It's been over three months since I've written anything, and it's not without reason. I've been working constantly, and when I've been home I've been helping to raise my kids. It's given me very little time for writing, but I've been wanting to write this story for a while.
A few months ago, a very outspoken friend of mine on Facebook was being targeted by some Neo-Nazis. She found that a Facebook page called, "You Can't Run or Hide Antifa Scum" had put up a picture of her after she, in no uncertain terms, told some white supremacists to go fuck themselves.
The page was created with the supposed intention of exposing anyone that's a part of the Antifas movement in the hopes of getting them to be too scared to do a little Nazi punching. In reality, they were posting a lot of pictures of elderly women, dads holding their kids, and other people that aren't connected to the Antifas movement in any way, but were also outspoken against white supremacists online.
My friend isn't a part of the Antifas movement, nor am I. It's not that we're not sympathetic to the cause; both of us believe that white supremacists need nothing short of a good ass kicking. It's just that we're both parents with full time jobs, so beating the shit from skinheads and klansmen isn't something we can fit into our busy schedules. We may tell some racist shitbags off online from time to time, but actually finding the time to beat the shit from one is a luxury that neither of us have. But she told some white supremacist somewhere online to go drink bleach or whatever, and that was enough to get their attention.
So when that Facebook page attempted to dox her, I very calmly said to myself, "This cannot stand. These people must be dealt with. It's time for to unleash some trollfuckery."
Maybe it's the new anti-anxiety meds that I'm on (more on that in another post), but despite having a history of internet stalkers that drove my political blogging ass into anonymity, I decided to hit them up on Facebook using my real name and identity.
The plan was very simple and was meant to be run with precision. The first part of my plan involved me taking a selfie of myself wearing my "Fuck Racism Punch Nazis" t-shirt, and post it on Facebook under the line: This Machine Trolls Fascists. That went off without a hitch.
The second part got a little more complicated, as I'll tell below. The second part was to go on their page, spew just enough trollery to get noticed, and let my photo get shared on their page.
After it got published, I was going to respond with a whole shit-ton of laughs, and this video:
I called it, Operation: Trolling Phonebook. The purpose of it was twofold:
1. Show that they weren't really exposing anyone in the Antifas movement, and
2. Let them know that nobody was afraid of them. After all, if I, a man not a part of the movement with a full time job and kids was willing to troll them, they really aren't that scary.
It was meant to be a two-fold operation that discredited the page.
So after posting my photo, I went on their page, and spewed just enough shit to get their attention. But the day I did that, I noticed that posting on their page ground to a halt. No new names were being published. All the activity was being done in their comment section by strangers.
I realized that I had been too late to the party.
Some real, online members of the Antifas movement had been on to the owner of the page for quite a while and managed to get him banned from Facebook the day I began my operation. Those magnificent BASTARDS managed to disrupt a perfectly planned plan!
A few days later, the page was shut down, but not before some other white supremacists saw my work on the page.
And that, as John Mulaney said in his bit about the Salt and Pepper Diner, did things go from good to great!
Remember how I told you about my public photo of the T-shirt that says "Fuck Racism Punch Nazis"? Well, holy shit. Did they respond! I literally said "This Machine Trolls Fascists" to tell them why I posted it, and they took the trollbait, anyway.
They responded with trolling. They responded with threats to be me. They responded with death threats. And I just laughed.
Like this guy, Mr. Rich Hickman (find him on Facebook if you want):
"I'll talk to you very very soon". Bwahahahaha!
It's been well over two months, and despite his promises, Mr. Hickman has yet to buy a plane ticket to Detroit International Airport Neither did the dozen or so white supremacist shitbags that trolled my Facebook photo in the months since.
I told you earlier that I was planning on titling this "Absurdism in Dangerous Times". Well that's for a reason.
I posted a long time ago that it was, of all things, a cartoon show that showed me the philosophy of absurdism. After that, I started reading about it a lot. I delved into the works of Alfred Camus.
Absurdism is the idea that life is meaningless. You accept that. You don't try to find some meaning in the meaningless, but instead enjoy that it has no meaning. You are Sisyphus rolling that stone on the hill. The only way to rebel against the gods is to smile at the meaningless of doing so. To take joy in it. You smile as you know that your existence is without meaning or purpose.
It was at the moment that I saw my friend's photo posted on that page that I accepted it as a part of political activism. I used to be afraid to show myself online or in person because of cyberstalkers of years' past. I was afraid of what they could do to me if I allowed myself to be exposed. But at that moment, I took the advice of Morty to full heart:
Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. Come watch T.V.
That's why I had the courage to allow strangers on the internet to try to find me. It's why I laughed as they threatened me. I accepted that my life has no meaning, so fuck any white supremacist that would dare come at me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I was living without fear. Without that fear, I was having the time of my life fighting fascist idiots online. I found what those in addict counseling call, "your higher power". That cause that is bigger than myself.
I recently read the book "The Power of Habit", and it discussed the role that religion has in helping addicts deal with their addiction. In the twelve step programs, it was shown that believing in a faith helped those deal with addiction not necessarily because of the supposed powers of their newfound deity, but because that faith had helped them believe in a cause bigger than themselves. I found mine in fighting fascists on the internet. It was through that that I discovered how absurdity can make one fearless.
We do live in very dangerous times. Like I wrote in my widely (at least as far as this little blog is concerned) shared post, we are now under the presidency of a man who thinks that nukes should be used as conventional weapons. That should scare anyone of sound mind. Yet many of us aren't because of faith or discovery of the pointlessness of life. That includes me.
But like I learned defending my friend, we should embrace absurdism so we remember that the fun is in the fight.
Even though I found joy in the meaningless of life, it doesn't mean that I lack empathy. I still feel great anger when a cop shoots a black man that was legally armed just as I was when I got pulled over by a cop and the cop laughed as I pulled my gun from my glove box into my cup holder. I still feel great anger at the idea that millions of people could lose their health insurance if Obamacare is repealed. I still feel great anger at racism, sexism, and the threat of war hanging over our heads. I'm angry that I have to work six days a week and miss out on free time that I need to spend with my kids and my own mental welfare.
Yes, my empathy causes me to feel great anger at the injustices of this world, but it's remembering the philosophy of absurdism that gives me the courage to fight. It's the knowledge that life is meaningless that makes the fight fun. Our lives might be meaningless, but goddamn it, is it fun to fight evil assholes.
Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. Go punch a Nazi. Or troll them online. Or write your congressman. Whatever works for you.
