Centering harm reduction will be felt as a violent challenge to the status quo.
GOOD.
Every time something is published about what is happening in Palestine, Sudan and DR Congo those numbers will be out of date. The time it takes for it to be disseminated to the imperial core means they'll need to be updated as soon as it's posted.
Y'all, I am a very good fighter.
I am very very good at pointing out logical fallacies, I almost never let my emotions take over. I do not fight dirty. I don't sling slurs, I don't insult the person I am arguing with, I address only their points. I don't make assertions of who a person is based on how they think.
Me being a fighter is not a quality worthy of praise if I am unable to stress and highlight the absolute hell I went through to gain it.
None of this matters when you are challenging these systems we're forced to live within. If, in my dissent, the authoritarian boss determines my behaviour is a problem I am punished. I am fired, or bullied or isolated and forced out.
My ability to know exactly how to say what I need to say when I need to say it is directly related to being lied to and about for my whole career.
You cannot use any conflict resolution process when violent oppressive systems don't follow their own frameworks. Systems are made up of individuals, and those individuals can rule with impunity so long as it serves the system. And every time an individual lets their biases and bigotry impede their work the system thrives! You cannot fight fair when the game is rigged, if they lose they change the rules, if I lose I may lose my job, life or freedom.
Conflict and dissent is the correct response to these wildly gaslightie and violent denials of reality.
Anger has to be felt and expressed before it can become constructive. Suffering has to be witnessed to make space for joy.
I am no longer pretending harm and oppressive policies and frameworks can be rehabbed by people who can't see their complicity in the murder and maiming of millions.
Challenging the status quo is inherently disruptive, people will assume you're motives are not good because the system corners the market on that label.
