Accountability

Manton Reece of Micro.blog thoroughly mishandled discourse with his fellow indieweb darling Adam Newbold. It’s still unfolding.^[1] Others have discussed the merits of Adam’s argument and I have few unique words to add to the discourse, but it’s worth pausing to recognize how much simpler this would’ve been had Manton plainly voiced his views, instead of side-stepping Adam’s points and trying to take the discussion to private emails. It’s as if were he to plainly respond to Adam, Manton risks alienating friends, customers, employees, investors, or another meaningful audience.

Demand accountability. Transparency and direct conversation help. I’ve known similarly-behaved individuals, and despite the unpleasantness of the process, the only effective tactic is to leave no quarter for ambiguity. I recall a colleague—using much of Manton’s similar empathetic framing: “we’re on the same side and splitting small hairs”— saying verbatim that “the Proud Boys are good men.” We’re entitled to our opinions, but one’s privacy to them cannot be taken for granted where their opinions cause harm. The least we can do for ourselves is to know the face of our oppressor, and then act with that knowledge.

Somewhere in Adam’s many Mastodon posts, he makes an implicit(?) point that in these moments of unease where many of us are looking for safe communities, it behooves us to plainly share our thoughts, exposing those sea lions^[2] who can’t.

Quoting Robb, it shouldn’t need to be said. Fuck Nazis, transphobes, and the rest. Adam’s People Pledge is a great broad sentiment, but I believe that in these times we need to explicitly spell out potential ambiguities.^[3] Even a competent president couldn’t legislate away the rich tapestry of gender identity and experience, let alone this witless administration. There exists infinite space in which to express the milieu of genders and sexualities. The diversity of human experience is emergent—it can be intimidated, oppressed, and culled, and each time it blooms these facts are self-evident.