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  • The A-Z of ISMs... whataboutism.

  • Whataboutismalso known as whataboutery

  • is a way of criticising and, in some people's minds,

  • defeating an opponent by accusing them of hypocrisy.

  • What about x, what about y?

  • As a political tactic, it was employed by the Nazis in the 1930s.

  • When Nazi Germany was censured for annexing territories in Europe,

  • its officials countered by saying that

  • Germany was only doing what countries like Britain and France

  • had been doing for centuries in Africa and Asia.

  • The practice was continued by the Soviet Union in the 1950s

  • in the area of human rights.

  • Challenged on the murder of Soviet citizens by the state,

  • Soviet officials countered by saying that black people were being lynched

  • every day in the USA.

  • The term whataboutery was also used in the 1970s in Northern Ireland,

  • when Republicans and Loyalists pointed to their own sufferings

  • as a justification for supporting violent action.

  • All these instances are dramatic,

  • but ignore the fact they're based on an invalid argument -

  • the notion that two wrongs make a right.

  • Whataboutism is not a useful or logical form of debate,

  • because it relies on the idea that two wrongs make a right.

  • And while there is a lot of support for this notion

  • see also an eye for an eye

  • it's a false analogy.

  • Doing a bad thing cannot be excused

  • by the existence of another bad thing.

  • If I steal your car, you should tell the police.

  • Stealing my car is not an appropriate response.

  • Also, it's generally just an excuse.

  • The Nazis didn't invade Poland as a protest against British imperialism.

  • The Soviets didn't murder their own people

  • as a reaction to American racism.

  • You didn't steal my car because I stole his car. And so on.

  • In the last few years, whataboutism has resurfaced,

  • partly because it's easier to point fingers away from yourself

  • than at yourself,

  • partly because the internet is not always a place

  • for high-quality debate,

  • and partly because there's always room for one more idiot

  • on the stupid bus.

  • Thanks for watching.

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The A-Z of ISMs... whataboutism.

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什麼是aboutery?| A-Z of ISMs Episode 23 - BBC Ideas (What is whataboutery all about? | A-Z of ISMs Episode 23 - BBC Ideas)

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    Fibby 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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