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Yes, and the more you convince people that everyone is equally bad, the more you empower bad actors. If there is no profit in being good and there is profit in
by DFHippie 2y ago
Yes, and the more you convince people that everyone is equally bad, the more you empower bad actors. If there is no profit in being good and there is profit in being bad, being good is for suckers.
If everyone's a thief, you'd better start stealing. Otherwise you're just a victim.
- jonathanlydall 2y agoIn fantasy arguments I have in my head about someone justifying their bad behaviour with “but everyone does it”, my reply would be, “most people I know don’t do it, so it’s definitely not everyone, just people like you”.
- DFHippie 2y ago"Everyone does it" translates to "I don't think I will suffer consequences from doing it". It's a justification based on self-interest, not ethics. It looks like they are applying a version of Kant's Categorical Imperative, which is roughly "what if everyone did it?" The justifier is saying everyone does do it and everything is fine. The proof is in the pudding. But as you say, if literally everyone did it, they wouldn't be having this conversation with you. So what they mean by "everyone" is "enough people that I'm safe".