I once heard the term racket described as the thing you do that gets you significance. You can get significance from the fear someone feels when you hold a gun to their head. Or from creating great things. Those who don’t want to labor resort to the former in one way or another.
People have it, political groups have it. The “gun” is often codes created that allows a reign or tyranny over others.
Over the past few years I’ve seen an “oppression racket” develop, especially with women. Humor about women became off limits (the loss of humor is always the first sign of cultural decline) and women had the right to assault people—call them names like misogynist, or, even worse. make them listen to our measured controlling performance of patience as we were forced to carry the “emotional labor” of educating you why you were “tone deaf.” If anyone disagreed with anything a woman said, they were called ignorant, rather than acknowledging that they were confronting her on her game. Social codes were used to silence that they were calling out the superiority of her domination.
I like the expression: “We will not negotiate with terrorists,” terrorists, in this case, being those who have weaponized their particular form of suffering to gain an untouchable position.
We now have the “allies” who are more passionate than the marginalized people themselves. Those who express their “oppression envy” by “calling out” their own kind.
I changed my litmus test: I will not participate in any movement that takes itself seriously. Why? Because it is only there to produce the suffering of significance. It comes from and perpetuates samsara; piling more significance onto ANY identity breeds suffering. The enablers know this and that is how they oppress. They do not want to lose their corner on the market of self-importance. Oh, the power-tripping of the activist class who want to police others with their in-group tactics. Don’t fall for it.
Provide love. Provide care. Get out of suffering the causes of suffering. Help those who want to get out of suffering. Laugh much and often.