Links der Woche

  • Where do conspiracy theories come from?:

    “In his short essay The Conspiracy Theory of Society, Popper begins by describing the worldview of the ancient Greeks. For them, the Gods took an active interest in human affairs and anything that happened had their tacit approval. Events like the Trojan war were the direct result of divine meddling in human affairs. Popper believes that this belief never faded away and that now, instead of using God, conspiracy theorists suppose events are orchestrated by “various powerful men and groups—sinister pressure groups, who are to be blamed for having planned the Great Depression and all the evils from which we suffer.””

  • We’re in the midst of an apocalypse. And that’s a good thing.:

    “In Greek, the word apocalypse means to uncover, to peel away, to show what’s underneath. That’s what this country has been experiencing in the past six months. There has not been a sudden uptick in sexual misconduct and assault in our country, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are simply exposing what was already there. The reality that some men comment on, threaten, masturbate in front of, intimidate and assault female bodies is finally being brought out of the dark ubiquity of women’s personal experience and into the light of public discourse. The male domination at the center of the sexual harassment issue — how those in positions of power (usually, but not always, men) have used that power to sexually gratify themselves at the expense of those who are subordinate to them (usually, but not always, women) — is being revealed apocalyptically in prime time.”

  • „Junge Freiheit“, „Achse des Guten“, „Tichys Einblick“, AfD: Sprache & Vokabeln:

    “Auf Twitter aber sehe ich immer wieder eine Blase, einen politischen Kosmos, der mich abstößt und der mir Angst macht. Hier kurz gesammelt: die Phrasen, Codes, Signalworte, Floskeln und Stichworte, die dort IMMER wieder auftauchen.”

  • How Feminists in China Are Using Emoji to Avoid Censorship:

    “Take, for example, Chinese feminists’ embracing of #MeToo. The movement, which sought to show the volume of sexual misconduct against women by sharing stories of harassment and assault accompanied by the hashtag, came to prominence in China after a former doctoral student named Luo Xixi shared a letter on Weibo about being sexually harassed by a former professor. The story quickly went viral, sparking a huge debate about sexual misconduct and leading Weibo to block the #MeToo hashtag. But Chinese feminists found a way around it—they began using #RiceBunny in its place along with the rice bowl and bunny face emoji. When spoken aloud the words for “rice bunny” are pronounced “mi tu,” a homophone that cleverly evades detection.”