Embracing Empowerment

It was inevitable.

Whenever people are pushed, victimized, or stifled, there always arrives a time for backlash.  It could come quickly or it could take years, even generations.  But it always happens at some point.  It's who we are as humans.  And when that opportunity to fight back comes, it's almost impossible to restore the status quo.  This is the natural order of things.

There is little more inspiring to us than to see those who were once subjugated to powerlessness step forward with a renewed spirit in front of a populace willing to listen.  Whether it be the people of an oppressed nation, an impassioned group of idealistic high school students, or the victims of abuse, these newly found voices need to be celebrated and encouraged by all of us.

In the hacker world, we generally consider ourselves to be open to the views of everyone.  For decades, we've said that "we exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias" (as stated so eloquently in the "The Hacker Manifesto").  We defend the right of all to speak, no matter how distasteful the words may be.  Anonymity is our friend, allowing all to put forth an opinion without fear of being exposed and held accountable.  And these values eventually found their way into the mainstream and onto the net, where they more or less became the default attitude.  As the famous cartoon in The New Yorker said, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."

But clearly, this is an idealistic view that's only partly true.  While theoretically we're all equals and we're judged only by the words that come from our keyboards, in reality the same ugliness that pervades society trickles down into our community as well.  We've always known this.

One has only to pore through old IRC logs, USENET posts, or BBS archives to quickly find examples of sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and racist dialogue, things we all simply accepted as normal without really considering how crippling these attitudes have been to others.  It's only now, as the people on the other side of these words come forward, that many realize how wrong it was to just tolerate this or to believe that it was all in good fun and there were no real victims.  There were.  There are.  And, as long as we allow it to continue, there always will be.

By witnessing the extent of the #MeToo movement, everyone can realize how pervasive sexual abuse has been in our culture.  No institution has escaped this.  Religion, politics, entertainment, corporate boardrooms, sports, media, and yes, tech.  Yes, even the hacker community.  When the sickness is this profound, there are very few places where you can find refuge from it.

So what's changed?  Why do we know better now?  Primarily, it's because of the empowerment that has finally been realized by those who were taught to have no hope of things ever being different.  They have raised their voices, banded together, and forced the rest of us to confront the ugliness and finally start doing something about it.  Sometimes, all it takes is the courage of a single person to open up the floodgates.  Other times, it's a prolonged effort that's resisted at every turn.  But once it begins in earnest, it really can't be stopped.  And if this makes you uneasy, you should ask yourself why.

Change is always difficult, even when it's essential.  Something as innocent as moving from one school to another can seem impossible to accomplish, and as children we might resist vehemently.  The more serious changes - granting equal rights to the oppressed, accepting different and changing cultures, acknowledging one's mistakes on both an individual and collective level - are almost always resisted to some degree, even by good people who ultimately know better.  When the tipping point comes - and the tipping point always comes - it seems unconscionable that we ever allowed such an oppressive environment to exist in the first place.  It becomes easy to see how wrong we were and we all rush to make judgments since we now live in a more enlightened era.  And that's where the cycle begins all over again.  We don't see ourselves as part of the problem.  It's always someone else.

Once we've come to terms and realized that we have in fact been on the wrong side of history, it's very easy to do the right thing.  It's so much harder to apply that moving forward, to consider that we may still be acting in an unjust and unfair manner.  The way we tackle this is by listening - and by never assuming a challenge to one's beliefs is a threat.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage to come forward and confront an injustice, whether it's on a personal or a systemic level.  The very fact that we saw so many people doing this in recent months is a clear illustration of just how intimidating the entire process is.  Imagine having to live with the secret of being abused for years or decades because the entire process of seeking justice would likely backfire and cause you even more pain.  We see how many people this has affected, but we're only seeing the cases that affect people already in the limelight.  How pervasive is this and how many more ordinary, non-famous people are also victims?  It's hard to even fathom.

Of course, any system can be abused and, now that the voiceless are finally being heard, we expect a wave of opportunists to sweep in, using this forum to settle scores or profit in some way.  This is not something to be feared, as long as we don't fall into the same trap of fact-free judgment we're so often drawn to.  We know there will be mistakes and injustices.  But this is inevitable in any scenario; not confronting the demons amongst us is simply not an option anymore.

The hacker community has always been particularly thoughtful and introspective.  That is why we are well suited to look critically at ourselves and figure out how best to make improvements.  We must avoid the arrogance of knowing we're right and remain open to the possibility of being completely wrong.  Much like we handle technology itself, we need to always consider new ways of approaching old issues, embracing the modern without rejecting the history.  Change is essential, but it's not always correct.  We need to experiment, try new methods to solve a problem, admit our mistakes, and share our results.  It's only when we dig our heels in and refuse to consider other ideas that we begin to stagnate.  And that is the first step downwards.

Every time we see someone stand up to the system, whether it's a kid in school, someone who's handicapped, a victim of bias, or a challenger of abuse, that is a moment to cheer and to strongly support.  Many times, all that the rest of us need do is listen.  Take the person seriously.  Respect where they are coming from.  We're often so used to getting this ourselves that we forget how many others have to fight to be heard.  And what they have to say could change everything.

But most importantly, we have to avoid becoming the people who are the problem.  We do that through communication and by setting examples.  It's not too late even if you added to the problem in the past.  Understanding how people go down a bad road is key to not making similar mistakes in the future.

There is a reason kids today are so perceptive and much more morally conscious with regard to social issues, the environment, alternative cultures, and using their voices.  They've seen the results of getting it all wrong... greed, pollution, prejudice, bullying.  They've witnessed the abhorrent behavior of those who want those "good old days" to return, and they know how to use social networks to build movements to fight back.  Sure, you will find exceptions to this and many will argue that the youth of today is as close-minded and self-centered as ever.  But we believe there is a measurable change in the air, brought about by a growing amount of frustration, anger, and support.  As hackers and those who build and rebuild technology, this is something we've seen before.  When we're pushed so far in the wrong direction, the inevitable push-back momentum takes us much further in the right direction than if we had simply gotten there on our own.  In that way, the proponents of injustice and abuse have been key motivators in our making the world a better place.  All we have to do is react.