free software resistance

 the cost of computing freedom is eternal vigilance

### the-right-wing-grift-of-so-called-american-buddhism *originally posted:* dec 2024 "american buddhism" has nothing to do with eastern religion, or religion at all. i dont mean there arent buddhists in america, but most of the self-proclaimed buddhists living in america arent practicing a religion- theyre living based on a cargo cult self-help philosophy. this really isnt about buddhism or religion- its about taking the trappings of eastern religion and appropriating it to gain money and attention. but im not as concerned about buddhism being exploited (this isnt a defence of buddhism, nor an attack on it) as i am with the effect on society and the people it exploits. its entirely possible to practice eastern religion in the west. people immigrate from asia to america all the time, and bring religion with them. it doesnt stop being buddhism, or hinduism just because someone is practicing it on another continent. sometimes a grifter will subject countless people to his abuse and exploitation, and people will have a profound spiritual awakening despite the guru, not because of his lies. i think george harrison likely managed this. american buddhism isnt about buddhism, any more than fishing is about the worm on the hook. the process is generally the same, but it was rampant with buddhist gurus in america- the same has been done with hinduism, small christian gatherings, even secular philosophies and mlm schemes. many of the red flags of financial abuse are similar and sometimes conflated with mlm schemes (which arent better, only different) but the emotional abuse and control can happen without any money changing hands. the relevance to free software may seem a bit of a stretch, but there are communities adjacent to free software that are affected. for years, the devuan community was, possibly is, run by an emotional grifter of this sort- the guru/devotee relationship subjects people who never signed up for spiritual counselling to emotional manipulation and abuse as part of the devuan experience, but it was rampant for years. in this sort of relationship, a person who considers themselves enlightened (take andrew tate for example) offers advice to victims who are gradually invited to give up autonomy and thinking for themselves. they may be told outright to think for themselves, while constantly subjected to behaviour that abuses and belittles them for doing so and rewards them for conforming to the whims of the abuser. if devuan has tax-free status it should lose it over this abuse, however i believe dyne.org already dealt with the problem on the level of the organisation. since devuan is a community project and not an organisation it probably enjoys some sort of legal ambiguity. my goal here is not to start a ball rolling, but i would really like people to be aware of the broader problem even if they ignore its impact on devuan completely. another american who claims to be buddhist is distrotube. dt is a libertarian bullshit artist whose positions and philosophical stances constantly waver for the sake of popularity. he dismisses the idea that racism still exists in any substantial way, even while america just elected someone who held rallies with people booing hispanics and calling for "mass deportation". distrotube is a complete idiot for thinking this isnt an example of a systemic problem with racism- however he doesnt care about truth or justice, and literally tells people to "just focus on themselves". there is wisdom in looking within, thats a teaching of buddhism and its a teaching of eastern philosophy. what right wing grifters and abuser gurus do with that teaching is justify rape, fraud, hatred and violence towards anyone who disagrees with them. outside the ashram they are genial and all smiles, but those who sign up for time with the guru learn what the devotee life is really like. the hallmarks of abuse in this sort of grifter/devotee relationship are the same across the board- its first and foremost about adoration and respect, though the adoration and respect is strictly one-way. any respect or adoration from the guru is contrived and faked and manipulative. andrew tate doesnt care about anyone. most american gurus do not care about anyone. this is also true of many gurus in other countries, but there is a history of such gurus moving to america and parts of europe to exploit seekers with more substantial funds. following one-way adoration and respect comes the exploitation of time- youre not only expected to flatter and agree with the abuser, now youre expected to spend time along terms they come up with. this may be in the guise of collaboration, like it is with techrights, but like a bbs user who dials in then gets transferred to another connection the collaboration quickly turns into a stream of requests with minimal involvement from the abuser who becomes more distant. the initial 2-way involvement was actually bait. distancing from the victim includes criticising them for being "needy", when actually theyre only exhibiting the exact same behavior they did when it was a 2-way street. the only real change is in the attitude of the abuser- who has gone from being agreeable to being increasingly demanding of someones time while showing less interest in reciprocation or more direct participation. this is a bait and switch tactic- someone joins to collaborate, and is switched towards doing work for free while mostly being ignored- then they are blamed for noticing. whether this is about mlms, a toxic forum manager or a libertarian grifter and human trafficker like tate, the attitude of the abuser is the same- the problem is always the victim, the abuser is always beyond reproach and only acting out of the fact that they care- people simply dont appreciate the guru. this sort of person is a bullshit artist, a user, and a liar. the reason i associate it with "american buddhism" is that there is a well documented history of particularly american "buddhist" gurus treating people this way. i can name a dozen non-buddhist cults that do the same things. but the pattern with buddhist gurus happens to be extremely well documented. if you feel like youve experienced this sort of treatment, even from a project or a startup, your feelings are not only valid- your user has more than likely gone to great trouble to reverse blame onto you, gaslit you and tried to make you think youre crazy to feel this way, and even told other people that youre disturbed or trying to exploit your user. this is also relevant to the way the fsf runs, though the purpose of this article was not to go there- i dont think stallman set out to be this particular sort of guru, but between him and the organisation and its board members, i think this is worth at least a mention. as much as i would like people to be on more of a lookout for literally any example of such an exploitative relationship, the broader picture id love to see people pay special attention to is the ways this plays out in free software and communities adjacent to free software. while that includes the fsf, its not the example that inspired this article. look to other people i mentioned to see just what inspired it. people learn, people mature, people evolve. im as interested in people who do these things developing healthier relationships as i am in people learning to avoid such abuse (its not as easy as it sounds, and people who have been abused before sadly often gravitate to similar abusers later. learning to do better isnt only about knowledge, its about awareness, practice and vigilance). both abusers and good people will build you up. the difference is that good people are honest, they may flatter you sometimes but mostly will give compliments that are sincere and not contrived. years later they will still be building you up, or they will have moved on. they will encourage your autonomy, but importantly they will back that up with their actions and treatment of you, not just more words. abusers will build you up initially, but repeatedly tear you down, build you up so you can be torn down, tear you down so they can "rescue" you from their own abuse, which they will always blame on someone else- often on you. people who sign on for years of abuse are often waiting to get back to that initial point in the relationship where they were baited into trusting and caring for the person that has no intention of reciprocating, in the long run. these are grifters, whether they ask for money or only for your time. they offer one thing, and what they actually give you is something different entirely. it may or may not involve money, but its a scam. its dishonest. and the purpose is exploitation. this is the opposite of freedom- emotional exploitation is emotional slavery, and emotional abusers who do it in the name of personal freedom or software freedom are hypocrites. monopolists like microsoft or literally any cult leader are manipulating you to give up your freedom. they do it with lies, they do it by telling you its for your benefit- they do it with bribes and emotional bribes. and they always profit, and the cost is to you. thats as good a definition for "scam" as any other. license: 0-clause bsd ``` # 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 # # Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any # purpose with or without fee is hereby granted. # # THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES # WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF # MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR # ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES # WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN # ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF # OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. ``` => https://freesoftwareresistance.neocities.org