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> I think it's pretty dangerous to be labeling people involved in the national dialogue as mentally ill without a diagnosis, or at least some substantial and di
by AlexandrB 4y ago
> I think it's pretty dangerous to be labeling people involved in the national dialogue as mentally ill without a diagnosis, or at least some substantial and direct evidence.
I think this is a lot less dangerous than you think. When people throw around terms like "groomer", "nazi", and "abuser" with reckless abandon, labelling someone as "bipolar" hardly compares. Ultimately anyone that agrees with what Kanye is saying will not be swayed by the label, neither will those who disagree with him by the lack thereof.
A lot of the commentary about his mental illness seems to be focused on trying to find an explanation for why his ideas and positions seem to have radically shifted in the last few years. Honestly, it kind of gives him an "out". If he was not afflicted by some kind of mental illness when he called for "Death con 5", his actions are even more morally suspect.
- bondarchuk 4y agoThere are specific reasons to be wary of the way psychiatric diagnosis is used vs. other insults: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- AlexandrB 4y agoBy that token, the same wariness should be applied to calling someone a "Communist" thanks to McCarthyism. I think this might be a valid point if US government officials were calling Kanye mentally ill, but a bunch of people on the internet?
- bondarchuk 4y agoStrictly speaking nothing matters cuz we're all just rando's typing on the internet. But since we were having a discussion I thought I'd chime in with some vaguely relevant points... Btw I think it would've been quite dangerous indeed to call someone a communist during mccarthy era, and indeed one should've been wary of that back then.
- AlexandrB 4y agoI think the parallel stands. A lot of the egregious political abuse of mental illness in the US dates back to 50-100 years ago[1]. You don't hear about public figures being involuntarily committed over accusations of mental illness in recent years. The worst you get is accusations of senility against some of America's older politicians. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry#...