Re: New animated video: Fight to Repair

[quiliro]

"Paul D. Fernhout" <pdfernhout@kurtz-fernhout.com> writes:

> 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.

That is a very enlightening analysis.  Thank you very much for your
input Paul                                       .

I would like to see some good reference to non-violent examples, beyond
the classical King and Gandhi, in order to visualize what a non-violent
free software promotional video could be.