this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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It's okay to mock heartless sociopaths in positions of public leadership.
It's always morally correct.
When you mock them based on traits that have nothing to do with their fuckwad-ery, you also hit innocents who happen to have those same traits.
It depends. I have a tiny dick, but that doesn't cause me to buy guns and trucks to compensate, so I don't feel attacked when someone makes fun of some assholes Truck dick.
That’s not really making fun of them for having a small penis though: most of the people making those jokes have no idea what their penises look like. Those jokes are based on their behavior and an assumed source of the person’s inferiority complex (which is still fucked up, because it reinforces the idea that having a small penis makes one inferior).
The small hands jokes aren’t even based on trump actually having small hands (at least, they seem pretty average sized to me), but more on a perceived insecurity.
Honestly, the diaper jokes seem the most likely to inadvertently hurt someone for something they can’t help. Everything else is based on his reactions to his physical attributes.
How do you choose to compensate out of interest (asking for a friend.)
Cooking and oral sex
Then I think it's fair to ask, "Does his height have nothing to do with his fuckwad-ery?"
More than likely it does. Little man syndrome is a thing for a reason. Turns out making fun of people for traits they can't change through out their life kinda turns them into a fuckwad.
Can confirm. I'm 5'3 and spent a good chunk of my young adulthood struggling to not be a fuckwad after being picked on about it my whole life. Doing much better now though (I think).
I think that's missing the point. Sure, it would be nice to not have collateral damage, but the goals of any public criticism should be to change the behavior we're opposed to, and that can be either through shaming them into changing a policy, or changing the public's opinion about a policy to change the outcome of the next election.
Public insults only serve to rile up your side and put the other side on the defensive, it doesn't change anyone's mind and may actually encourage those in the middle to support the one you're attacking (i.e. if they see them as an underdog).
The proper approach is to criticize arguments in such a way that anyone who's going to read it understands your argument. Saying Trump is unfit to be the President because he has small hands may give you and those on "your side" a few chuckles, but it'll drive those in the middle to support him (is that their best argument??). Saying Trump is unfit to be the President because his anti-immigration policy will hurt the US economy because it limits the supply of cheap labor (and thus drives up prices and drives down production) may get someone to change their mind. If I thought a bit harder, I could probably come up with an even easier to understand argument that could change minds.
So don't hold back because you're worried about offending someone else entirely, hold back because that's more likely to get the outcome you want, both now and in the future.
I really don't agree. I mean, that may also be true, but I strongly believe that even if it were effective to do so, it would still be morally wrong to harm innocents in order to also hurt your political opponents.
I actually am totally ok with targeting your opponent themselves. That shouldn't be the only thing you do, and when you do it needs to be carefully crafted and accurate, but I am totally ok with, for example, the recent "weird" meme being applied to MAGAists. As I explained above I think it works because it doesn't have collateral damage, but does work surprisingly well at upsetting its targets, and also highlights a truth and a dishonesty of the targets.
But avoiding collateral damage is very important. You can't necessarily be 100% successful at it, but at least trying is important. Society has, as a whole, agreed it's not acceptable to say "lol that's gay" as a criticism. Because that implies that being gay is bad and gay people should be ashamed. It's increasingly also becoming true that fatphobic comments and comments about mental health terms being used as insults are not accepted, for the same reason. It belittles all fat or autistic or whatever people. Criticism on the basis of height or genital size really isn't different.
Though a comment about how someone might be "compensating" rides more of a line, IMO. Because that's a comment about their internal motivation rather than per se about the trait in question. You're actually critiquing their own insecurity. Personally I'm still not a huge fan of them, but I can see the other side.
There are different levels of harm. As long as you're attacking arguments instead of people, you'll only hurt those who attach their identify to those arguments. For example, if you say an argument that same-sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry is bigoted, that may offend religious types who firmly believe homosexuality to be morally wrong, but that doesn't make your argument any less valid. Or you could argue that increasing welfare benefits is fiscally irresponsible while running a deficit, which could imply that those who receive those benefits are also fiscally irresponsible and simultaneously not worth the benefits they receive.
Collateral damage should be avoided in a well-structured argument, but it shouldn't prevent you from making an important argument. But as long as you attack the argument and not individuals or groups, I don't think you have any need to feel guilty for those who take offense at your arguments.
There are also two types of arguments: arguments for something and arguments against something. For the first group, you should attack nameless "others" that are to blame for you not having nice things, such as "big tech" designing obsolescence into their products so you can't repair your own stuff. The counter should attack that argument, not the person making that argument.
But what's the benefit? All it does is give "your side" some chuckles and causes "their side" to become defensive and attack you for something equally irrelevant.
And it does have collateral damage, because you're implying that anyone who is considering voting for them is "weird." If the best argument the opposition has is personal attacks, that makes the attacked party more attractive and defensible. I'd rather vote for a "weird" candidate that's genuine instead of a "normal" establishment candidate who's guaranteed to disappoint.
Sure, but insecurity isn't an argument, and it's just going to put people who sympathize with them on the defensive.
For example, if you say "truck drivers are compensating for something," that puts all truck drivers as well as anyone who thinks owning a truck would be cool to be on the defensive. They're going to ignore the rest of your argument, even if it could convince them to change what they value.
Instead of that, attack the people selling these products to insecure people. Say something like, "truck companies want you to think 'real men' buy big trucks, but the truth is they're just trying to manipulate you to take your money. Look at average truck sale prices, they're getting more and more expensive. Look past the marketing BS and get something more reasonable that still meets your needs so you can afford to do more cool stuff, like trips with the family or home improvement projects. A 'real man' makes his own choices, so make yours." That way you turn their insecurity into a way for them to take control, while also painting the thing you want to discourage in a bad light. So instead of "you're a fool for buying that stupid truck," it's "you're smart for seeing through their lies and manipulation").
I probably could have worded it better, but hopefully my point is clear. It could be that people are hurt by this type of argument (i.e. "you're saying I'm stupid because I fell for their marketing? I made that choice"), but if avoiding that reduces your reach, it's worth breaking a few eggs to get the message out there. But the message needs to be constructive and shift the blame to be effective.
You're neglecting the third "side". Those who are neutral. Criticising an opponent—so long as those criticisms are well-grounded and don't cause a neutral observer to say "wtf are you on about, you're obviously making stuff up"—weakens their ability to convert others to their cause.
Someone voting for them isn't collateral damage. They're the intended targets.
And that's not a personal attack, that's an attack on the argument. If someone is spouting complete nonsense, point out how a handful of their arguments are nonsense, and then argue that this person is consistently spouting nonsense. Then it's on them to defend the ones you pointed out, or at least show that those are outliers (defend their other arguments), and if they instead resort to personal attacks, you use that as further evidence that their arguments don't have substance.
What I'm against is stuff like, "Trump is a fascist" with no actual evidence of support for fascism. Discredit him because of what he's said and done (there's plenty of material there), not because of party affiliation or the way he talks.
This should go for all public discourse. I honestly don't care about Trump or Harris, and they'll be gone one way or another after several years. What I do care about is the longer-term direction of organized groups, and that is based on arguments, not people.
No you misunderstood me. That bit you quoted wasn't your argument against your opponent. It's a response that someone might make to your personal attacks, if those attacks are not well-grounded. Calling Trump a sex pest is a personal attacks, but well-grounded in his actual behaviour. Calling Tim Walz a sex pest would not be well-grounded, to my knowledge.
As for the F word…fascist shouldn't be used as a mere insult, but using it where it's applicable is important. It's about predicting the kinds of behaviours you might expect from one person in the future based on the similarity of their current behaviours to other historical groups with a similar ideology. People should be concerned about Trump and the MAGA movement within the Republicans not "because they're fascists", but because the rhetoric they use is fascistic and it, along with some of their actual actions and policies, are eerily reminiscent of historical fascist movements. This is a criticism deeply rooted in ideas and as such isn't really relevant in this discussion.
I disagree, it's inflammatory, based on some sketchy evidence, and has absolutely nothing to do with his ability to govern. So there's absolutely no reason to make that argument.
Oh, I absolutely agree people should be worried, but if they're going to call them fascist, they need some really compelling evidence. And in almost every case, that evidence just doesn't exist. The stronger the accusation, the stronger your evidence needs to be.
I don't call them fascist because I don't have the evidence for that, even assuming Jan 6 was intentionally sparked by former Pres. Trump. The furthest I'll go is to say he's anti-democratic (he attacked the election with zero success) and that his policies would be harmful (high tariffs cause inflation, unfunded tax cuts cause inflation, etc). I then speculate about possible motivations (Trump is a narcissist, wants to benefit himself and other rich people, etc), and indicate that the average person will be worse off because of his policies. If you attack the person directly, you'll put them on the defensive (you're being unfair, or whatever). If you attack the policies and demonstrate that they help some group the listener/reader doesn't like (say, billionaires) at their expense, you might convince them to consider alternatives.
If you believe his presidency would push us toward fascism, show the evidence. And then indicate what your preferred alternative (I assume Harris?) would do differently. If you can communicate that succinctly and in simple words, you could actually change peoples' opinions. If you come off as calling names (i.e. sex pest fascist), you'll just put people on the defensive. Don't attack the individual, attack the ideas that individual espouses, and show how those ideas will benefit others you don't like at your expense.
I don't want the world to become the way you want it to.
You don't want a kinder and more just world? That's unfortunate.
That guy took things in a direction I never intended. The social contact doesn't protect those who don't uphold it IMO, so people like Farquad and his IRL counterparts should not be safe from low minded trollery. E.G. A lot of people think I'm weird and I've faced some ostracism for it, but it doesn't bother me to see weirdness used as a playground insult against Trump. It's understood that it's only being said because it upsets him.
I think "weird" is an interesting case precisely because it’s a subjective term. Whether or not someone is weird is in the eye of the beholder. It can also be taken positively or negatively, depending on one’s outlook. And it can be for different reasons; calling someone weird based on their political beliefs is different from calling them weird for how they look, for example. And even calling someone weird for holding one particular value is different from calling them weird for a different value.
Insulting one person for being weird doesn’t actively target anyone else because people may identify themselves as weird or not, and separately may identify it as an insult or not. It works very well against Trump and his allies because they specifically position themselves as believing in the values of the normal American. So being called weird is a doubly-whammy of undermining their self-image and being based on something that actually does make them a bad person, and so the only drive-by victims are other people with harmful beliefs.
That's all reasonable enough. I don't mind that we disagree, just wanted to make it clear I'm not like, a crazy person about it.
I strongly disagree. Just because someone else doesn't uphold their end of the deal doesn't give you license to not uphold yours. That's where integrity comes in, and it's absolutely worth fighting for. Not to mention, slinging insults just pushes the other side to dig in and reject anything further you have to say. If someone thinks Trump has okay-ish policies but isn't sold yet, and you attack him over something completely irrelevant to his campaign, you're going to push that person into supporting him more strongly. But if you attack his policies and explain how they'll be bad for them/America, they may change their mind.
Insulting someone like Trump may feel good in the moment, but it's counter-productive.
Well, it typically does. That's how contracts are usually structured, to nullify on breach. Warranty void if seal is broken.
Which is explicitly illegal, and if you see it, you should report it so the company gets fined.
And contracts are generally not voided just because one party violated one part of the contract. Instead, there are consequences in place for such a violation, and the other party is justified in demanding restitution for that violation. In a "social contract," that means you're absolutely free to call that person out for the contract violation and seek redress (e.g. sue for defamation or whatever), but it does not justify you in jumping into the mud with them.
Hold the high ground and don't let them drag you into the muck with them.
It's not a kinder world you want.
It's a cautious, fragile world.
Progressives like to claim the working class as their constituents while pursuing the culture of pompous nobles in high court, apparently loving the idea of living a life where anyone could carelessly drop a pin and the room would figuratively shatter from the tension.
Fuck you. Fuck everything you stand for. I hate it.
If that is your reaction to that I would say you a the fragile one.
Bruh, you need to calm down. You’re getting really stressed out over other people just trying to be considerate of others’ feelings.
Sort of makes sense. What comes natural to a kind person requires significant effort from someone whose first natural instinct is to mock and insult to make themselves feel better.
So well mannered and virtuous. Never debasing yourself with such crude, classless humor.
How fucking noble of you.
High court?
The point has already been made, but they didn't use MS Paint so I didn't listen then. Thank you.
How dare you imply I care about short people.
Know your place, short kings. GUILLOTINED. LIKE ALL MONARCHS.
Making you even shorter btw.
If we lived in a society where scrutiny and vitriol were pointed only at the ruling class, we’d live in a utopia, but we do not and therefore should not. As society sits, making fun of someone’s physical appearance or disability yields the ultimate conclusion that everyone should feel, for these characteristics, innately lesser, and that’s not cool.
For instance, and to be topical, would you feel comfortable hearing someone refer to Neil Gaiman as a twiggy, autistic rapist? Because I wouldn’t. No need to associate weight and processing difficulties with the propensity and desire to hurt other.
Gaiman isn't in charge of a country or a ruling body, so I'd be with you on that one. I stand by what I specifically said, even though I don't take as hard of a line on it as some others in the comments. Rulers who are malignantly narcissistic cannot be dealt with politely. It has sadly been tried.
In the end, I don’t disagree with the idea of making fun of someone in power, only the language used to do it. Diversifying and sharpening the average person’s lexicon, or creating/repurposing words, would yield the same benefit without the detriment. Obviously the latter is simpler than the former so it’s my pick. I was a fan of that trend circa ~2012. Affluenza still gets a giggle out of me.
I'm not contesting any of the logic of your position, but I'm just not there at the moment. If you can take the high road while people are dying, I think that's perfectly admirable. It's just not me.
I disagree I think adding animalistic aggressiom to politics is stupid. Talk about why their politics are bad and harmful, don't call them fatty mcfatfat small handchubs.
Also, normalising insults based on immutable characteristics is just not good. It harms the good people with those same characteristics
Whether it harms "good" people is irrelevant, we shouldn't stoop to name-calling. Full stop.
That's a nice dream, and in my perfect world that would be how it worked
Don't let your dreams be dreams, you too can be part of the solution.