3 ms·

It cherry picks what to talk about based on what's funny and literally creates outrage where there otherwise would not be, for entertainment. People enjoy being

It cherry picks what to talk about based on what's funny and literally creates outrage where there otherwise would not be, for entertainment. People enjoy being outraged at this stuff. There are more slaves today than at any other time. Child labor is on the rise. It's not unique to chocolate at all. Chocolate, sulfur, bananas, cobalt, rubber, etc.. Modern capitalism requires a healthy base of slaves to mine, refine, and harvest base resources. It's not that it isn't true. It's just not news in any significant way. This is just how things are. We all know that this is how things are, but we pretend like it's not so we can enjoy the feeling of being outraged. I know I do. John Oliver is great.

timeon 3y ago
> It's not unique to chocolate at all. Same is mentioned in the show. > This is just how things are We all know that this is how things are, but we pretend like it's not so we can enjoy the feeling of being outraged. Not sure what your point is. Is the 'outrage' bigger problem than the way that things actually are?
hoten 3y ago
This is mentioned by John. Are there specific instances of misrepresentation in the episode you can point to? "We all know..." That's just not true. Besides being funny, this show presents a general audience with topics they won't be familiar with. I think one can expect some chocolate consumers to modify their buying habits after watching this infotainment.
happytoexplain 3y ago
>We all know that this is how things are, but we pretend like it's not so we can enjoy the feeling of being outraged This seems both factually wrong (the first part) and kind of an unnecessarily hostile oversimplification of people's emotions/motivations. It's also another example of the very common fallacy that we should patently not be outraged by things that we already know, or are common, for which there are essentially infinite counter-examples in the realm of human behaviors that are common and known, yet still outrage-worthy and shocking every time (e.g. child abuse). Just because we can't solve every problem instantly doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to express our thoughts and feelings about them - that's part of a healthy society. Outrage only for outrage's sake surely is a thing, but it's also an easy thing to use as a label in dismissing things one doesn't like for other reasons.
- strangattractor 3y ago
  You also have to put things in context. If %50 of the people on earth where slaves 2000 years ago means 100 million slaves. 150 million slaves today would be %2 so there are more free people alive today than ever. (I made those numbers up BTW) It is also the case that Outage Attracts Viewers (OAV). Social Media is built on this principle and it seems hypocritical that these shows attract viewers on a similar model.
pixl97 3y ago
Because something is bad everywhere you shouldn't do anything to improve it... I've always heard that the best way to eat a whale is a bite at a time, not trying to shove the entire damned thing in ones mouth.

timeon 3y ago

> It's not unique to chocolate at all. Same is mentioned in the show. > This is just how things are We all know that this is how things are, but we pretend like it's not so we can enjoy the feeling of being outraged. Not sure what your point is. Is the 'outrage' bigger problem than the way that things actually are?

hoten 3y ago

This is mentioned by John. Are there specific instances of misrepresentation in the episode you can point to? "We all know..." That's just not true. Besides being funny, this show presents a general audience with topics they won't be familiar with. I think one can expect some chocolate consumers to modify their buying habits after watching this infotainment.

happytoexplain 3y ago

>We all know that this is how things are, but we pretend like it's not so we can enjoy the feeling of being outraged This seems both factually wrong (the first part) and kind of an unnecessarily hostile oversimplification of people's emotions/motivations. It's also another example of the very common fallacy that we should patently not be outraged by things that we already know, or are common, for which there are essentially infinite counter-examples in the realm of human behaviors that are common and known, yet still outrage-worthy and shocking every time (e.g. child abuse). Just because we can't solve every problem instantly doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to express our thoughts and feelings about them - that's part of a healthy society. Outrage only for outrage's sake surely is a thing, but it's also an easy thing to use as a label in dismissing things one doesn't like for other reasons.

strangattractor 3y ago
You also have to put things in context. If %50 of the people on earth where slaves 2000 years ago means 100 million slaves. 150 million slaves today would be %2 so there are more free people alive today than ever. (I made those numbers up BTW) It is also the case that Outage Attracts Viewers (OAV). Social Media is built on this principle and it seems hypocritical that these shows attract viewers on a similar model.

pixl97 3y ago

Because something is bad everywhere you shouldn't do anything to improve it... I've always heard that the best way to eat a whale is a bite at a time, not trying to shove the entire damned thing in ones mouth.