Re: New animated video: Fight to Repair

[Paul D. Fernhout]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for making this video. It makes an important point about risk and
proprietary software in a persuasive way.

As mentioned previously (2020-08-08) I did not like the last 30 seconds
of "The University of Costumed Heroes" where the FSF-oriented "hero"
kills people. By contrast, "Fight to Repair" does not have that specific
issue, as instead the villain is turned over to the police instead of
being murdered by a vigilante FSF advocate.

There is still physical violence by the hero near the end of "Fight to
Repair" which could *potentially* have ended in the death of the villain
(from being kicked off a motorcycle at high speed). Potentially -- out
of context -- such an action by the hero could be categorized as felony
assault? Although presumably in context that assault would not be
prosecuted as such as it was in defense of two other people's lives? And
in the end the villain just ended up sliding into a pile of garbage
without apparent injury from the physical assault -- which maybe is the
best one could hope for in this genre?

Of course, the police and courts can engage in state-sanctioned
violence. So, turning over a presumed criminal to police isn't entirely
a non-violent conflict-resolving act in that sense (even without things
like George Floyd tragedy). Nonetheless, involving the police or courts
is generally considered an appropriate response to lawbreaking conflict
in our society (especially compared to vigilante violence).

I continue to encourage you -- especially in light of recent events in
the USA -- to think more deeply about crafting FSF messages that avoid
explicitly or implicitly endorsing the idea that "vigilante violence is
the answer". In that sense, this video is much better than the last. But
there may still be room for improvement -- or maybe not given the genre?

In case it helps, here is a book review I did in 2009 on "The War Play
Dilemma: What Every Parent And Teacher Needs to Know" by Diane E. Levin
and  Nancy Carlsson-Paige which might provide some more context on where
I am coming from:
https://pdfernhout.net/the-war-play-dilemma.html
"The "dilemma" is about a fundamental conflict parents face when dealing
with war play. On the one hand, most parents want children to grow and
develop by working through developmental issues (like learning to deal
with conflict, learning self-control, and learning respect for
themselves and others through play, including play involving conflicts
as hands-on-learning). On the other hand, most parents want to convey
social values related to their beliefs about violence and war as ways to
solve social conflicts. The authors clearly do not say all war play is
bad, and they also point out that even a cracker can be turned into a
gun with one bite. The authors say there are no easy general answers to
this dilemma in all situations, but provide a range of options."

Most of us grew up on a steady diet of violent media -- so watching
physical assault in videos has been normalized in that sense. And it's
true that conflict is a core part of almost any story. Thinking about
ways to transcend conflicts -- especially non-violently -- can be a huge
challenge. One possible starting point:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=non-violent+conflict+resolution

Thanks for continuing to refine the FSF message in more positive ways.

--Paul Fernhout (pdfernhout.net)
"The biggest challenge of the 21st century is the irony of technologies
of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity."

On 1/11/21 6:56 PM, Greg Farough wrote:
> Hi, everyone,
> 
> I'm happy to present a new animated video we've produced on the
> crucial need to be able to study and fix the software present in the
> tools we depend on. It has a cyberpunk vibe I hope you'll appreciate.
> Please watch "Fight to Repair," and share it with your friends.
> 
> <https://u.fsf.org/fight-to-repair>
> 
> -g