4 ms·

Not taking a side is agreeing with the oppressor.

ekianjo 5y ago
No, not taking sides is just not taking sides. There's no need to turn such a position into a shortcut to something else. It's as stupid as the kids saying "if you are not with us you are against us". Typical populist bullshit.
- Cederfjard 5y ago
  Are there limits to this, or do you think ”not taking sides” is a morally defensible position to have regarding everything? Is it ethical to be neutral when it comes to the holocaust?
  - mwcampbell 5y ago
    I think it's OK to refrain from taking sides about anything that we don't have firsthand knowledge about. There's no shortage of political and moral busybodies in the world, especially now that we have the Internet. I'm sure I've been one at times. So I think it's not so bad if we start going in the other direction, just minding our own business and sticking to things we can actually do something about. I should get back to that.
  - Turing_Machine 5y ago
    It's perfectly ethical to not be loudly and publicly performing an anti-holocaust view 24/7/365, and failing to do that does not make one "pro-holocaust". The list of Bad Things is endless, and failing to address any one of them does not make you in favor of that Bad Thing. It just doesn't. You're just trying to bully people into spending their time amplifying your particular protest, and bullying in itself is a Bad Thing.
- slackfan 5y ago
- matsemann 5y ago
  How hard is it to just say "I think Russia is wrong for invading Ukraine and killing people"? That's all you have to do. Just write it. If you can't do that, but still want to engage in the discussion on the topic, your standpoint is clear. You're not some holier person not taking a stand. You have taken one, you just don't dare to spell it out.
  - ekianjo 5y ago
    > If you can't do that, but still want to engage in the discussion on the topic, your standpoint is clear. That's not the topic at hand. The topic is, you don't need to pollute every thing you work on out there with your preachy opinions on every single topic, especially when you are whole-fully ignorant about what's actually happening, the in-and-outs of the conflict, because you are in a state of constant propaganda, whether you are in Russia or in the West. And this is not just about the conflict at hand, it's about this disgusting habit these days of bringing politics in all walks of life where it was not before.
    - matsemann 5y ago
      You can't blame people for doing whatever they can when they are literally being bombed. Same with BLM mentioned in another subthread, it's easy to don't care when the issues don't affect you, but for other's it's their daily life. Of course it colors what people do. People who claim there were no politics before, were just oblivious to others' struggle. Which is ok, but it still happened, you were just sheltered or privileged.
      - ekianjo 5y ago
        > You can't blame people for doing whatever they can when they are literally being bombed. I can't remember when people cared about the bombs falling everyday in Yemen. How absurd is it for people to suddenly care and cry publicly about one country's conflict while another much bloodier one, not too far away, is being completely ignored. Is their blood less red? Are their children worth less? Systemic racism maybe, since these are not white people? Mass media (including social media nowadays) is what shapes what people care and feel concerned about. It's not about people's values, this goes on to say a lot more about how easy people can be manipulated to project violence onto anything they had no clue about 5 minutes ago, as long as you repeat it all day long.
slackfan 5y ago
- cryptoegorophy 5y ago
  Not silent when it is ukraine, but other non white part of the world - it is ok to be silent, right? BLM “peaceful “ protest also ok to be silent? Since when do we switched from Covid experts to ukraine experts? Can you even find ukraine on the map? The only non silent thing should be engraved in anyones head is - war is bad.
raxxorrax 5y ago
Then you better be a well informed person or otherwise you will quickly become the latter.
swat535 5y ago
Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland,.. remained neutral during Wolrd War II. Are you saying they were agreeing with the oppressor? It must take some serious mental gymnastics on your part to write such statement.

No, not taking sides is just not taking sides. There's no need to turn such a position into a shortcut to something else. It's as stupid as the kids saying "if you are not with us you are against us". Typical populist bullshit.

Cederfjard 5y ago
Are there limits to this, or do you think ”not taking sides” is a morally defensible position to have regarding everything? Is it ethical to be neutral when it comes to the holocaust?
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  I think it's OK to refrain from taking sides about anything that we don't have firsthand knowledge about. There's no shortage of political and moral busybodies in the world, especially now that we have the Internet. I'm sure I've been one at times. So I think it's not so bad if we start going in the other direction, just minding our own business and sticking to things we can actually do something about. I should get back to that.
- Turing_Machine 5y ago
  It's perfectly ethical to not be loudly and publicly performing an anti-holocaust view 24/7/365, and failing to do that does not make one "pro-holocaust". The list of Bad Things is endless, and failing to address any one of them does not make you in favor of that Bad Thing. It just doesn't. You're just trying to bully people into spending their time amplifying your particular protest, and bullying in itself is a Bad Thing.
slackfan 5y ago
matsemann 5y ago
How hard is it to just say "I think Russia is wrong for invading Ukraine and killing people"? That's all you have to do. Just write it. If you can't do that, but still want to engage in the discussion on the topic, your standpoint is clear. You're not some holier person not taking a stand. You have taken one, you just don't dare to spell it out.
- ekianjo 5y ago
  > If you can't do that, but still want to engage in the discussion on the topic, your standpoint is clear. That's not the topic at hand. The topic is, you don't need to pollute every thing you work on out there with your preachy opinions on every single topic, especially when you are whole-fully ignorant about what's actually happening, the in-and-outs of the conflict, because you are in a state of constant propaganda, whether you are in Russia or in the West. And this is not just about the conflict at hand, it's about this disgusting habit these days of bringing politics in all walks of life where it was not before.
  - matsemann 5y ago
    You can't blame people for doing whatever they can when they are literally being bombed. Same with BLM mentioned in another subthread, it's easy to don't care when the issues don't affect you, but for other's it's their daily life. Of course it colors what people do. People who claim there were no politics before, were just oblivious to others' struggle. Which is ok, but it still happened, you were just sheltered or privileged.
    - ekianjo 5y ago
      > You can't blame people for doing whatever they can when they are literally being bombed. I can't remember when people cared about the bombs falling everyday in Yemen. How absurd is it for people to suddenly care and cry publicly about one country's conflict while another much bloodier one, not too far away, is being completely ignored. Is their blood less red? Are their children worth less? Systemic racism maybe, since these are not white people? Mass media (including social media nowadays) is what shapes what people care and feel concerned about. It's not about people's values, this goes on to say a lot more about how easy people can be manipulated to project violence onto anything they had no clue about 5 minutes ago, as long as you repeat it all day long.

slackfan 5y ago

cryptoegorophy 5y ago
Not silent when it is ukraine, but other non white part of the world - it is ok to be silent, right? BLM “peaceful “ protest also ok to be silent? Since when do we switched from Covid experts to ukraine experts? Can you even find ukraine on the map? The only non silent thing should be engraved in anyones head is - war is bad.

raxxorrax 5y ago

Then you better be a well informed person or otherwise you will quickly become the latter.

swat535 5y ago

Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland,.. remained neutral during Wolrd War II. Are you saying they were agreeing with the oppressor? It must take some serious mental gymnastics on your part to write such statement.