...is that actual dangerous things (serial abuse, rampant bigotry, open corruption) get dismissed as petty drama while actual petty drama gets treated as a danger.
Sadly, this often really applies in leftist/social justice spaces.
For example "I won't work with that person/group because they don't view me as human/actively wish me harm/are repeatedly abusive" isn't "carceral" or "divisive" it's beyond justified.
"I won't work with someone because we had a minor tactical disagreement/polycule drama 3 years ago" is not.
But the reverse is often what happens. This is not an abstract issue. Communities and efforts routinely get shattered because too many indulge an influential abuser, open transmisogyny, or all resources being siphoned off by a small clique/grift (to pick just a few examples).
On the other end, relatively small - or even entirely fabricated - issues get blown up as reasons for sudden exile or demonization. Indeed, this is often done by the bigoted, abusive and corrupt. Indeed, it's not rare for them to do so to punish those speaking up about their actions.
This is insidious because it seems to do an incredible amount of internal damage but without really any immediate solution at hand. These are deep-seated cultural problems that seem to be getting worse. Addressing them is a must — and incredibly difficult.
Way less deference to influential (and often highly privileged/connected to the non-profit complex) "organizers," more prioritization of discernment/investigative skills and hard boundaries against abuse are all absolutely necessary. The rot's also deep. Things ain't hopeless, but they ain't good.
(This is drawn from a thread I posted on the hellsite ages ago, but it regularly deserves a repeat so I'm posting it here too)
This seems like a case where everyone agrees that this problem exists, but there turns out to be a ton of disagreement about what actually is petty and what is important
