Just as a quick follow-up to clarify my position, my comments were not
meant to attack the identity of the author, nor to make any evaluative
claims about the truth of her statements. I simply wanted to point out that
some of the argumentation tactics are grounded in an ideologically-biased
framework, and that the article should be read with a grain of salt.

Best,

Cole Butler
TPAC Project Coordinator
University of Maryland
UMD ADHD Lab <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.umdadhd.org_cole&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bbTs59Q4ArM1acXGSxko6A_m_SjZqGnHsl76IINmYsg&s=iCANGXZC9ZiWTLCU3GKIGmIpxlKzfDEPstzwLj1DR5M&e=>
2103W, Cole Field House | College Park, MD 20742
tel 301.405.6163


On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:14 PM Cole Butler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks for sharing this article.
>
> Though I should loathe to participate in the same identity politics that I
> detest, there are some aspects of this article that stuck out to me to
> suggest that this is an exaggerated piece meant to play into the culturally
> dividing social justice warrior mentality rather than an intellectual
> analysis of how much harm versus good is done by travelling and offering
> aid to socioeconomically disadvantaged foreign countries.
>
> First, the author opens by immediately explaining away the fact that she
> uses Tinder. Clearly, it was important for her to immediately establish
> herself as "not the type of person who would be seen using a dating app."
> Instead, she makes an excuse that she uses it to pass the time like one
> would with some attention-grabbing pointless game like candy crush. Yet,
> she immediately follows this with a statement that she doesn't expect men
> who use it to stray away from their "programming." Is she not doing the
> same thing as them? While they're labeled as mindless biologically
> programmed robots... strange.
>
> She also lends credulity to herself through the usage of novel words
> (e.g., blanditude, which isn't a word, by the way
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_search-3Fq-3Dblanditude-26rlz-3D1C1GGRV-5FenUS872US873-26oq-3Dblanditude-2B-26aqs-3Dchrome..69i57.2609j1j7-26sourceid-3Dchrome-26ie-3DUTF-2D8&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bbTs59Q4ArM1acXGSxko6A_m_SjZqGnHsl76IINmYsg&s=GpN4btUupGGuBlChKrtuY_d8Gq9Nw91676fSVZF7SFc&e=>;
> misogynoir) and through almost instantly establishing herself as 'one of
> them' as a local to the area. While not inherently bad tactics to engage
> the audience, I believe the usage of these tactics immediately sets the
> stage that this is a piece that's more wrapped up in the identity and
> ideology of the author (and those who identify with this ideology as
> readers), rather than as objective piece holding any real meaning.
>
> The article cites several examples of wrong-doing portrayed by individuals
> in the situation she's writing about. While no one would excuse such
> behavior, I think it's important to recall that these are extreme cases of
> wrong-doing that are identified to aid in the argument that she's
> portraying. What this makes me think of is the inherent evil in mankind at
> the individual level. A lovely quote in this regard recently appeared in
> some of my social media memories... "If only it were all so simple! If only
> there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it
> were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.
> But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human
> being." - Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. With this in mind, it seems, at least to
> me, that evil is bound to appear even in the context of acts that are meant
> to be social goods. It is easy to label "white people who travel to Africa
> to 'help'" as the evil doers who need to be gotten rid of, and to
> simultaneously justify oneself as a good being without *having to do
> anything*.
>
> The bio of the author lends further credence to the claim that the author
> is writing this as an ideologically based hit-piece rather than any type of
> objective look at a social issue. I'll leave the interpretation of that to
> the reader :)
>
> Best,
>
> Cole Butler
> TPAC Project Coordinator
> University of Maryland
> UMD ADHD Lab <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.umdadhd.org_cole&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bbTs59Q4ArM1acXGSxko6A_m_SjZqGnHsl76IINmYsg&s=iCANGXZC9ZiWTLCU3GKIGmIpxlKzfDEPstzwLj1DR5M&e=>
> 2103W, Cole Field House | College Park, MD 20742
> tel 301.405.6163
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 2:30 PM Wilson, Katherine Christine - wilso3kc <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Dear ToK Crew,
>>
>>
>> I am often very shy and intimidated to post on this list serve. It can be
>> challenging for those of us with a more sensitive nervous system to open
>> something up for conversation today given the extreme views, polarizations,
>> intense political climate, reductionistic tendencies, and often shaming and
>> blaming language that is becoming increasingly used on the internet (Gregg,
>> I may have succumbed to some “toxic sensitivity” of the day). However,
>> there is an article that is trending right now on facebook that I am
>> struggling to navigate; my own reception of it is a mix of repulsion,
>> concern, frustration, and deep sadness.
>>
>>
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__wearyourvoicemag.com_news-2Dpolitics_voluntourism-2Dcolonialism-2Dwhite-2Dsavior-2Dcomplex&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bbTs59Q4ArM1acXGSxko6A_m_SjZqGnHsl76IINmYsg&s=qTtKe7grIwmbeCvlPlcZNZnusyLTD4nH5Da6GJU8dAQ&e=
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__wearyourvoicemag.com_news-2Dpolitics_voluntourism-2Dcolonialism-2Dwhite-2Dsavior-2Dcomplex&d=DwMGaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=VPQ4SciI7VcrC7-WPowgx4XdYc4Tfj5bmosQ0Wn29m8&s=-H-ELcPhX_Vh6zaurhFex6NRXMkaji1-2jI-6lLvZPA&e=>
>>
>> It is a short read, though not without intense references to some awful
>> human acts.
>>
>> If you get a chance, I would really love to hear your thoughts from
>> whatever lens or angle you may receive this type of piece.
>>
>> thanks,
>> K
>>
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