#practice standing up

[labelleizzy]

“Why didn’t anyone try to stop them?”

Why didn’t anyone try to stop the unidentified men who zip tied and dragged a woman out of the Idaho town hall?

Because no one prepared for this situation in this context, and no one was assigned to stop them.

Quick: what are the exact words you will say when a uniformed law enforcement officer knocks on your door and says, “Good afternoon. We don’t want to take up too much of your time. We were just checking up on your neighbor and we were wondering if you could help us.”

How do you know right then and there if they are standing on your doorstep because they were called to do a welfare check by a concerned relative or if they are there to capture and send your neighbor on a one way flight to Gitmo? How do you find out that information, and how do you respond? What if the welfare check is itself a ruse? Are you going to make things worse if you don’t cooperate?

This is what the people in the auditorium were trying to process. Who are these people, who is this woman, has she broken the law, are they breaking the law, will I be arrested for trying to help? Does she even want me to help? Will I make it worse? And crucially: if it's wrong, wouldn't others be trying to stop them?

This is why in 1964 a woman ran around outside her apartment screaming while 38 people witnessed her assault and murder. It’s called Genovese Syndrome, after this unfortunate woman. They didn’t stand by because they hated her; they just had no idea in that moment what to do, and everyone hoped someone else would act correctly.

Everyone likes to think they will do the right thing because they have the correct attitude, values, and intentions. But humans are shockingly bad at translating beliefs into action in novel periods of intense conflict and stress.

So you need to practice. Do it while you’re driving or riding to work or the store. Recite the following statements: “Am I being charged? Am I free to go?” and “I choose not to answer any questions without an attorney present.” And then practice shutting up when you are asked questions every which way. Practice asking people if they need help. Practice how to phone a hotline and an attorney.

Because the reality for most folks is that the social contract kicks in hard for encounters with authority, even dubious authority, and it can feel silly or scary to not cooperate.

YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE.

And you need to practice how you will respond in a multitude of scenarios. Write them down, say them out loud, and practice with another person.

Side note: if you are ever in the situation Dr. Borrenpohl found herself in, you have a better chance of someone intervening if you point at someone and say, “YOU! Help me!” It breaks through the Genovese Syndrome effect, and people will actually go to spontaneously courageous lengths when they know it’s their job to do so and people are witnessing them.

This isn’t to imply she was in any way at fault for not doing so, or that people should be excused for standing by when they should act. I’m simply pointing out a behavioral hack, one that you should also practice.

A lot of people will want to comment that there were malicious people in the room cheering on her assault, and that is true, too. Some people deliberately didn’t help and enjoyed watching. This is exactly why we all need to be ready to respond with reflexive aid and support, so we do not by inaction become as culpable as those who cheer on the advance of fascism.

Posted by Lily Starling on Facebook

[kaiserouo]

(prev | next | first)

ghost is so excited it dumps its arsenal in the house

[xxplastic-cubexx]

charlies turn for the reference sheet beam

[introspectivememories]

thinking bout 14yr finnick winning the games and thinking about the victors+effie looking at this child and going "fuuuuck!!! guess we're co-parenting now"

[rapturebin]

a brother problem

[jamieylnn]

do you think that essek, who we have seen previously attempt jokes about punishing the bakeries that made goods that jester didn't like and about not liking soup, was very proud of himself when seth's joke about his mother's ale stopping time landed with bells hells?

[wardingshout]

it's been so long... when will someone find them.....

[loopyarts]

Young adult Robin Dick Grayson and his Umbreon partner.

[greencloakedfae]

yeah nell is hot and we all want her to be suave and competent at sweeping people off their feet but that woman is a loser. she gets bitches but its entirely through being so naturally attractive that her asshole behaviour is just endearing. if you somehow do find yourself as the object of her affections her attempts will be stilted at best and insulting at worse. she'll figure it out eventually but canon nell? absolute loser <3

[sunjestic]

director's commentary for the Kintsugi comic i posted last week. i put a lot of thought into it, and i really wanted to talk about it.... i am a yapper

i am once again begging y'all to read this fic-

[joshuamj]

In Time and Stars

[pink-lemonade-rose]

Happy anniversary to the day several aliens gave a farmer some pancakes.

[the-owl-tree]

saw one of ur tags and ohhhh do talk about why Heatherstar should have been an antagonist!! I don't think I see much of the fandom discuss her in general...... (might be sent twice cause I got an error and idk if it actually sent..)

I think a lot of super editions suffer from underdeveloped politics when it comes to justifying battles beyond ShadowClan Bad, Tallstar's Revenge is just super obvious about it. Like, really obvious that they literally just see ShadowClan as an easy "evil clan" type antagonist to use.

So, imo, Heatherstar should've been the aggressor. She's after a strip of land as the harsh leaf-bare closes in, she decides to discontinue the practice of tunnelling in order to have more paws to aid in the battle (because holy shit the justification the book uses is bad), and she uses Tallkit, son of an outspoken and proud tunneller, to make an example out of this - in turn worsening the abuse that Tallpaw will endure under his father simply to send a message. So, not outright villainous, but her choices do continuously put her Clan and Talltail in difficult positions.

Tbh this veers into AU/rewrite territory but like...Heatherstar's motivations should be fleshed out. She suffers a little to much from The Plot Demands This To Happen characterization instead of giving her motivation behind why she does things.

[criminal-sen]

:p

[dustisus]

official nicky hemmick day so today i will recommend the memoir boy erased by garrard conley for anyone who's looking for first-hand testimonials of the torture that is conversion therapy. serves as a good reminder why it should be banned everywhere (which it isn't to this day!)

[pocketramblr]

you know im thinking. im thinking maybe Yoichi wasn't even that into captain hero as an adult, but AfO kept bringing LITERALLY every conversation back to that because he decided to Be The Demon Lord and so Yoichi like, can't get an argument in unless he uses the same material so he's like 'oh my god i haven't even thought about that comic in ten years but even i know the bad guy didn't win. you should not be basing you whole identity, business model, and world destruction plan on your five-second impression of a comic book bad guy who didn't even win! also you shouldn't kill people!'