Agora, challenges of an evolving movement
The growing movement
As Agora begins to impact more and more lives, new forms of criticism are to be expected.
The community should be prepared for:
Mockery: Agora's plan is audacious and such plans arouse jealousy and scorn.
Groups of people may mock saying, “who are you to dare to think that you can do such a thing?” “This vision is grandiose.” The tribal desire to ensure nobody stands out, to ensure every nail that sticks out is hammered down comes into play here.
Disdain: Agora's philosophy contradicts the moral values of modern Western nations.
When one talks about excellence, one reveals the laziness of the unwilling. This is often met with disdain.
The spotlight of criticism
If one chooses to be a part of Agora, one must steel themselves not to be easily swayed by the criticism of others, or feel as though their investment into Agora puts them into moral jeopardy, just because the morals of Agora are being publicly questioned.
Bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias that makes standing up in such situations difficult. It’s a cognitive bias that describes the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, beliefs, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. It's driven by a desire to "fit in" or be on the "winning side," and people often ignore or override their own beliefs to align with the perceived majority.
How it applies
When being part of a work that is heavily criticized, one can feel like they're standing under a giant spotlight, forced onto a stage, with people around demanding that one speak for themselves. It can feel like a firestorm or frenzy, but one has to steel themselves, knowing that morals don't necessarily lay with a crowd.
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." - Marcus Aurelius
If one knows what they themselves are doing is right, they should not change their mind from that right, just because right is not popular.
Dealing with false accusations
The origin
As mentioned before, a person will be removed from the community for bad behavior. Studies show a removed individual often feels compelled to attack a community to preserve their self-image.
This frequently begins with spreading half-truths. As these accounts are adopted and retold by others, they become increasingly distorted, eventually evolving into a totally new narrative of their own.
Historical examples
Martin Luther King Jr. was accused of being a communist agent.
The kernel of truth is that he had leftist views.
Early Christians were rumored to be cannibals.
The kernel of truth is that they ate bread as a symbol of partaking in the death of Jesus.
During the Black Plague, Jews were accused of poisoning wells to cause the Black Death.
The kernel of truth is that Jews used private wells, leading some to suspect they were avoiding public water they had poisoned.
Procter & Gamble was accused of funding the Church of Satan due to their logo.
The kernel of truth is that their logo had a symbol which could be misinterpreted.
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." - Aristotle
Likely accusations
Agora as a scam
They may construe it as a scheme or scam of some sort.
In fact, running a nonprofit is a deeply sacrificial act done by those who could easily make more money creating a for-profit.
Agora as a cult
They may construe it as a cult.
In fact Agora is a movement dedicated to human freedom of thought and expression.
In detail:
Cults operate off fear, disconnection and information vacuums. In reality Agora strongly encourages people to think for themselves and foster meaningful connections.
Cults | Agora |
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Encourage disconnection with former members. | Connection with family and tradition deeply encouraged. |
Hostility toward former members. | Explicitly denounces the false choice between the community and potential former members. |
Us vs world mentality. | Actively trying to create alternatives to itself as a celebration of diversity of thought. |
Shared identity. | Encourages self-identity as a key to a healthy relationship with community. |
Participation based on fear. | Based on consent. |
Discourages independent thinking. | Is a movement to fight for the diversity of values and thought. |
Agora may be accused of being a cult because people's understanding of community is old-fashioned. Meaningful community, tradition and culture in the past has always come at the cost of true diversity and independent thought. That's how community is often created.
However, the internet presents us a new opportunity, to create a constellation of communities that people can freely choose and move between. Agora stands for a world of diverse values and cultures and viewpoints each codified as their own community.
It demonstrates what a community can be, not so that it can impose its ideas on the world, but so that a model can be given to the world that can be cloned to creation of an infinite plethora of communities of values.
Agora promotes individualism through consent, community through voluntary participation.
What an observer on the outside might see is Agora imposing their values and traditions. But in reality, Agora, rather than seeking to centralize and impose values and traditions, is seeking to decentralize them by providing a cloneable model of what one star in a constellation should look like.
It is, in fact, a purveyor of a world in which people think for themselves and live by their own chosen values in the old-fashioned wrapper of a system in which people often didn’t.
The solution is to truly understand what Agora is helping create and to pass that along.
Key points |
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Agora as illegal
Operating an organization online requires navigating a complex and conflicting patchwork of international laws, making full compliance across all jurisdictions a significant and ongoing challenge.
A substantial risk of inadvertently violating the laws of at least one jurisdiction exists, given the complexity. These being painted as deliberate or malicious attempts to break the law is possible.
Due to the huge number of laws that cover the internet, it is not only impossible to keep the law, but the fact that it is actually impossible will likely present an opportunity to opponents to paint Agora as malicious.
The average person commits three felonies per day in the United States. - Three felonies per day
Agora's leaders are illegitimate
A classic move to dismantle an organization is to deal with its leadership.
Examples:
The US government invested money to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" Martin Luther King Jr.
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years by the apartheid regime for fighting for equality.
Although such examples are too grandiose for Agora, especially in the early days. Claiming leaders are motivated by money, malice, or sex is a regular playbook. It's so common it can even be expected in the early days.
Just because they are common doesn't mean they should not be researched. It's just that they should be taken with a grain of salt.
Types of criticism
Not only is criticism of moral people by those driven by jealousy and hatred a badge of honor, honest criticism scales with one's impact.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain
Appropriate responses
Groups of honest, hardworking individuals understand that criticism can often be selfishly motivated, but reflect on it regardless. They absorb it, they consider it, and when totally baseless, they reject it.
Here is the individualized process:
Deeply and dispassionately reflect on one's choices.
Rather than being influenced by the number of people who agree or disagree analyze the facts dispassionately.
Analyze one’s own motivation for being part of Agora.
Decide for oneself, based on the facts alone, if one’s decision to be part is right or wrong.
It takes courage to stand up for oneself and one's ideas and values when criticized. It's a shame to change from doing something one knows is right just because people don't agree with them.
Remember, massive criticism can be a sign of doing something right as much as it can be a sign of doing something wrong.
"In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place." - Mahatma Gandhi
Not judging others
Criticism and loss are the fruits of a life worth living.
However, some people won't be able to handle that criticism and will inevitably, run to the safety of the criticizer rather than standing up for one's own values. Inevitably, some Agorans will be lost to this effect. It's best not to judge such individuals, nor reject them or have disdain for them.