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The real dilema though is everyone has done something wrong. Everyone. So why do some people get called out and lambasted while other continue (right now) to g

The real dilema though is everyone has done something wrong. Everyone. So why do some people get called out and lambasted while other continue (right now) to get away with it? I think there is a mob mentality out there that controls the media and wants to take down a very specific set of people and leave the others standing. Edit: To not be misunderstood I have personally suffered molestation as a kid/teen, and even the single photo of Asimov trying to kiss that girl is sickening. Power, fame and narcissism corrupts.

reagent_finder 7y ago
That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. If you see someone doing something wrong, call them out. Like this article does. Otherwise they will simply keep doing it. If you have a problem with someone not getting called out, call them out. Otherwise you are simply protesting the act of calling out because you're afraid to do so yourself.
- javajosh 7y ago
  >If you see someone doing something wrong, call them out. Like this article does. Otherwise they will simply keep doing it. Yes, thank God: this article (and the outrage it creates) will save young women from being groped by Asimov's corpse.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- RobertRoberts 7y ago
  Mob justice benefits no one in the long run. Hypocritical mob justice is the worst of it's kind. It simultaneously enrages one side against another while claiming it's actions are justified by it's own group, but no other group can act the same. The accused should be taken to court. But mobs don't like court, they want a lynching.
  - eesmith 7y ago
    Mob-whitewashing, to coin a term, is also terrible. We cannot seriously talk about Columbus-the-brave-explorer without also talking about his acts of slavery and genocide. We cannot take Asimov to court. We cannot take Columbus to court. But we can talk about them as real people, and look at their entire history, rather than as a single facet of their lives.
    - RobertRoberts 7y ago
      It seems we have two separate issues. Mob justice against the living vs the dead. Mobs are still mobs. It's socially justified insanity. They will remove Asimov books from libraries now, just wait. If we did the same for every author there would zero books left except propaganda from the controlling mob. Asimov is obviously wrong, but mobs don't want a reasonable solution, they want blood.
      - krapp 7y ago
        >They will remove Asimov books from libraries now, just wait. If we did the same for every author there would zero books left except propaganda from the controlling mob. They're going to remove all of Asimov's books from libraries now because someone wrote an article about his behavior, despite that behavior being known about for decades, and not exactly uncommon within the community? Please stop with the pearl-clutching concern trolling. There's no "propaganda from the controlling mob," no one is out for blood, no one is burning books en masse because mob justice.
        cousin_it 7y ago
        I'll never forget how, when MIT removed Walter Lewin's widely loved lectures after undisclosed accusations, people on HN were agreeing with that decision because "hitting a physicist right in his legacy" is apparently the best way to teach him.
        krapp 7y ago
- 0x445442 7y ago
  > If you see someone doing something wrong I think it's here where you may get hoisted on your own petard and that's the price society pays for moral relativism... Case in point, these days one who thinks abortion is obviously wrong is more likely to be scorned for calling it out than those they're calling out. One can't sanely wish for, while at the same time deny the existence of absolute truth.
  - oblio 7y ago
    Pro-abortion people generally don't argue that abortion means ending a life. They argue that women should have the same control over their bodies that men enjoy (i.e. almost total control).
    - RobertRoberts 7y ago
      Dave Chapelle had what seems like the proper response to this: "If you [women] have the right to kill it, men should have the right to abandon it." Seems fair to me. Though I think murder is horrific.
LatteLazy 7y ago
I too find this whole thing really confusing. I am not saying anything he did was right, I just don't get why people can't separate art from artists or deal with any possibility of nuance in any of this. Ultimately, I have to ask, why does anyone care, doubly see when Asimov has been dead for almost 30 years and other people are doing this today?
- watwut 7y ago
  The article is pretty good in separating them, appreciating the books while not whitewashing behavior or pretending it did not happened or was not known.

reagent_finder 7y ago

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. If you see someone doing something wrong, call them out. Like this article does. Otherwise they will simply keep doing it. If you have a problem with someone not getting called out, call them out. Otherwise you are simply protesting the act of calling out because you're afraid to do so yourself.

javajosh 7y ago
>If you see someone doing something wrong, call them out. Like this article does. Otherwise they will simply keep doing it. Yes, thank God: this article (and the outrage it creates) will save young women from being groped by Asimov's corpse.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
RobertRoberts 7y ago
Mob justice benefits no one in the long run. Hypocritical mob justice is the worst of it's kind. It simultaneously enrages one side against another while claiming it's actions are justified by it's own group, but no other group can act the same. The accused should be taken to court. But mobs don't like court, they want a lynching.
- eesmith 7y ago
  Mob-whitewashing, to coin a term, is also terrible. We cannot seriously talk about Columbus-the-brave-explorer without also talking about his acts of slavery and genocide. We cannot take Asimov to court. We cannot take Columbus to court. But we can talk about them as real people, and look at their entire history, rather than as a single facet of their lives.
  - RobertRoberts 7y ago
    It seems we have two separate issues. Mob justice against the living vs the dead. Mobs are still mobs. It's socially justified insanity. They will remove Asimov books from libraries now, just wait. If we did the same for every author there would zero books left except propaganda from the controlling mob. Asimov is obviously wrong, but mobs don't want a reasonable solution, they want blood.
    - krapp 7y ago
      >They will remove Asimov books from libraries now, just wait. If we did the same for every author there would zero books left except propaganda from the controlling mob. They're going to remove all of Asimov's books from libraries now because someone wrote an article about his behavior, despite that behavior being known about for decades, and not exactly uncommon within the community? Please stop with the pearl-clutching concern trolling. There's no "propaganda from the controlling mob," no one is out for blood, no one is burning books en masse because mob justice.
      - cousin_it 7y ago
        I'll never forget how, when MIT removed Walter Lewin's widely loved lectures after undisclosed accusations, people on HN were agreeing with that decision because "hitting a physicist right in his legacy" is apparently the best way to teach him.
        krapp 7y ago
0x445442 7y ago
> If you see someone doing something wrong I think it's here where you may get hoisted on your own petard and that's the price society pays for moral relativism... Case in point, these days one who thinks abortion is obviously wrong is more likely to be scorned for calling it out than those they're calling out. One can't sanely wish for, while at the same time deny the existence of absolute truth.
- oblio 7y ago
  Pro-abortion people generally don't argue that abortion means ending a life. They argue that women should have the same control over their bodies that men enjoy (i.e. almost total control).
  - RobertRoberts 7y ago
    Dave Chapelle had what seems like the proper response to this: "If you [women] have the right to kill it, men should have the right to abandon it." Seems fair to me. Though I think murder is horrific.

LatteLazy 7y ago

I too find this whole thing really confusing. I am not saying anything he did was right, I just don't get why people can't separate art from artists or deal with any possibility of nuance in any of this. Ultimately, I have to ask, why does anyone care, doubly see when Asimov has been dead for almost 30 years and other people are doing this today?

watwut 7y ago
The article is pretty good in separating them, appreciating the books while not whitewashing behavior or pretending it did not happened or was not known.