't really believe in it.
What is a business owner to do? First, we must examine how SocJus works before we can act. SocJus is about perceived societal injustices. It separates the world into two groups, an identity group with power and an identity group without power. The one with power is deemed to be oppressing the one without power and is therefore viewed as bad. The one without power is deemed to be oppressed and, therefore, being freed from the oppression would be viewed as good.
SocJus argues that language is shaped by those in power and what's deemed as knowledge by that group is shaped by those in power, to reinforce their social hierarchy and power structure of that group. Therefore, SocJus argues that the oppressed group should have their own language, which reinforces a different power structure, one of their own creation. This is the problem that Pluckrose and Linsay talked about, as it ruins a common language between the oppressed group and the power group.
Therefore, what should a business owner do when facing someone from SocJus? The answer is simple. Calm down and listen to the complainer. Acknowledge their presence, acknowledge their complaint, and make a good faith effort to take their perspective into consideration.
By adding their complaint into your knowledge, where "your" is either you personally or on behalf of the company that you're acting for, it recognizes the complaint within the perceived dominant group's sphere of knowledge, which would prevent the need for the opposed group from acting against or a perceived member of the dominant group. Within the SocJus circle, remaining silent is viewed as accepting the power group's social structure and, therefore, opposing the oppressed group; however, acknowledging the complaint does not mean that you're a member of SocJus. It just means that you stand by them and have a similar interest and concern for the social inequality that they're advocating for. The stance says that you truly do hope that there would be a fairer society one day, one where people are in harmony with each other, where people live happy lives. Doing so makes it so that you recognize that there is social injustice today, that society is not fair for everyone, and that there are oppressed groups. Not doing so means that you're rejecting the idea of the existence of oppressed groups and in doing so, are oppressing the oppressed group.
However, the Social Justice Movement is not all social justice movements. It is only one way towards a fairer society. You don't have to join their cause to be for their cause. You can simply state that you're with them and have a different route to that aim. The SocJus member might question this, but if you share your personal experience of how you came to this conclusion and how you're well intended, they'll listen as personal experience is a form of knowledge in SocJus.
So, there you go. If you're ever in the situation where you have thousands of angry protesters demonstrating against your business online and offline, you've gone too far and need to turn back! Taking heed of this advice now would prevent that from happening. It starts with listening to SocJus when they're just one or two individuals, acknowledging their complaint, and sharing your story with them, if it is called for. SocJus is about personal narratives and allowing oppressed groups to be freed of their oppression, from whatever system that they happened to be oppressed by. Doing this will also allow society to function, as the mechanisms of SocJus actually hinders democracy.
