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 >> >> ############################ >> >> To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: >> mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the >> following link: >> http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 >> > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1