Education and Important Ideas
A Word On Definitions
Definitions are descriptive and not prescriptive (they describe how people use the words and not how they ought to be used), but here are the definitions from people and experts who know most about the topics to help you better understand what these “sources” mean.
Faith vs. Evidence
Faith hinders accountability for authority figures or systems or organizations that can cause harm. If truth is objective and there are people and ideas whom we cannot question, then those in authority to uphold these ideas can also never be questioned, even if the ideas cannot be substantiated and cause harm.
Belief - An acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.
Evidence - The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
For further understanding of the context of beliefs and evidence, here are the definitions for other common phrases that are misunderstood and used inappropriately for others to defend indefensible, actively harmful, or passively harmful worldviews.
Objective - (Of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. True regardless of perspective.
Subjective - Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
Epistemology - The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
Logical Fallacy - A fallacy is the use of faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument. Fallacies may sound convincing to listeners, but their use renders the argument of the person making it invalid.
Reasoning - Thinking and argumentation conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.
Faith - Belief without evidence. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Religion - The belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods. There are four religions that make up 77% of the world’s population, and they include: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Theocracy - A system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.
Atheism - An absence of belief in the existence of deities, or a rejection of the belief that any deities exist.
Agnosticism - The view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact. It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to personal limitations rather than a worldview.
Agnostic Atheism - People who do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and are agnostic because they claim that the existence of a divine entity or entities is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.
Science - A rigorous, systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the world.
Mathematics - An area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. There is no consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. However, in simple terms, mathematics is the study of patterns.
Falsifiability - The ability for a statement or hypothesis to be proven wrong with empirical research and experimentation.
What Is Fascism?
Taken from Wikipedia, fascism is defined as:
“a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism, fascism is placed on the far-right wing within the traditional left–right spectrum.”
There are common characteristics of fascism. Historian Lawrence Britt identified 14 elements that are usually present in fascist societies or countries. It is important to note that not all elements need to be present for fascism to exist, and they could manifest later as the fascist philosophy metastasizes and gains power and influence.
The 14 Elements of Fascism:
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Identification of Enemies / Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Supremacy of the Military
Rampant Sexism
Controlled Mass Media
Obsession with National Security
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Protection of Corporate Power
Suppression of Labor Power
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fraudulent Elections
One of the most prominent examples of unchecked fascism and when good people do not do enough to speak up and stop harm is genocide. Fascists benefit from isolating people and groups and instilling in citizens an arbitrary social hierarchy where those with proximity to power feel safe or even justified to harm those lower in that hierarchy. Most people seem to think that a genocide will never happen and that they would never participate in genocide. However, there are stages to genocide and many people do not recognize the pernicious effects of complicity and silence in witnessing dehumanization and atrocities. These are the stages to genocide, taken from the holocaust memorial day trust here:
The 10 Stages of Genocide are:
Classification – The differences between people are not respected. There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes, or excluding people who are perceived to be different.
Symbolisation – This is a visual manifestation of hatred. Jews in Nazi Europe were forced to wear yellow stars to show that they were ‘different’.
Discrimination – The dominant group denies civil rights or even citizenship to identified groups. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, made it illegal for them to do many jobs or to marry German non-Jews.
Dehumanisation – Those perceived as ‘different’ are treated with no form of human rights or personal dignity. During the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Tutsis were referred to as ‘cockroaches’; the Nazis referred to Jews as ‘vermin’.
Organisation – Genocides are always planned. Regimes of hatred often train those who go on to carry out the destruction of a people.
Polarisation – Propaganda begins to be spread by hate groups. The Nazis used the newspaper Der Stürmer to spread and incite messages of hate about Jewish people.
Preparation – Perpetrators plan the genocide. They often use euphemisms such as the Nazis’ phrase ‘The Final Solution’ to cloak their intentions. They create fear of the victim group, building up armies and weapons.
Persecution – Victims are identified because of their ethnicity or religion and death lists are drawn up. People are sometimes segregated into ghettos, deported or starved and property is often expropriated. Genocidal massacres begin.
Extermination – The hate group murders their identified victims in a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence. Millions of lives have been destroyed or changed beyond recognition through genocide.
Denial – The perpetrators or later generations deny the existence of any crime.
Even when confronted with this information, some people may still deny that they could ever participate in any of the characteristics of fascism or the stages of genocide. This is not the case. Experts who study the Holocaust are horrified with how remarkably ordinary the people who participated in the genocide were. Systems of oppression dehumanize their common enemies, incentivize their citizens to do anything to achieve proximity to power, and are capable of making anyone do terrible things. These things may be done gleefully if the person is conditioned and propagandized enough, but they can also be done through coercion, threats, and violence. We must be vigilant of all of the characteristics of fascism and genocide and the threat they pose. To punctuate this idea, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust shares about the most famous poem about the Holocaust:
"Pastor Martin Niemöller is best known for writing First They Came - one of the most famous poems about the Holocaust - but he is a complicated figure. Initially an antisemitic Nazi supporter, his views changed when he was imprisoned in a concentration camp for speaking out against Nazi control of churches. He later encouraged Germans to take responsibility for Nazi atrocities.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”
What is Racism?
Racism - Prejudice coupled with power. Racism requires a power imbalance between groups (historically, in the legal system, and in systemic outcomes) and is not based in evidence or justification but rather hate and a desire to oppress people who are different.
For further understanding of the context of racism, here are the definitions for other common phrases that are misunderstood and weaponized inappropriately against marginalized people.
Race - Race is a human-invented, shorthand term used to describe and categorize people into various social groups based on characteristics like skin color, physical features, and genetic heredity. Race, while not a valid biological concept, is a real social construction that gives or denies benefits and privileges. American society developed the notion of race early in its formation to justify its new economic system of capitalism, which depended on the institution of forced labor, especially the enslavement of African peoples. (Taken from the National Museum of African American History and Culture).
Prejudice - Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. BIPOC groups may dislike or fear people from groups that have oppressed them, but this is based on reason, experience, and evidence. Therefore, BIPOC people cannot be prejudiced towards people from oppressive groups purely based on that reason for fear or wariness.
Privilege - A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. A person can have both privilege and hardship; they are not mutually exclusive. Having privilege means that being part of a particular group will not be an actual source of hardship for your life, and will in most cases benefit you in the society, country, and world.
Intersectionality - The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. A white woman and a black woman both are women, which are disadvantages in society, but the black woman faces yet another disadvantage because of her race in comparison to the white woman.
What is Equity?
Equity - The quality of being fair and impartial. Equitable does not mean equal; it means treating people according to both what they have and need.
Equality - The state of being equal. Offering everyone the same treatment will not yield equity, as it does not address systematic or systemic issues and balance the differences in needs.
Diversity - The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Inclusion - The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups.
Sympathy - Feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. Sympathy is passive and requires no action to make things better.
Empathy – The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy is active and compels a person to act.
Social Justice - Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
Egalitarianism - The doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
Accountability - The fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility.
What is capitalism?
Capitalism - An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit
For further understanding of the context of capitalism, here are the definitions for other common phrases that are at the same time vilified and misunderstood.
Capital - The resources a person, company, or country can use to further their mission and generate profit. Capital can be:
Financial (wealth, equity, and debt)
Social (the ability for a person to gain favors and resources from others through relationships or goodwill)
Intellectual (knowledge or skills a person, company, or country can use for their goals)
Human (Includes social, instructional, and individual talent an organization has)
Physical (includes infrastructure, buildings, tools, transportation, etc.)
Natural (the world’s stock of resources human’s use)
Socialism - An economic system in which the workers own the means of production.
Communism - A moneyless, classless, stateless society.
Means of Production - The generally necessary assets and resources that enable a society to engage in production. The four main means of production are land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship.
Colonialism - The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
What is White Supremacy?
White Supremacy - The belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups.
White Nationalism - Advocacy of or support for the perceived political interests of the white population within a particular country, especially to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups.
Imperialism - A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
Colonialism - The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically
Characteristics of White Supremacy
Perfectionism
Sense of Urgency
Defensiveness
Valuing Quantity over Quality
(values statement over how to treat people instead of goals for productivity)Worshipping the Written Word
Believing in Only One Right Way
Paternalism
Either / Or Thinking
(stop trying to make complex things simple, use deeper analysis and that things can be both/and)Power Hoarding
(feeling threatened by any organizational changes, change is inevitable and can lead to a healthier and more productive organization)Fear of Open Conflict
(do not tone police and address how someone said something as "acceptable" rather than the actual harm, and especially if that is the reason you won't fix something)Individualism
(make sure credit is given to everyone who participates)Believing I'm the Only One
(evaluate people's ability to delegate, as long as they are capable and trustworthy)Believing Progress Is Bigger and More
(your goals should speak to how you want to work, not just how productive or "successful" you are)Believing in Objectivity
(considering emotions to be irrational and destructive, sit with discomfort and grow as people)Claiming a Right to Comfort
(over the rights of marginalized people. Scapegoating people for making people uncomfortable instead of addressing harm)
(TRIGGER WARNING)
What is Patriarchy
and Toxic Masculinity?
Patriarchy - A social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are held by men
Toxic Masculinity - Common human characteristics that are weaponized in such a way to impose a hegemonic social hierarchy on a society with men above women and other marginalized groups. These traits, when presented together, are destructive and subjugate and cause harm. The traits are the following:
Stoicism
Dominance
Aggression
Homophobia
Misogyny
Violence
Counterdependency
Competition
Traditional gender roles
Greed
Rape culture - When rape is pervasive and normalized due to group, organization, or society’s attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim-blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these.
Purity culture - Purity culture places a strong emphasis on abstinence from sexual intercourse before marriage. This idea often stems from religious practices. Dating is discouraged entirely to avoid pre-marital sex. Women and girls are told to cover up and dress modestly to avoid arousing sexual urges in men and boys. Purity culture also emphasizes traditional gender roles. Masturbation is discouraged more strongly for women than for men. There are also double standards when it comes to sexual activity between men and women, where men are celebrated for having multiple sexual partners but women are shamed for having any partners before marriage.
Domestic Abuse Information - https://www.theduluthmodel.org
Wheels of Power and Control Below
Types of Gender-Based Harm
Physical
Financial
Property
Emotional
Verbal
Sexual
Neglect
Threats
Coercion
Public humiliation
Dehumanization
Not respecting boundaries / consent
Control
Lying
Using laws or systems to cause harm
Taking away someone’s rights
Character assassination
Exclusion, alienation, and isolation
Making misogynistic jokes and sexual harassment
Restricting someone’s information or access to necessary information
Hoarding someone’s resources or withholding access to necessary resources
Bullying
Restricting freedom of movement
Lateral violence (taking struggles out on others)
Shame and guilt
Denial of someone’s identity
Victim blaming
Bigotry
Promoting, financing, making space for, or not condemning harmful people
Not taking accountability
Not apologizing or making things right
Upholding systems of oppression
Voting for oppressive people and groups
Being silent when witnessing harm
Promoting a toxic culture
Siding or being complicit with friends and family who cause harm
Tone policing
False equivalences
Playing “Devil’s Advocate”
Willful ignorance
Toxic masculinity
Focus on intent over impact
Not acknowledging privilege
Opportunity cost
Not holding people and systems accountable for harm
Using circumstances as an excuse to not change, grow, or learn
Toxic individualism
Lack of representation in high-level positions in work, government, and organizations in society that impact marginalized people
Types of Lies
Error (Telling a lie without realizing it is not true)
Omission (Partial truth)
Denial (Not admitting they know the truth)
Falsification (Spreading false rumors or to gain sympathy)
Misinterpretation (Does not have all the facts)
Bold-faced lie (Everyone knows this is not true, a child’s lie)
White lie (Lying to protect someone’s feelings)
Exaggeration
Pathological lying (Lying for no apparent reason)
Minimization (Playing down a statement or its effects)
Types of Manipulations
Gaslighting
Passive aggression
Lying
Isolation
Denial
Blame
Projection
Triangulation
Control
Rationalization or justification
Name-calling
Using persistent fallacious reasoning to win arguments
Withholding resources or affection to get what they want
Changing the subject
Playing on insecurities
Being dismissive
Treating you like a child
Blaming the victim
Being a different person in public versus in private to gain allies
Using therapy or other healing language as a weapon
Non-Harmful Behaviors
Disagreeing with someone
Starting a conflict
Going against the group
Calling out and addressing harm
Making people who are causing harm and those supporting them uncomfortable
Asking for boundaries to be respected
Asking for what you need
Demanding enough resources to survive comfortable
Questioning authority (everyone should be held to the same standards for ethics and evidence)
Living your values even if no one around you understands
Going against societal values and beliefs if they do not work for you, and especially if they are not logical or based in evidence
Standing up for your beliefs, even if they are inconvenient for others
Asking for accountability
Not forgiving someone for causing you harm, or having resentments because it was never resolved
Reacting to harm, and escalating your reaction to the point that the transgression stops and you are safe
Asking for equitable treatment in a conflict
Being “weird”
Asking for an unbiased mediator or going above someone’s head if they are unable to handle a situation fairly
Standing up for justice
Asking for reform if an organization or society is being inequitable
Excluding hateful and harmful people from spaces to protect people
Matching energy
Asking good faith questions to understand a decision or policy
Using evidence and reasoning to critique a belief or practice
Asking others for evidence or reasoning for a belief or practice, especially if you are forced to engage in it against your will
