just saw half of a conversation where someone is talking about how it’s ableist to make fun of mark zuckerberg for being expressionless (it is) and that we should instead make fun of him for being a “sociopath” (later used the word “psycho” too) and THAT
is ableist too

BIGOTRY IS NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS. if zuckerberg really had whatever mental illness you think “sociopath” means, he’d probably be a very vulnerable and scared person.

“lack of empathy” DOES NOT make evil

infact empathy is a very powerful tool in the hands of someone evil.

this is getting into exactly the sort of territory where mastodon is a bigoted shithole for disabled ppl - folks are always SPEAKING from IGNORANCE about this stuff and the pressure is on isolated mental health activists to be brave and explain all of MH activism from the ground up in the face of mounting disbelief

mark zuckerberg is a rich person who actively propagates and profits from surveillance capitalism and right-wing propaganda

the part where he’s more unsettling or bad, because his face makes slightly uncanny expressions, because you suspect he might not have empathy? that’s YOUR ABLEISM making him seem more inhuman than, say, justin trudeau or any other charming, attractive, allistic-presenting imperialist villain

@pan This toot got deep into my head space. I think maybe part of it is that we want to call these people evil but we (Americans especially) are deeply uncomfortable with saying that they are too wealthy. That they individually wield too much power over others so instead we make fun of their expressions or the way they speak or their weight. Anything to attack the individual without calling into question the legitimacy of capitalism.

@vector in a broader sense, it’s also about the pathologisation of evil tho. it’s not like he’s just any rich guy and he’s only bad because he’s rich (altho i do agree that hoarding wealth is inethical). he collaborated with fascists to help them consolidate/gain power

when you call a fascist a “sociopath” you’re NOT just attacking one person. it normalises further ostracism of disabled ppl everywhere, and lets the fascist off the hook

@pan I see what you're saying. Zuckerberg has made money in a less ethical way than others, but what I was trying to say is that the system we live in is one that has a hard time criticizing how you make your money. The ethical dimension of our actions is not really priced into the market.

Zuckerberg wasn't trying to help fascists. He was just trying to make money, and capitalism doesn't make you pay a price for helping fascists.