Does anyone know of any resources / discussion of how to contextualize or help young people process the extremism and violence that social media and gaming platforms and are slipping into their lives under their parents noses? tubgirl and goatse of the past were one thing, but when my family members proudly show me videos of people getting the hands chopped off, I want to know what to do when I can't stop them seeing this all.
Suggest an alternative social media and try to get them into it. Host your own Mastodon/pleroma server and lock it down to specific instances they can interact with.
Kids wouldn't find mastodon fun. Tiktok, despite the paranoia the media is trying to induce, is fun and wholesome for 99% of its users.
Granted, there are probably a ton of privacy related reasons not to use it, but the algorithm rabbit holes work so well they if you literally took your kids tiktok account and just exclusively watched wholesome content for a week that's all they'd ever get fed by the algorithm.
The classic way to contextualize anything political is history. Maybe you can read together about a few civil wars. What made them happen, and how they played out.
And as for chopping of hands, am I right to read this as shariah enforcement? Or something secular? The answer will be very different. My understanding is that even Saudi Arabia is moving away from hand-chopping, so the islamic scholars must turning away from the practice. I am sure there must be a few well spoken ones you could read.
If it's secular, then a way to contextualize it is to read about the rule of law: why we have laws in the first place (as opposed to getting together and beating up people we don't like). And why punishments have mostly gotten softer over time.
> but when my family members proudly show me videos of people getting the hands chopped off, I want to know what to do when I can't stop them seeing this all.
Ask their parents how it came to that...
One can say that that American media culture has a share to blame, refusing to show "hands chopped off" to American people whom they seem consider too soft bodied for that, while failing to understand that "hands chopped off," and much, much more is a reality of everyday life for people whose countries have failed, and that them not making people think "how messed up is that" prevents them internalising this.
I had many talks with US citizens over my life about what their drone strikes, and three letter services do in countries on the other side of the globe:
— "American drone blew up 130+ people, newlyweds, women, and children. Limbs torn off bodies, survivors with 2nd degree burns, and unhealing wounds the size of a grapefruit and more."
— "And what so???" The guy then makes confused face, probably not understanding what mental connection he is expected to make. At that point, I barely contained my impulse to punch him.
They don't have that understanding of black, and white things. To some, not calling bad things bad, is a mental self-defence from understanding that if they will call bad things bad, they will be compelled to act against them.
This is how we came again to the point when talks like "Maybe NSDAP had a point?" are seeping back into mainstream conversation.
An inability of most Americans to call things their real names makes it hard to talk with them in many contexts, business included.
On one of my first jobs in Canada, I worked in a trade company who once dealt with people who deal with likes of Sino Forest, Hanfeng Evergreen, Agrium... One Canadian activist investor/lawyer/fraud, and a big name idiot from Toronto was basically embezzling the legal entity for Henfeng in Canada, and wanted to take over the Chinese part of the company using it, and everybody knew it. I appeal to superviser, then, unit head, then, to the director...
— "That man is a fraud! Run from those deals, run!"
— "The man is a reputable lawyer, unless authorities have any objections, I doubt we can even have a legit pretext to exit. I know, the man is controversial, but those things are not black, and white"
Just like that "reputable lawyer" activist investor who was a plain fraud, "hands chopped off" is not "something controversial" or "not black and white" it's a plain atrocity which had to be called out as such.
My advise, next time he shows you that, punch him in the face
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 29.1 ms ] threadGranted, there are probably a ton of privacy related reasons not to use it, but the algorithm rabbit holes work so well they if you literally took your kids tiktok account and just exclusively watched wholesome content for a week that's all they'd ever get fed by the algorithm.
If you see a problem with this but look the other eye at cancel culture...
And as for chopping of hands, am I right to read this as shariah enforcement? Or something secular? The answer will be very different. My understanding is that even Saudi Arabia is moving away from hand-chopping, so the islamic scholars must turning away from the practice. I am sure there must be a few well spoken ones you could read.
If it's secular, then a way to contextualize it is to read about the rule of law: why we have laws in the first place (as opposed to getting together and beating up people we don't like). And why punishments have mostly gotten softer over time.
Ask their parents how it came to that...
One can say that that American media culture has a share to blame, refusing to show "hands chopped off" to American people whom they seem consider too soft bodied for that, while failing to understand that "hands chopped off," and much, much more is a reality of everyday life for people whose countries have failed, and that them not making people think "how messed up is that" prevents them internalising this.
I had many talks with US citizens over my life about what their drone strikes, and three letter services do in countries on the other side of the globe:
— "American drone blew up 130+ people, newlyweds, women, and children. Limbs torn off bodies, survivors with 2nd degree burns, and unhealing wounds the size of a grapefruit and more."
— "And what so???" The guy then makes confused face, probably not understanding what mental connection he is expected to make. At that point, I barely contained my impulse to punch him.
They don't have that understanding of black, and white things. To some, not calling bad things bad, is a mental self-defence from understanding that if they will call bad things bad, they will be compelled to act against them.
This is how we came again to the point when talks like "Maybe NSDAP had a point?" are seeping back into mainstream conversation.
An inability of most Americans to call things their real names makes it hard to talk with them in many contexts, business included.
On one of my first jobs in Canada, I worked in a trade company who once dealt with people who deal with likes of Sino Forest, Hanfeng Evergreen, Agrium... One Canadian activist investor/lawyer/fraud, and a big name idiot from Toronto was basically embezzling the legal entity for Henfeng in Canada, and wanted to take over the Chinese part of the company using it, and everybody knew it. I appeal to superviser, then, unit head, then, to the director...
— "That man is a fraud! Run from those deals, run!"
— "The man is a reputable lawyer, unless authorities have any objections, I doubt we can even have a legit pretext to exit. I know, the man is controversial, but those things are not black, and white"
It ended like this in 2 years: https://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/situation-...
Just like that "reputable lawyer" activist investor who was a plain fraud, "hands chopped off" is not "something controversial" or "not black and white" it's a plain atrocity which had to be called out as such.
My advise, next time he shows you that, punch him in the face