william maggot̶s [IL] @wjmaggos@liberal.city

We don't need more mocking and denunciations of the illiberal, whether they are woke or MAGA etc. We need engagement with them about issues & policies relevant to our lives today, so that everyone can think through who has more workable solutions to these problems. #LiberalValues

Public discourse on the open internet is like moving to pickup games vs the NBA. We have to work out the rules ourselves & then abide by them. We're still trying to figure out what's ticky tack BS (cancel culture) vs fouls worth calling (lies, repeated malice). #LiberalValues

The breakdown is willful ignorance. Each side makes perfectly righteous and reasonable claims about what their opponents should be doing regarding fact checking, engaging in good faith conversation and political compromises. They just don't do it themselves. #LiberalValues

A free speech world just requires better crit thinking etc. A better media env requires truly decentralized social media & content supported by small donations from lots of people. We must avoid aud capture & others we don't choose deciding what we see. #fediverse #LiberalValues

Roe was not good law. Neither is Heller. We could pass laws that worked better for everyone if we were better informed, had more honest difficult conversations and reformed our political system away from special interests, like political parties themselves. #LiberalValues

The role of SCOTUS, CDC, election authorities etc are req'd. While all institutions can be fucked by people acting in bad faith, we're now bombarded by unproven claims our system is broken, only when it goes against them and w/o providing real alternatives. #LiberalValues

If you're not seriously engaging other perspectives, your opinions are shit. Or soon will be. #LiberalValues

memes are discourse for lazy midwits. #LiberalValues

Americans have been trained by Hollywood to think in terms of good vs evil, but also to do the opposite of applying Occam's Razor. To look for the more interesting story rather than the simplest explanation. Everything becomes a search for entertainment. #LiberalValues

Encouraging conspiracy thinking is a great way to stop people from thinking about issues, policies or voting. Nothing can be known, nothing can be done. And we now have about half the population ready to believe crazy evil shit about the other half. #LiberalValues

What defines a corrupt government? All I've got is serving private interests over those of the public. Perhaps not following the law or norms? #LiberalValues

The "mainstream media" is hard to define but there are orgs that together effectively define what's true and worth paying attention to for most people. Instead of taking sides, we should be thinking together about how it works and how we might want that to change. #LiberalValues

Social media makes people think they're being judged on their arguments by their likes/RTs/followers. Maybe. But from my exp, those numbers are more closely related to telling people what they want to hear, not bringing clarity to an issue someone is undecided on. #LiberalValues

Y'all could have focused on the #disinformationgovernanceboard and not made it about Nina. Then our public conversation today wouldn't be so stupid, but it also would've been hard to get many people to pay attention to it. We desperately need to upgrade our civics. #LiberalValues

You can be a hardcore advocate for outside of the norm policies, admit where people who generally agree with you are wrong, and not be an aggressively divisive asshole. It won't make you popular with the media or activists, but it can win you the support of voters. #LiberalValues

I know it all feels fucked up but I really do think we're improving. We're getting both more globally connected but also decentralized in our info/understanding. And smarter by dealing with our demons. It's the chaos of the birth of a better culture. #fediverse #LiberalValues

Willful ignorance and finding entertainment in cruelty/hate drives me kinda crazy. How long can people remain interested in that which plays to our lesser angels? #LiberalValues

Nobody will win the culture war, nor will either side disarm. These conflicts are core to who we are. But the fix is pluralism. To recognize that we have bigger concerns and that they require certain norms (#LiberalValues) and institutional structures (#fediverse) to resolve.

When journalists/outlets are routinely shown to be liars and outrage mongers, it's our responsibility to stop following/supporting them and to push back on others who treat them as reputable. The broken information space only gets fixed by policing our own. #LiberalValues

I'm weird for wanting social media usage to accomplish more than entertainment and ego gratification (users) or profit and manipulation (advertisers and owners). #fediverse #LiberalValues