In which I sing a song for JonMon

[harrock.livejournal.com]

My creative energy has been just about zero lately, thanks to a very busy schedule at work. But I'll say this for JonMon: His Lawsuit of Mass Destruction has inspired me. My wife, firstfrost, has received a threat letter, but she is not yet named in the LMD. I'm proud of everything she has said about JonMon. I didn't need JonMon's validation to be proud of her, but data is data.

I haven't been named or threatened in the LMD (yet), and I don't mean to make light of the anxiety that it has caused in our community. In particular, if you have taken something down or remained silent thanks to JonMon's toolbox of intimidation, I want you to know that I think no less of you for it. Every situation is unique, and we all have our limits of what we can deal with right this minute. My limit is high right now, so I'm standing up.

Likewise, I respect the opinions of those who have counseled caution or outright silence. I disagree with some of your key points, and I feel that some of your arguments apply better to people who are more concerned with anonymity than I am, or who cannot afford to risk an extended legal fight. The bottom line for me is this: One of the basic functions of any community is to sound a warning when a predator is around. If we're not sure the law can handle that, then it's time to get out and push.

This song is about JonMon's Lawsuit of Mass Destruction, and it is sung to the tune of "Charlie on the M.T.A." Permission is hereby granted to $verb this song, for all values of $verb, for every human being on planet Earth with the exception of Jonathan Graves Monsarrat. No permission of any kind is willingly granted to Mr. Monsarrat. In case he hadn't noticed, that's what happens when you are in the habit of excreting on your community.

---

Let me tell you the story
Of a man named JonMon
Who would really like to have his way...
He's the internet icon
Who you can't use your Psych on
He's the man who never will learn!

  Oh, his bridges are burned
  Please don't let him return...
  'cause his lesson's still unlearn'd!
  He may scam forever
  In the Square of Davis
  He's the man who never will learn!

He used to go by JonMon
But his rep has gone creepy
What's a smooth operator to do?
When you need to sound wholesome
Though your act is still loathesome
Then I guess that "Johnny" will do.

  Oh, his bridges are burned
  Please don't let him return...
  'cause his lesson's still unlearn'd!
  He may lurk forever
  On the blogs of Davis
  He's the man who never will learn!

Johnny says he's a victim
Because people keep on talking
Of some things no court has ruled
He says "come on and prove it
Or I'll make you remove it"
He's amazed when nobody's fooled

  Oh, his bridges are burned
  Please don't let him return...
  'cause his lesson's still unlearn'd!
  First he's looking your pants off
  Then he's suing your ass off
  He's the man who never will learn!

In Johnny's world the only law
Is what he gets away with
'less it's something he can use
To club his detractors
And intimidate their backers
And escape from paying his dues

  Oh, his bridges are burned
  Please don't let him return...
  'cause his lesson's still unlearn'd!
  He will leave you disgusted
  His ways won't be adjusted
  He's the man who never will learn!

Now the citizens of Davis Square
Are standing up to Johnny
And we all know what to do
When he says that you've been served...
And whines "I'm not a perv"
Just smile, and answer "fuck you!"

  Oh, his bridges are burned
  Please don't let him return...
  'cause his lesson's still unlearn'd!
  He'll play his games forever
  In the Square of Davis
  He's the man who never will learn!
  He's the man...who never will learn!

Comments

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to Christianity, having never been one or studied the religion much, but I have studied Buddhism. Which is pretty solidly on the side of calling people out on their bad behavior as a form of compassion - people need to know they're fucking up their karma. You see, bad karma is not punishment as a result of behavior, it's a negative behavior pattern we're stuck in that keeps bringing us grief. Sometimes you need a really hard shove to get out of that pattern, which is why Zen masters sometimes engage in physical aggression toward their students to get them closer to enlightenment. And this is just a song!

In other words, letting someone continue to act in a horrible fashion isn't just failing to show compassion to their victims (and I am appalled by how little consideration you have for them, given how much you talk about compassion), it's failing to be compassionate toward them. You should ponder on that for a while.

[moechus.livejournal.com]

Buddhism does not condone needless cruelty. It may be just a song but it is hurtful, cruel and totally unnecessary. I certainly don't advocate letting him continue to act in a horrible fashion but if you think this will help, I fear you are mistaken and merely rationalizing the community's lust for revenge. I think it more likely to reinforce his image of himself as victim and make the maintenance of that self-image all the more vital. Which could lead to even worse behavior as he has less and less to lose by it and nothing to gain by changing it. I know that he has made promises before and broken them but that doesn't mean that we should block the path to change (unless you want to make his inability to change a self-fulfilling prophecy).

I certainly have compassion and consideration for the victims but that's not what the song is about. The best writing on compassion that I have ever read is Schopenhauer's "On the Basis of Morality." He was deeply influenced by Hindu and Buddhist thought and sees all normal behavior as driven by the individual's will to live, i.e., by self-interest. Acts done out of self-interest are neither blameworthy or praiseworthy. They are merely natural. He sees malice, which he defines as disinterested cruelty (i.e., hurting someone when it does not serve our self-interest) as inherently blameworthy and compassion, defined as disinterested kindness (i.e., helping someone when it does not serve, and even harms, our self-interest) as inherently praiseworthy, indeed as the basis of all morality. It is the instinctive recognition that underneath it all, we are all one (tat tvam asi as they say in India), subject to the inexorable and lacerating will. As such it extends to all. To feel for the victim only because one sees oneself as potential victim is self-interest. True compassion requires the obliteration of the distinction between victim and perpetrator, indeed the obliteration of all distinctions between individuals. All are in the same boat as living, suffering beings. As the First Noble Truth puts it, "All life is sorrowful."