GUEST EDITORIAL By Richard C. Wolfman

I’m going to start by stating that this is an article by someone who was generally unaware of the nature of the Social Justice Warrior or of the extent of the problem and thus had to take a crash course from Hell during the early months of GamerGate. This is article is intended to provoke discussion and not to be an definitive authority.

People throw the term Social Justice Warrior around a little too casually on Twitter. Let be honest though typing SJW saves a lot of characters and conveys a lot of information. Also it’s fun to simply tweet “Fuck You! Eat Ethics!” at random aGGros and see if they have you blocked. However SJW a term that we really should do our best to define and explain as people have started using the term simply as a way to yell at people on the internet who disagree with them.

So what is Social Justice Warrior? Let’s get a clear definition.

I originally thought it was simply an evolution of the term `Keyboard Warrior` used to mock online activists who talked a good game but never actually got off their asses and DID anything to help the poor unfortunate victims of capitalist oppression. Yes, there is quite a bit of that to go around but a SJW is first and foremost a group of people that share a very particular mindset. What kind of mindset? Well, it’s been noted that they operate as a cult. However this doesn’t seem to be a conscious decision of any sort even if certain SOCJUS leaders take advantage of their brainwashed followers in much the same manner.

Let’s stop and explore that mindset so we can narrow down what we mean when we say Social Justice Warrior. I’ll start by presenting a video on the subject. This video was the final catalyst for this article and I hope you’ll at least watch the first half. I especially found his explanation of the left-right spectrum very useful. Key section is from (3:00 to 7:10)

This video is problematic by J. T. Sexkik (29:10)

An Social Justice Warrior is a person who is

1: Far Left Politically

2: Heavily invested or focused in identity politics.

3: Has thought patterns that show low levels of Integrative Complexity

Now let’s examine each of these in turn.

SJW Trait 1: Far Left Politically

As J. T. Sexkik explains to be on the political left is to think primarily in terms of oppressor versus oppressed and to consider hierarchies that exist in the world to be unfair. To be on the far left indicated that this line of thought dominates your day to day thinking. This may explain the appeal of radical third wave feminism and the magical mysteries of Patriarchy Theory; since the existence of the all powerful Patriarchy explains to the far-leftist mind just who is unjustly oppressing the horribly oppressed victims of the world. I don’t think anybody denies that Social Justice Warrior are far-leftist thinkers (when they even think at all) so let’s move on to the next trait.

SJW Trait 2: Heavily Invested or Focused in Identity Politics.

This is the calling card of the Social Justice Warrior and ultimately what brings them to most people’s attention. Everything is about sexism or racism and must therefore be rigorously examined from that perspective until a flaw can be detected and exploited. Never mind that identity politics are absolute poison when it comes to gaming or completely irrelevant as a typical core games will only ask two questions upon meeting a new person who expresses an interest in games.

-Do you play the same games as me?

-Are you skilled enough that playing with or against you will be fun?

But no of course identity politics will have to brought into gaming conversations by the SJW blogger desperate to spread the White Man’s Burden in order to alleviate his white guilt. This quickly creates a massive gulf between the worldview and interests of the gaming journalist and that of the hardcore gamer. Which leads to alienation of the audience and eventually led to the `Gamers are Dead` articles.

SJW Trait 3: Low Levels of Integrative Complexity

This is the big one and J. T. Sexkik`s main contribution to the study of SOCJUS. Obviously I agree with him or I wouldn’t made his video the centerpiece of this article. Integrative Complexity might just be the secret mystery ingredient to our special snowflake souffle. It’s also an entirely new concept to me so you’ll have to bear with me as I fumble around trying to explain it.

In essence integrative complexity is the ability to examine a situation from multiple points of view and to consider alternate possibilities. Also involved is taking into account hoe the real world might differ from a persons ideals and core values. A person with low IC will tend to stick to their guns and not change their mind even when confronted with evidence to the contrary.

To quote Mr. Sexkik. “I think what defines a Social Justice Warrior is a profound lack of integrative complexity.”

So in summary we have a person who thinks in terms of oppressor versus oppressed; who is obsessed with the politics of race and gender and finds it difficult if not impossible to examine ideas and concepts from a point of view that is not exactly identical to the one they already hold.

Does any of this sound familiar? Do you see how people how operate in this mindset might be somewhat problematic to the rest of society?

So how does a true Social Justice Warrior act? Well happily it turn that we already have some rules to explain that.

The Three Rules of SJW Behaviour (Vox’s Laws)

1: SJW’s ALWAYS lie

2: SJW’s always double down

3: SJW’s always project

These laws were discovered by cartoon super-villain Vox Day by way of years of illegal experimentation on captured CHORFs in his secret evil moonbase of misogyny. Over the course of GamerGate these behaviours have been repeatedly spotted in the wild and can now be considered to have been proven by hard won experience.

Again let’s examine each of these in detail.

The First Law of the Social Justice Warrior

Social Justice Warriors always lie.

Social Justice Warrior are if not pathological liars at least well practised and habitual lairs. The sheer audacity of some of these lies can be quite impressive to observe but that doesn’t change to fact they are lies. They start of course by lying to themselves… but that’s a chain of thought I’d best left to more experienced internet psychologists. The key thing is a Social Justice Warrior can be counted on to constantly lie, even when that lie can be easily debunked. Even in situations where it is clearly to the SJWs advantage and best interests to tell the truth they will instead lie out of sheer habit.

The Second Law of the Social Justice Warrior

Social Justice Warriors always double down.

So what happens when a SJW is caught in lie or makes a mistake due to their usual incompetence? Or maybe someone has actually called them out on their bullshit? Or one of their bullying targets doesn’t go down like the strawman they mistook them for? Why of course they “double down.” They increase the stakes and escalate the conflict.

This is actually what we saw with GamerGate. It was in the CLEAR best interests of GameJournoPros and friends to DESCALATE the conflict and let things calm down but instead they caved to the social justice crowd (or the feminist academics pushing them from behind) and fed the fires at every chance and made blunder after blunder. Why? Because a Social Justice Warrior CAN NEVER BE WRONG! Their worldview will not allow it and even when they know they will lose a confrontation the fear of the other SOCJUS cult members turning on them will drive them into martyrdom.

Here’s things get interesting because in the Social Justice Warrior’s desperation to NEVER BE WRONG they’ll misallocate resources, choose outrageous arguments and pick ridiculous mismatches. This leads to absolutely ludicrous spectacles such as a senior editor at Tor attacking and slandering Daddy Warpig at a critical point during Sad Puppies 3 and drawing GamerGate into a fight 98% of us were completely unaware of.

That’s right! Patrick Nielsen Hayden, (a man at the HEIGHT OF HIS PROFESSION) got so butthurt that he went out of his way to slander, scapegoat and launch a Twitter mob at ”some guy with a podcast.” That’s my friends is mismatch and one the greatest mistakes in the history of The War for the Heart of Geekdom.

And last I checked Daddy Warpig was still here (even if his beard did fall in battle.)

The Third Law of the Social Justice Warrior

Social Justice Warriors always project.

Psychological projection? On the internet? Yes you’re going to see a lot of it and with Social Justice Warriors you’re going get enough projection to run a chain of movie theatres. Why? It likely has a lot to do with their profound lack of integrative complexity. Since a SJW can only see any issue from a single point of view they naturally have no choice but to assume that you have the same deceitful and selfish agenda that they do. Absolutely this has to be the case. No only motives will be projected onto a SJW’s opponent but even tactics and strategy.

A harassment campaign to drive women out the gaming industry?

Why is that what a group of Helldump veterans and corrupt indie devs would do in #GamerGate position?

Just asking a question.

Note on Sargon’s Law:

A first glance Sargon’s Law appears simply to be a variation and a restatement of the Third Law. However it is both an expansion of subject and a contraction of effect. Additional study will be required on this topic as my headmates were unable to come to a decisive conclusion. However it should be noted that Sargon’s Law was discovered independently from Vox’s Third Law and has proven valid on a number of occasions.

End Notes: (Because footnotes are a bitch for Ralph to edit.)

Other optional ingredients in a special snowflake souffle: Nutmeg, cinnamon, hair dye. problem glasses, unwarranted self-importance, fair trade chocolate, and histrionic personality disorder. Best served in an upside down fedora.

Hearts of Iron fans will understand: Low IC = Bad. High IC = Good.

CHORF: Cliquish Holier than thou Obnoxious Reactionary Fanatic. A subspecies of SJW found in science fiction publishing and certain conventions. Named for the sound an overweight white knight makes while choking on a piece of fried chicken.

Article on the SJW explosion during the Hugo nomination announcements:

https://theralphretort.com/sjw-nutters-accuse-gamergate-of-rigging-the-hugo-awards-404015/

In an intriguing development Vox Day has announced that he will be writing a non-fiction book titled SJW’s Always Lie: How to defend yourself from the Thought Police. The title alone guarantees salt and this book has the potential to be the most triggering thing to hit Greater Nerddom since Jar Jar Binks:

http://voxday.blogspot.ca/2015/07/good-news-bad-news.html