158 upvotes, 7 direct replies (showing 7)
View submission: Elon Musk misleadingly suggests other celebrities made controversial 'Nazi' gesture
This is where I use my teacher response, "we're not talking about other's actions right now - we're talking about yours."
This is one of the most common arguments that middle and high school students try to use when they get in trouble.
Using this response cuts through all of the bullshit and focuses on that child's (or multi-billionaire's) choices.
Comment by 255001434 at 23/01/2025 at 23:54 UTC*
40 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's also the most common reply when you criticize something Trump did. Instead of defending Trump, they change the subject to something Biden or Obama did. It's because they can't defend what Trump did.
Comment by No_Pollution_1 at 24/01/2025 at 09:59 UTC
16 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You must understand that over half of Americans don’t have the reading comprehension or level to grasp what you just said.
Comment by Infernoraptor at 24/01/2025 at 18:18 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The Narcicist's Prayer:
"That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it."
Looks like Musk is on lines 2 and 3.
Comment by Sir_Penguin21 at 24/01/2025 at 17:28 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Instead of apologizing for the accidental confusion like anyone who isn’t a Nazi, he just doubles down and lies everyone else is a Nazi, just like a Nazi would do.
Normal people would be horrified to be linked with Nazis, but not Leon.
Comment by ixampl at 24/01/2025 at 02:25 UTC*
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Musk's salute aside, since his (his supporters') argument does not hold any water anyway, I do think it is a fair way to respond in some cases. An argument based on "others did it too" isn't necessarily wrong by default in the way you imply.
When the main immediate problem you address is that people are critizing or punishing you, while they did not do so or don't do so for others, calling out hypcocricy is fair, is it not?
So to take a school example and you have a potentially racist teacher. You're the only black kid in class and you're the only one being punished by that teacher for coming late to class, you are right that in the first instance you as an individual were late and the punishment would be justified. But if the teacher set examples before where that wasn't ever punished he invited more people to ignore the rules and has some respinsibility to bear. Secondly, if there's a pattern of applying double standards, it's fair to call that out.
It doesn't even have to be about something black and white like a racist teacher. Teachers are human, and they will end up liking some students more than others a little. And back in my days I've definitely seen this affect how teachers judge deeds by students.
If a student finds themselves in such a situation and observes "injustice" I think it shouldn't be shrugged off and it'll in my opInion just make it harder to get through.
It at least requires an honest explanation of why the others weren't subjected to punishment while one student happens to be.
In Musk or Trump's case, it's so much easier in my opinion to attack it up front and expose the excuses as a made up construct. If you just ignore it and say, "this is about you", someone might conclude you are saying "we indeed don't judge Taylor Swift for makIng a Nazi salute, and that's not the topic today". When in reality it's "wtf, sure we would have been upset about that too, don't lie about that picture in the first place and certainly don't pretend we'd have been okay with it".
Comment by dragonfly310 at 24/01/2025 at 16:23 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is also the way to make sure that no others are ever called out for the same actions. "It's OK if they do it, but not me" is never allowed to be stated. This shows obvious favoritism.
Comment by [deleted] at 24/01/2025 at 15:50 UTC
-4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
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