Cruelty of Anonymity

If the internet has taught us anything about the human psyche, it is how miserable people can be in anonymity. But our internet persons aren't distinct from our social selves, just under-supervised aspects of our personalities. It's easier to bandwagon and mob when it's only an avatar, and your actions are not judged by those who actually know you.
I hesitate to say "in real life" because pitchforks are raised immediately when it is suggested that an online existence doesn't have merit. Of course it does. But if you suggest the internet carries psychological weight, then you must admit it does so for others.
I've been thinking a lot about privilege and racism and the horrors that mankind can inflict upon itself. Racism can be a bit of an umbrella word, like organic. We stack patches onto its meaning until it gets unwieldy and confusing, and every conversation about racism is about "All x are racist" and "I'm not a racist because" when every side uses whatever definition of racism leaves them the least culpable for their atrocities of character.
I am a person of great privilege, and I intrinsically act out of a systemic racism that I desperately attempt to fight, daily. Some days I succeed and some days I fail. But there are other definitions of racism, I'm sure, that would exonerate me. I do not believe I should be ashamed of that racism that stems from my phenotype. No one should be ashamed of their phenotype, whatever advantages or disadvantages it brings. Shame isn't the correct response to most anything. But I still need to understand the systemic advantages my appearance and social class have provided. I have so much more in the way of life chances, and that very privilege carries with it an incultured set of indoctrination and racisms that I may never fully shrug off.
But I will try.


I've been thinking a lot about hate recently. I can't think of an instance in my life where hatred of a person has been constructive. I can't think of a single time in my life where being cruel has helped or been beneficial. I can't even imagine how it could be.