As someone who was an early target of the online mob when I dared to use a personal Twitter account to link George Soros to the first migrant caravan in 2018 (I was correct, if imprecise), I went through everything you said. I survived. And one of the benefits of going through the crucible, as difficult as it could be at times (it's worse when the mob tries to get you fired from your job and your company chairman is friends with George Soros), is finding out who your real friends are. I found that experience ultimately enriching.
I used to take the morons to task and carefully, clinically destroy their arguments with facts and logic. Because their tiny brains can't handle that they constantly jump from one topic they were outraged about to another. When they get stumped on "Climate change" to jump to "Abortion is healthcare" or "guns kill people". You can never pin them down. It's like Whack a Mole. I don't bother any more, don't have the time to waste with the idiots and they get so angry they might turn up at my house.
I went through the crucible about 10 years ago. I had to take action to stop a mentally ill student who was brutally beating another student because the voices in his head said she was trying to kill him. State law allows me to use the minimal amount of force to protect myself or another student. I bear hugged the student and carried him outside and closed the door. It really set him off and it took campus security 20 minutes to calm him down enough that they could take him to the office.
I had a bunch of students inside who thought this was funny and used their cell phones to record a video and post it to social media. Within an hour it came pouring down on me. The video had been edited so it completely missed this kid flying into his rage and attacking the student. You could not see her because she was on the ground and unconscious. She spent 6 weeks in the hospital in a comma and suffered a traumatic brain injury that greatly impaired her life. She could never return to school.
The principal decided to make an example of me and prompted the police to arrest me so she could place me on leave. She also started the civil process to get me fired. I was angry because there were so many lies being spread.
The only time my union did anything useful was retaining an attorney to defend me.
The first thing the attorney told me is to not respond. She would respond for me at the appropriate time. I was to say nothing to anyone, including my spouse. It was the most stressful 6 weeks in my life. The criminal case was dropped quickly because the unedited clearly showed I acted . The principal lost her job for pressing forward in her attempt to have me fired and lose my credential. The district settle quickly. The investigation found an email from the the legal counsel representing the district to the principal directing her to drop it because acted appropriately to prevent great bodily harm to a student. She did not drop it.
I hit send too soon. Even after I was cleared of all wrong doing, the mob keep spreading the lies and rumors and attempted to make my life difficult. My attorney told me I had to ignore it and never respond. If I decided to respond, it needed to go through her first. It was a miserable 6 months to the end of the year. I held my head high and did my job. When I returned in the fall, the mob was attacking another. I was old news as they were going after fresh meat. A student would occasionally bring it up and I responded. My response was you cannot believe every rumor you hear and I would move on.
Excellent article/advice! As one who did lose a teaching job for _______ fill in the blank because I simply told the truth about illegal immigration in a think piece for a newspaper. But, luckily, by the time this happened, I learned that 'sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will keep me poor' lesson a long time ago. I'm NOT a Marxist, so life was going to be tough for me. "The trick is not to mind that it hurts" is the best line I've ever heard in movie script (Lawrence of Arabia) and I've applied it many times in my life.
Words you can't say? Isn't that preventing freedom of speech? Honestly, too many good people play along with this nonsense. The ones creating the nonsense will never stop, and you can't argue with idiots, so say the words you want to say and don't apologize for it. No word should be off limits, though in these times, expecting people to curtail vulgar and filthy language (which seldom gets any pushback, anyway)out of consideration and being polite is too much to expect.
I say what I have to say, and I never check back. I’m not in the least curious what a mob of morons thinks. I have no interest in changing their diminutive minds.
This is spot on. I get threats like this almost daily. I'm anonymous which is different than sharing my full name. Even so, I don't take any shit from the cancel mob.
If one of that guy’s six girlfriends has HPV, they all should get tested. Statistically, four out of five sexually active adult women have HPV, and one of those four will have an aggressive strain that can turn into cervical cancer in five years.
As someone who was an early target of the online mob when I dared to use a personal Twitter account to link George Soros to the first migrant caravan in 2018 (I was correct, if imprecise), I went through everything you said. I survived. And one of the benefits of going through the crucible, as difficult as it could be at times (it's worse when the mob tries to get you fired from your job and your company chairman is friends with George Soros), is finding out who your real friends are. I found that experience ultimately enriching.
I used to take the morons to task and carefully, clinically destroy their arguments with facts and logic. Because their tiny brains can't handle that they constantly jump from one topic they were outraged about to another. When they get stumped on "Climate change" to jump to "Abortion is healthcare" or "guns kill people". You can never pin them down. It's like Whack a Mole. I don't bother any more, don't have the time to waste with the idiots and they get so angry they might turn up at my house.
2 other suggestions:
1. mute the conversation and let them moan and bitch among themselves.
2. Ask yourself if the people who live in your 4 walls care or think bad of you. If the answer is no, then it doesn't matter. At all.
💯😎 they tire and move on. Ya gotta let ‘em. Thanks for the guidelines John. 👊
I went through the crucible about 10 years ago. I had to take action to stop a mentally ill student who was brutally beating another student because the voices in his head said she was trying to kill him. State law allows me to use the minimal amount of force to protect myself or another student. I bear hugged the student and carried him outside and closed the door. It really set him off and it took campus security 20 minutes to calm him down enough that they could take him to the office.
I had a bunch of students inside who thought this was funny and used their cell phones to record a video and post it to social media. Within an hour it came pouring down on me. The video had been edited so it completely missed this kid flying into his rage and attacking the student. You could not see her because she was on the ground and unconscious. She spent 6 weeks in the hospital in a comma and suffered a traumatic brain injury that greatly impaired her life. She could never return to school.
The principal decided to make an example of me and prompted the police to arrest me so she could place me on leave. She also started the civil process to get me fired. I was angry because there were so many lies being spread.
The only time my union did anything useful was retaining an attorney to defend me.
The first thing the attorney told me is to not respond. She would respond for me at the appropriate time. I was to say nothing to anyone, including my spouse. It was the most stressful 6 weeks in my life. The criminal case was dropped quickly because the unedited clearly showed I acted . The principal lost her job for pressing forward in her attempt to have me fired and lose my credential. The district settle quickly. The investigation found an email from the the legal counsel representing the district to the principal directing her to drop it because acted appropriately to prevent great bodily harm to a student. She did not drop it.
I hit send too soon. Even after I was cleared of all wrong doing, the mob keep spreading the lies and rumors and attempted to make my life difficult. My attorney told me I had to ignore it and never respond. If I decided to respond, it needed to go through her first. It was a miserable 6 months to the end of the year. I held my head high and did my job. When I returned in the fall, the mob was attacking another. I was old news as they were going after fresh meat. A student would occasionally bring it up and I responded. My response was you cannot believe every rumor you hear and I would move on.
Excellent article/advice! As one who did lose a teaching job for _______ fill in the blank because I simply told the truth about illegal immigration in a think piece for a newspaper. But, luckily, by the time this happened, I learned that 'sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will keep me poor' lesson a long time ago. I'm NOT a Marxist, so life was going to be tough for me. "The trick is not to mind that it hurts" is the best line I've ever heard in movie script (Lawrence of Arabia) and I've applied it many times in my life.
Words you can't say? Isn't that preventing freedom of speech? Honestly, too many good people play along with this nonsense. The ones creating the nonsense will never stop, and you can't argue with idiots, so say the words you want to say and don't apologize for it. No word should be off limits, though in these times, expecting people to curtail vulgar and filthy language (which seldom gets any pushback, anyway)out of consideration and being polite is too much to expect.
I say what I have to say, and I never check back. I’m not in the least curious what a mob of morons thinks. I have no interest in changing their diminutive minds.
This is spot on. I get threats like this almost daily. I'm anonymous which is different than sharing my full name. Even so, I don't take any shit from the cancel mob.
My personal rule #1 - don't post stuff on X, Facebook, Instagram, etc where the crazy mobs live.
Great piece! Thanks!
If one of that guy’s six girlfriends has HPV, they all should get tested. Statistically, four out of five sexually active adult women have HPV, and one of those four will have an aggressive strain that can turn into cervical cancer in five years.
Excellent article John, terrific points.
I am subscribing to you.
Keep going.