Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Poison the Trolls

"Ignore them and they'll go away."
"They just want attention."
"Don't feed the trolls."
"If you pay attention to them, they win."

Horse shit.

This is the kind of thing people say, this is the advice they give their children. You know who believes this crap? People who have never actually BEEN bullied.

Silence is permission. How's that for an expression?

Every time some asshole makes a derogatory comment and you say nothing, you ignore them, they get away with it. You're giving them permission, and you're becoming an accomplice to every time they hurt someone in the future.

You, yes, YOU, reading this right now, are personally guilty for the pain of every person you didn't stand up for, and for the next victim every time you let someone get away with being nasty to you.

When someone gets bullied, and you tell them "Just let it go, ignore them and they'll stop, they only want your attention." You might as well be the bully, because you're taking his side. That's what they want, to hurt people and get away with it.

This can only continue, because people look the other way, because they keep getting away with it. It stops when the bullies become pariahs. It stops, when they stop getting away with it, when hurting other people actually gets punished. It stops, when someone starts shit, and suddenly the entire world turns on them.

So stop letting them get away with it, dammit.

3 comments:

  1. I've had the opportunity to compare this affect of standing up versus "ignoring them." I saw the ignoring time period just escalate. I saw the time when we all stood up for the person being bullied put an end to that shit immediately. There is power in a room full of people turning on a bully. It was even a great time to end it without a single bit of violence because like I said when the whole room turns and says, "shut the fuck up, leave and never bother this person again." That seemed sufficient to end the bully's power as well. They feed off weakness like being quiet or "turning the other cheek." I see what happens when you turn the other cheek... you get both sides of your face punched when you could have just stopped it by standing up the first time and others standing by watching could end the entire situation by standing with the victim and saying bullies are not welcome. I feel ya here, bullies need to be ended and the "solution" isn't all that violent most of the time because all you do is take back the power in a situation and give it back to those that it belongs to... *sigh* No need to go on a rant lol. I feel what you are saying here. It makes sense.

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  2. Hello no, I stood up to the bullies and fought back! Still do.

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  3. Pacifism is a powerful tool. People who "turn the other cheek" often change the world. Ghandi made sweeping change in human rights on a global scale.

    Pacifism ONLY works because pacifists make friends who are not pacifists. Ghandi was untouchable. Why? Because if anyone laid a hand on him, a million people would have literally torn them to pieces. He STILL wound up a martyr.

    That's what pacifism is, letting people hurt you so that SOMONE ELSE will stand up for you and the people who can't do it themselves. There's a word for a pacifist who doesn't have a freedom fighter at his back. That word is "dead".

    No one starts fights with pacifists because of the passion they instill in the people for whom they speak. That's the only reason. Martin Luther King Jr. was effective only because the authorities had a choice between listening to him or getting shot by Malcolm X.

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