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The flip was equating it to perpetrating a genocidal ideology, with the same argument as used in lashing out against its perpetrators, because that's exactly th

The flip was equating it to perpetrating a genocidal ideology, with the same argument as used in lashing out against its perpetrators, because that's exactly the same stuff that's going through a genocidal maniac's head (or at least coming out of their mouths). But all my points stand. It's too easy to label somebody a Nazi (or whatever label enables you), eliminate all civility and humanity from them, wish them nothing but death, and consider yourself righteous and tolerant for it. It is better to err on the side of treating bad people with more respect than they deserve, than to err on the side of treating decent people with more hate than they deserve. Because your judgment of how bad or decent they are is at the very best based on incomplete information in the first place. Erring on the side of hate directly makes the world a worse place, and erring on the side of respect makes the world a more civil place.

couchand 10y ago
It's not nearly as easy to label someone a Nazi as it is to label them that other word.
ben0x539 10y ago
The argument of "they're out to eradicate me and people like me" works better against Nazis because they're documented to have been doing that at scale. It doesn't work so well against people who've traditionally been on the receiving side of that sort of thing. It's all fun and games to treat people with respect if you have nothing to fear from them and it lets you feel morally superior and all that, but at some point you gotta recognize that some people are right to be concerned and work against their persecution. Again, taking an argument and misusing it doesn't actually weaken the original argument. It's possible for the perpetrators and the victims of genocide to use the exact same rhetoric against each other, but then it's on you to figure out who's being full of shit and not go "maybe the truth is in the middle between genocide and escaping a genocide".

couchand 10y ago

It's not nearly as easy to label someone a Nazi as it is to label them that other word.

ben0x539 10y ago

The argument of "they're out to eradicate me and people like me" works better against Nazis because they're documented to have been doing that at scale. It doesn't work so well against people who've traditionally been on the receiving side of that sort of thing. It's all fun and games to treat people with respect if you have nothing to fear from them and it lets you feel morally superior and all that, but at some point you gotta recognize that some people are right to be concerned and work against their persecution. Again, taking an argument and misusing it doesn't actually weaken the original argument. It's possible for the perpetrators and the victims of genocide to use the exact same rhetoric against each other, but then it's on you to figure out who's being full of shit and not go "maybe the truth is in the middle between genocide and escaping a genocide".