Recent reception of my reading of the Chris Mackney suicide letter has made the following brief statement necessary.
Impulsive vigilantes have taken it upon themselves to post private information on Chris Mackney’s ex-wife after hearing of Chris’ suicide letter. This information included her home address. One user even advocated violence on my channel, right before being swiftly banned.
Before this escalates any further, let me say one thing to the most impassioned vigilantes that happen to be reading this article: Don’t be stupid.
Going after the ex-wife gives the courts ammunition, gives gynocentric and/or misandric publications an excuse to rehash tired propoganda, and fuels anti-male values.
Granted, the media will dishonestly cast most of us as evil no matter what we do, so our appearance is not the main concern. The main concern is that vigilante action will cause undeserved harm to many people.
If Anita Sarkessian can get $160,000 for being “oppressed” by 4chan comments, imagine how much a witch hunt would secure for mothers at the expense of men currently struggling to be heard in family courts. The last thing fathers need is a stronger legal precedent that subjects their stories to lockdowns more aggressive than the one imposed by Bean, Kinney and Korman. Male suffering is vastly under-examined in scholarship and in the media as it is, and no progress can be made if the system feels a greater incentive to hide pertinent information.
If that is not enough to convince you that directing anger at the ex-wife is a bad idea, rest assured that feminists are just waiting for the next opportunity to point and say “SEEEE?! This is why you need us! This is why Feminism is the answer!” Going vigilante gives them that roasted opportunity on a silver platter with an apple garnish.
Nothing any of us do will bring Chris Mackney back from the dead, let alone make him feel some sense of fulfillment about the courts.
In fact, aggressive, misplaced anger will simply create more Chris Mackneys once our already callous system decides that it is still not protective enough of women. Chris’ children will also suffer more than they already have if anger is directed toward their home.
Not that you don’t have reason to be angry. You do. Oh God, you really do. But that anger can be channeled into more productive activism such as reading public court records, questioning authority in public spaces with a camera in hand, poster campaigns and individual lobbying with local decision makers. The best activism is not only peaceful and assertive, but also justified. The Mackney suicide justifies peaceful activism because it serves as yet another piece of evidence to toss on the pile. New advocacy opportunities will arise if activists are serendipitous.
Use the Mackney story, if anything, as a reason to step up your game and set a better example as an independently-minded citizen. Use your anger as fuel for motivation, and use your motivation as a catalyst for change. Lighting torches and raising pitchforks will only prompt the corrupt to feel justified in their own actions.
Take care not to give them that power.
Comments on this thread will be closed since we spent too much time moderating comments the last time because one or two assholes would not heed our requests.
Comments on this thread will be closed because last time we discussed this topic one or two assholes would not respect our polite request not to go above and beyond what the late Mr. Mackney requested. Thanks to the 99.9% of you who were and are not assholes.