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ziq OP wrote

Reply to comment by kin in Banned /u/yam by ziq

He has a long pattern of ignoring and talking over marginalized groups, the pronoun thing is a good example. Idk why the nerd has so much trouble calling someone by the pronoun they ask to be called by. It's so toxic.

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edmund_the_destroyer wrote

I'm going to play armchair jackass here. I have an autistic kid, and he finds things to argue about and be upset about that I think are not reasonable. So for example, he has a favorite bowl for meals. He gets upset when someone else uses it, even if they clean it immediately and it is available for his next meal.

He has also been arguing with the family over trans ethics. We were able to convince him it's unacceptable to deny anyone their chosen pronouns, and he doesn't care who uses what bathroom. But my spouse, myself, and our other kids accept that a person that labels themself a woman is a woman, a person that labels themself a man is a man, gender fluid is gender fluid, non-binary is non-binary. My autistic child will not accept it, he'll give each person their chosen labels but is emphatic that in truth only the genitals you have at birth matter. We're at a loss to convince him.

But my broader point is that I see the same kind of odd hangups over labels and specifics not pertinent to core issues in Stallman. I don't know if anyone would be insulted by this metaphor, but I would call it a kind of OCD for language.

It doesn't excuse the harm he creates and enables. It just explains a bit about the personality behind it.

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kin wrote

Very good point, give me lots to think about

Neurodiversity can play a role here, and your parenting experience demonstrate that is not always easy to figure out what is the best way.

I truly don't have any experience in this but my own, not sure what are the limits of a Neurodiverse adult etc. Usually to avoid being woke without reason or when things got to complicated I step back and think: Is this harming someone? Is this making someone unsafe or feel unsafe? Am I silencing this person voice, or am I hijacking his "place"?

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kin wrote

Thanksn for the downvotes, but if it is not clear I am not defending RMS, I barely know all this free software stuff.

Again, I am not using disability or neurodiversity as a defense for bad behavior, if it is not clear I apologize for my bad english. If I said something wrong please correct me, I don't mind.

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kin wrote

My reply was exclusively for edmund and the case of his son

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masque wrote

This is my take as well. I don't know if he's been diagnosed with anything, but Stallman is pretty clearly neurodivergent in some way, and I do actually think that some of his problematic statements can be interpreted differently in light of this.

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kin wrote

A lot of folks are blinded by their own privileges and the main toxic culture. When you deny someone's identity, or feelings, or history, etc, you can cause an scar that may never heal. I don't expect everyone to be empathetic towards other's, but then they can't complain about the struggle of others

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