Got the infamous nsfw form letter today. Did my usual long winded rant in response, and signed off with a hearty “fuck spez” lol.
I dunno, I’ve been trying to make it a slow retreat, setting things up to be as annoying as possible. But gods damn, the shitty little form letter just got under my skin.
Told the u/modcodeofconduct account that if they were going to take the sub over, to do it and stfu because my ass doesn’t get paid for this, so their orders and threats have no meaning
Still had to offer the person behind the account the usual willing ear if they needed to vent or whatever.
I mean, can you imagine having that job? Having to spam those form letters, catch blasts of shit in return, and all for a boss as deplorable as huffpig? I mean, yeah, you can quit, but the employees didn’t get much more warning about this crap than the 3rd party devs did. Takes time to find new employment. And it isn’t like reddit is HQd somewhere cheap to live, so unless they work remotely from a much lower cost of living place, it’s extra difficult to make that decision.
Anyway, I just needed a vent tbh. It isn’t like this kind of thing is new lol.
It would be nice if employees would revolt as well. But I’m not ever going to push someone to risk their ability to support themselves when what’s going on is legal. This isn’t a government entity. It absolutely, 100% is not the same as nazis. That’s so hyperbolic as to be absurdist. The scale just isn’t remotely the same.
Besides, ranting at whatever admin desk jockey gets the shitty task of processing these copy/paste memos and dealing with the responses isn’t going to convince them of anything. Neither will rational arguments. They’re doing a shitty job, and either agree with him (meaning nothing we say has a point to begin with), or disagree and are having to face dissonance while trying to make a living.
The ones that disagree, if they’re handling this stuff, they feel like shit. I’ve been there, doing a job that I know isn’t right because of the way the company insists it be done (I worked in nursing homes at one point). That shit eats you up inside. They need, and deserve, a bit of kindness.
That’s what people forget online. That’s the ugly side of the internet in general, and reddit in particular. It it so hard to remember the human. Huffpig has decided to stop pretending he ever did, but that doesn’t mean we have to act like him.
I’m not even a nice person tbh. I’m old, I’m grumpy, and I have very little tolerance for stupidity. But I try to be better. And if we don’t all at least try, we are collectively fucked. Empathy is the key to doing better. Compassion is part of empathy.
Besides, if that admin was to ever, ever consider their role in this, don’t you think it would be kindness that would make them practice empathy and compassion? Kindness is just as contagious as cruelty.
You radiate wisdom and I cannot overstate how greatly I respect and admire you for that. It’s rare to speak with somebody online that so clearly speaks from well deliberated experience.
I agree with much of what you say. However, while you got through your nursing home employment, how many more head-down nurses must suffer through and also perpetuate the broken system? You must let it break sometimes.
I feel you’re older than me, and dare I say, wiser. But, you have clearly chosen yourself in these situations over solutions. Solutions that this world dearly needs.
I cannot fairly blame you in your situation or the admins, but if we as citizens in this great shitty machine are but cogs along for the ride, why must we serve the very people who will hurt us and many others like us?
I cannot, in good conscience say I would for sure act any different; I absolutely do have sympathy for those in these awful positions. I also cannot say that what they did was cut and dry wrong, it’s not simple at all.
But, I will say that, eventually, when people are pushed too far, somebody or something must give. And currently, the pure volume of people willingly being used by, and doing the destructive bidding of billionaires and tyrants causing problems around the world helps nobody but themselves and the billionaires on this road to shit.
I applaud those capable and willing to do the right things for the good of all of our futures, but I also dually weep that we must abhor, and am sorry for those who are horribly stuck as a cog to serve the shit machine: you, the bound admins of Reddit, and myself, as nothing about what must be done is easy or safe for those who risk protest while closest to true tyranny.
These are my hard words. But in truth, I am overwhelmingly glad I’ve found this place and don’t envy anybody still fighting on Reddit, as I, too, am obviously a coward in my own detrimental ways; I simply wish Reddit unwell and a swift and resounding failure.
I am still very unsure and in flux on much of the morality of this topic, and I really do want to express utmost respect in response to yours; I do apologize if this comes off as shaming you, my intent is not so - as I believe that collective negligence, rather than any specific individual, is to blame. My instincts say “fight”, and my shitty knowledge of the world, too, but the successful and safe people in my life who advise me, unanimously disagree every time, and every damned time I listen, for some reason. It still feels… raw that I always seek outside pressure in decisive situations to sway me. I dunno. Maybe someday we can all have nice things and be happy, if I may so cursedly paraphrase John Lennon.