Exploitism and Facadism

I’ve coined two new words: EXPLOITISM and FACADISM. Pronounce the second word with a soft c — FAÇADISM.

Exploitism

The definition is probably self-evident.

Exploitism harms people. It saps, steals, and greedily consumes that which is life-giving. It aim to win regardless of how others may be harmed. It takes what is good and turns it into evil. Exploitism is stiff-necked: it does not want to accept responsibility for the harm it does to others. It does not want to metabolise its own shame, so it blames and vilifies others.

Exploitism is the evil step-brother of Solipsism.

Solipsism, (noun)

1. The theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified.
2. The view that the self is the only reality.
3. Egotism.

In hubris and vainglory, exploitism operates by using the Colonial Code of Relationship. Here is the secret sauce of the code:

1. You are deficient.
2. I am proficient.
3. Therefore I have the right (duty, sacred obligation, authority) to perform certain operations upon you.
4. These operations are undertaken for your own good.

Exploitism is the underlying modus operandi of many other -isms, including:

Pharisaism, complementarianism, imperialism, colonialism, racism, Marxism, communism, fascism, totalitarianism, despotism, anarchism, gnosticism, occultism, nihilism, human-to-human parasitism, demon-to-human parasitism, terrorism, hedonism, narcissism, sadism, and sensationalism.

Façadism

1. The practice of putting on a facade to conceal from other people what we are feeling and thinking.

2. The common and socially-acceptable practice of coercing others to condone and participate in façadism in order to coddle evildoers and avoid having to deal with unpleasant emotions.

Infants don’t have the capacity to conceal what they are feeling and thinking, but that capacity develops naturally as the baby becomes a toddler, child, adolescent and adult. Most humans who are no longer babies have developed the capacity to conceal from other people what they are feeling and thinking. When we’re emotionally overwhelmed it might be impossible to stop our emotions showing in our faces and voices, but most of the time we’re able at will to put on a facade to conceal or partially conceal what we’re feeling and thinking.

The capacity to put on a facade can be used for good or for evil.

There are many reasons why a person might put on a facade. I’ll imagine a female person, but it could be a male, so swap the pronouns if you wish. Here are some of the reasons a girl or woman might put on a facade:

• to protect herself from perceived danger
• to prevent other people from seeing her emotional response to a situation, and her attitudes and beliefs about that situation
• to protect others from being scared, saddened, disgusted, hurt, or provoked into anger
• to show kindness and grace to a sinner (be longsuffering of their weaknesses)
• to protect another person from feeling ashamed or embarrassed
• to conceal the good things she has done
• to conceal the bad things she has done
• to conceal her embarrassment
• to conceal her desires (which may not be sinful desires but she’s been taught that they’re sinful desires)
• to get people to accept her and treat her kindly
• to get people to give her things she wants or needs
• to prevent other people from realising what she is intending to do
• to get people to like and trust her even though she is untrustworthy
• to conceal (cover-up) another person’s sins
• to conceal the fact that she is exploiting others.

Exploitism pressures people into using façadism for evil.

Skilled exploiters put on very ‘good’ facades to deceive others and avoid being identified as exploiters. The majority of humanity has been deceived by the Arch-Exploiter (Satan) and his agents, so they don’t want to think about evil because it brings up emotions they find uncomfortable — fear, confusion, anger, shame, disgust and grief.

You, dear reader, being embedded in this social zeitgiest, have a moral dilemma.  The choices are pretty dire.

1. You can avoid having to deal with your unpleasant emotions by applying pressure to coerce others to condone and participate in the façadism which coddles evildoers and conceals their evildoing.

2. You can seek out those who are outraged by the same things you are, and together with them (safety in numbers!) you can temporarily avoid dealing with your uncomfortable emotions by trying to out-shout and out-denounce the folks who are not outraged by the injustices you’re outraged by.

3. You count it pleasure to live deliciously for a season, and pretend to be advocating for the exploited while actually exploiting them. (cf 2 Peter 2:13)

4. You can seek out those who are outraged by the same things you are, hoping to find validation, comfort, affirmation, and joy by interacting with them. But most of the members of such a community will be needing you to comfort them, and many of them don’t have the capacity or willingness to comfort you. There won’t be much safety or stability in that kind of community. Intra-community lateral violence is common, because many of the members aren’t feeling that others in the community are hearing them or responding kindly to them. Many of the members have been influenced by exploitative pseudo-advocates who get money and prestige from pretending to be serving that community (they’re actually sowing half-truths to draw wounded sheep into their trap). You might you try to become a non-exploitative advocate in that community, but it will be an uphill battle.

5. Study the patterns from a distance — see the big picture. Some tips for this option. The big picture of how much is wrong in the world is ugly and scary, so I encourage you develop a habit of disengaging from looking at it when you become overwhelmed. If you’re understanding what God is showing you in frame you’re currently seeing, don’t be surprised if God shows you more.

6. Wherever you are and however you’re feeling, you can use the capacity you have at that moment to treat each person with dignity. They might in turn treat you with dignity. They might be open to receiving a kind-eyed or calm-voiced message from you that conveys, ‘I see you’. Or they might initiate such a message to you. Hopefully it goes both ways — you to them and them to you.

Notice when a person’s eyes or voice-tone show they are glad to be with you.

If you’re like me, you will instinctively know when someone is authentically (not façadingly) glad to be with you.

It may not be a smile, it may just be a feeling of that person saw me and I saw them, and neither of us were putting on a facade. We were authentically honouring each other’s humanity and dignity. Even if the encounter only lasts a few seconds it can renew your joy for little while, and little periods of joy can sustain us from descending into sadness, shame-spirals, depression or hopeless despair. Moments of shared joy can prevent us from escalating into hot anger, or freezing into cold anger. Every little joyful encounter helps.

But there’s a caution here. Sometimes people are glad to be with each other because they are collectively comfortable with exploitism that targets a particular group of people, e.g. communities where everyone tolerates racist or sexist innuendo. It’s spiritually perilous to seek joy and comfort in communities which tolerate exploitism. If the person or group shows they glad to be with you but they are comfortable with exploitism, they are probably NOT a healthy person or community for you to be seeking joy with.

Be mild and courteous – not rendering evil for evil, nor rebuke for rebuke, but contrariwise bless, remembering that you are called to this, even so that you may be heirs of blessing. If anyone longs after life and loves to see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3:8b-12