Kicking a Twitter habit, building back, and why Pierre Poilievre wants you to be very afraid

First Colossally Irrational report of 2023

As a descendant of Scottish settlers, I am grateful to be producing this newsletter in Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. I understand that this territory is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, I recognize that the land I work and live on was stolen from these nations and I have been afforded privileges as a result. I support giving the land back.

A lot has happened since my last newsletter. As I mentioned back in October “the exhausting pace of the irrationality of the UCP government has taken its toll.” I was looking forward to a break as I traveled overseas to the United Kingdom for the first time. In November, I flew to London for a visit with my daughter, which was hugely therapeutic. 

After returning to Canada and surviving the Christmas whirlwind, I had every intention of getting back to the newsletter in January. Instead, I opted to make some major changes in my social media and news consumption, some of which I’m still figuring out. 

The first change on my list involved quitting Twitter (for this newsletter and as a source of news).

When I joined Twitter in 2009, it was a space where I felt I had a voice, and could connect with other like-minded people. As an early adopter of the tool, I also encouraged other people and organizations to join the site. I personally launched the first accounts for some political parties, environmental groups, politicians, and non-profits. I believed in the power of social media to make change.

It’s not me, it’s you Twitter

Now, 14 years later, I still think social media is a powerful tool to bring about positive change, but I no longer believe Twitter is the right place for this to happen. Twitter is toxic.

By the end of 2022, I felt my voice was almost completely lost in the uproar. It was like shouting into a huge void. It could have been the fact that I refused to engage in arguments with people who attacked me personally, as opposed to attacking my argument. I had a rule that I blocked them. That list was close to 500 people!

These are people who offered no coherent counterpoints, just resorted to “you’re stupid” or “you’re a bad person.” They did not care to know me or care to understand my argument. Why would I engage with them?

Most of my blocked list was built up in the last four years. And in that time, Twitter began to favour the type of arguments and bickering that I was not a part of. The tweets that were being pushed into my feed (and everyone’s) were the ones that were blistering attacks, the most clever insults, and the ad hominem retorts. These had become the biggest feature (not a bug) of Twitter. 

As I evaluated my presence on Twitter, which included more than 3,000 followers and a collection of tweets that numbered in the thousands, I came to the conclusion that it was time to move on. It was a dysfunctional relationship, and an American oligarch was profiting from my contributions to the platform. A lot of folks have come to the same conclusion.

Home is where the mastodons roam 

So, after I made the decision to move to a different platform, I looked around at some of the options and it looks like I’m here to stay on Mastodon. I’ve been slowly rebuilding and helping to support the Fediverse (as the collection of Mastodon instances is known) as it grows. It is a lot like 2009 again, with more of a sense of community, a wider variety of content, and a commitment not to repeat the mistakes of the Twitterverse. 

As I write this, I’ve posted about 300 times and have about 220 followers, but most importantly, when I read my feed, I don’t see the level of insults and attacks that had overtaken Twitter. I can follow popular hashtags like #BlackMastodon and #BlackFriday, or #NativeMastodon and #IndigenousPeoples to find quality content every single day.

And as of now, the haters are not here in any significant numbers. I know there is a lot of moderation and security work being done behind the scenes to keep the community safe. This effort hasn’t been easy and there have been some missteps, but it keeps getting better.

The Missive will look a bit different under this new approach. You won’t see any links to Twitter. I may screen capture tweets on occasion, but only if really necessary. I’ll have some links to Mastodon and am building up a more robust way of monitoring daily news that doesn’t depend on Twitter.

I’m looking forward to writing more in 2023 about the use of language in political discourse here in Alberta. Particularly, I’m interested in how words and phrases are used to deceive, dehumanize and destabilize.

And, I’ll also take a look at some of the language being used in federal politics. There are a few examples I’ve seen there as well, including today’s breaking news, which involves new firearms legislation.

Opposition everywhere, all at once

A story broke this morning about the federal Liberal government withdrawing some controversial amendments to pending firearms legislation. The changes were introduced at the end of November 2022 and drew criticism from all opposition parties, including the NDP.

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor was quoted by CTV News as saying the amendment "derailed" all other progress on Bill C-21.

"I've never seen such a groundswell of opposition come really from everywhere all at once," he said.

In January, the Alberta government was granted intervenor status in six ongoing lawsuits against the federal government’s bill. The provincial government had earlier announced its Crown prosecutors would take over any cases from federal lawyers related to C-21, and may decide not to prosecute those cases. 

Danielle Smith was probably delighted at the prospect of having this looming battle with the Trudeau government, while heading into a spring provincial election. Today’s announcement must have been crushing for them. One less thing for them to trash talk Trudeau about.

Today’s announcement means a list of guns that would have been classified as prohibited under the Criminal Code, will be addressed through regulation instead. The major focus was on long guns used by Canadian hunters and Indigenous people. Now, those guns will not be banned, as was proposed. 

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a statement: "We hear those concerns loud and clear, regret the confusion that this process has caused and are committed to a thoughtful and respectful conversation that is based on facts, not fear." 

MacGregor, who had been critical of the Liberals,  was quoted as saying in the meeting where the reversal was announced, “I appreciate the Liberals taking this step.”

With this major and consequential reversal, you would think conservatives would be celebrating a win. It turns out Mendocino’s comment about a “conversation based on facts, not fear” is the exact opposite of what the CPC has planned.

Don’t own up to your mistakes, according to conservatives

The CBC reported, “Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday he ‘forced Trudeau into a temporary and humiliating climb down." (bold is my emphasis)

Not only is Poilievre taking personal credit for this, even though it came as a result of a large and widespread outcry across the country, he’s suggesting that admitting you made a mistake is a “humiliation.” That doesn’t bode well for future mistakes, because well, we all make mistakes, including Poilievre.

What does Poilievre propose a person do when they make a mistake? I guess it’s better to not admit mistakes than to be “humiliated.” 

This is not what people overwhelmingly want in their leaders. They want them to be humble and admit their mistakes. In research, this is often referred to as “intellectual humility” and the benefits are demonstrable:

• Research by the University of Buffalo found leaders are viewed more positively when they admit mistakes. In addition, a study by Ohio State University discovered their teams shared information more effectively and were more creative.

• Additional studies by Baylor University found when people were perceived as being humble, they had better job performance.

• In a separate study by Baylor University, when people were humble, they were more likely to help others and show support for members of their communities.

• The Duke University study also found when people were humble, they were better at evaluating evidence and accurately discerning whether arguments were appropriately fact-based.

It’s also worth noting that Poilievre is linking the legislation directly back to the Prime Minister, trying to leverage the hatred against Trudeau, a technique that has become so common now that many don’t even register they’re being manipulated by the association. 

In relation to the reference to it being “temporary,” Poilievre goes on to say:

"He desperately wanted to ban hunting rifles — it was a sucker punch to our lawful and licensed firearms owners," Poilievre said of the amendments. "He's doing this because he got caught. We will not let up. Conservatives will never allow Justin Trudeau to ban hunting rifles."

Most importantly, Poilievre doesn’t want you to stop worrying about this issue. He’s making sure he covers all the checkboxes on the list of ways a person creates fear.

• He’s using the word “desperately” to convey the idea that Trudeau is without options, backed into a corner and willing to do anything. What’s more scary than a person in this situation? Check that box.

• He’s evoking a physical fight by claiming the amendment was a “sucker punch.” He wants you to not only imagine that blow (sharp intake of breath), but implies it’s a sneaky - while you’re not looking - unfair hit. Check.

• He says “he’s doing this because he got caught,” which is another way of evoking fear for the future. The claim is that Trudeau can’t be trusted, he’ll try it again and you need us to protect you from this monster. Check that box.

I can feel my adrenaline pumping as I write this…and that’s the point, friends. Don’t ever feel comfortable. You need me to protect you. 

Poilievre wraps it up with this as noted in the CBC article:

“...he expects Trudeau will be back with another plan to target rural Canadians, Indigenous peoples and sport shooters who used these firearms.

"God forbid if he ever got a majority — he'd ram it through," Poilievre said.