Beware of Internet Safe Spaces

You're probably anticipating what my angle is immediately after reading this headline. It's going to be a hateful, insensitive article targeting these people and those people. Let's get straight into it.

Or... I don't know. Maybe this subject is too difficult for some.

A Time and Place for Safety

Merriam-Webster defines a safe space as: "a place (as on a college campus) intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations."

… student volunteers put up posters advertising that a "safe space" would be available for anyone who found the debate too upsetting. — Judith Shulevitz

In context this isn't a bad idea. There's going to be a talk about a difficult subject. There's thousands of people in attendance for example. Maybe not everyone is ready at that moment to talk about a particular subject. Maybe there will be people present who have difficult to swallow interpretations of the world and they're going to be extra loud.

There's nothing wrong with saying, "Hey, we know this is a rough topic, we're gathering over here for anyone that wants the support of others that can relate and take an intermission for this one."

What a great idea. I wish they had thought of that in my generation.

Maintaining the safety of the space for a very specific group is a realistic goal given the limitations of the event, which will only last several hours and only have so many people to monitor. There is only so much surface area to hit a vulnerable individual.

Everyone is Safe in Ba Sing Seh

This is fundamentally different from a community on the Internet that exists not just in one time and place with a particular context, but one which has people coming and going all the time. It can have all types of people from different backgrounds and experiences.

The subject matter at any point could be... anything, and the people who have to be defended are... who exactly? And from what?

Can we have a safe space to support and encourage people who are medicated with stimulant drugs, a space where there will be talking about medicinal side effects, the benefits of using medicine in the same safe space as one for people who are recovering drug addicts that have spent years of their life getting to a point where they can stop using the same medication?

How do we make it safe for everyone all the time?

Do we write a community guidelines document that rivals the Bhagavad Gita with over 800 verses of ideological vomit? Let's remember for a second that the person who wrote this document is just a person. They want to believe they can have a thriving space where everything is good and no one will be uncomfortable. They hold this and maintain that so therefore a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k...

This person in charge of the community who is striving for this outcome is delusional. Their attempts to enforce these rules to attain some noble virtuous space are misguided and impossible. If anything, they are luring the most vulnerable people into a trap where they can be easily exploited.

The World is Not Safe

There are times when I am vulnerable -- times when I am weak -- times when I need the support of a small group of trusted people who understand what I'm going through who aren't going to hit me with the world's most difficult things at the time when I need them.

There is nothing wrong with needing this. But there is something fundamentally wrong with not wanting to leave. The real world is not safe. We can't preemptively block every uncomfortable feeling in the world and we shouldn't have to.

That's right, you read all this way to the part where I say, "This is why we have to entertain nazis." That's what you want me to say after all; it reinforces your stance on all this and you can readily discard my viewpoint.

But No. We don't have to entertain nazis. And we don't need big list of things that aren't allowed because its relatively simple.

Chaos is Okay

Cruelty Isn't

Do We Want This Facade of Safety?

To be actually safe, we have to be aware of the world we live in. We are safer with our eyes darting back and forth as we cross the street than we are if walk out into traffic with our head down in our phone.

It's not only that but we have the freedom to cross from one side of the street to the other to see what it's like without someone else telling us otherwise. Do we want people at the corners with their big misguided list of rules and promises they can't deliver on telling us we can't cross, because it's just too dangerous so please stop!

If I can't convince you then enjoy your bubble. I wouldn't claim to know what is better for you than you. I hope you've found the place where you fit in.

But if you can relate with anything I've said, you know what it feels like to be on the other side of this -- to not fit in. When you see these absurd promises from community leaders on the Internet, run as fast as you can.

You don't need that bullshit to stand against fascists.