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I'm not going to block you
a year ago
There's this artist I like. This artist has strong, openly expressed opinions on a certain political issue, on a site highly friendly to those views.
I do not agree with them on this issue, but I like their work.
And when I tried to fave their recent work, I found that I was blocked.
There's three ways this could've happened.
1. They saw my latest fave, and checked my gallery, and happened to see that I had opposing views.
2. They saw my latest fave, and manually searched to see if I had those opposing views. Which just seems...tiresome. I'll get back to this in a second.
3. Someone else did 1 or 2, then snitched on me, and the artist believed them (possibly after checking).
And frankly, I can't imagine being any of the people in 2 or 3. I rarely block anyone on any site, and even if it has a non-block Ignore function, I prefer to just ignore them the old-fashioned way. I wouldn't go out of my way to be Thought Police.
If anything, I want people I disagree with to keep seeing what I think. Maybe I can change their mind. And isn't that, y'know, the whole point of activism?
I simply don't want to live in an ideological hugbox.
There are very few people I will block for anything less than outright harassment. Maybe if I see evidence they're harassing others. And I block folks for that even if I'm on the same political "team" as me. Probably report them too.
I do not agree with them on this issue, but I like their work.
And when I tried to fave their recent work, I found that I was blocked.
There's three ways this could've happened.
1. They saw my latest fave, and checked my gallery, and happened to see that I had opposing views.
2. They saw my latest fave, and manually searched to see if I had those opposing views. Which just seems...tiresome. I'll get back to this in a second.
3. Someone else did 1 or 2, then snitched on me, and the artist believed them (possibly after checking).
And frankly, I can't imagine being any of the people in 2 or 3. I rarely block anyone on any site, and even if it has a non-block Ignore function, I prefer to just ignore them the old-fashioned way. I wouldn't go out of my way to be Thought Police.
If anything, I want people I disagree with to keep seeing what I think. Maybe I can change their mind. And isn't that, y'know, the whole point of activism?
I simply don't want to live in an ideological hugbox.
There are very few people I will block for anything less than outright harassment. Maybe if I see evidence they're harassing others. And I block folks for that even if I'm on the same political "team" as me. Probably report them too.
Whenever an election comes up in germany i visit my mom and we argue about our political views and i really cherish that. I wish more people would consider learning about the values and viewpoints that inform each others opinions!
Plus, I've seen way too many people who had no idea what the opposition actually believed, so they made "criticisms" directed entirely at strawmen and stereotype, intended mainly to prop up their own side.
That's never a good way to run a railroad.
Especially when the members of the opposition actually talked to them, said "I'm not like that", and the first person had to either double down, or go quiet.
The whole election clture here is also a lot more about the party and their campaign what youd call manifesto i guess and the merits they list than a war of personalities. Polititians also almost never attack the counter candidate personally but attack the other parties topics and planned/announced policies in debates.
What exactly is your opinion on this 'certain political issue'? We can't agree or disagree with you unless it's specific and not abstract.
Edit: And if as you're responding to this you're thinking to yourself "How can I frame/phrase things to make myself look good or not start an argument?" or editing your actual opinion to make it more palatable, that's another red flag. If this political opinion of yours is worth agreeing with and supporting, it can survive scrutiny. Just say what you believe and let the blocks fall where they may.