The newest trend in American behavior is a thing called "whataboutism". "Whataboutism" is a practice whereby you never examine an activity or behavior on its own merits. When faced with inhumane, or unjust or evil actions, you don't condemn them, you simply reply with "Well, what about this? Or what about that?"
The prevalence of this thinking and behavior is truly frightening, as I believe it allows for the emotional distancing from every situation that does not directly involve you.
Let me try to explain. Have you ever cried at a book, or a movie, or even at a song? Why? Usually, we cry because we vicariously experience the emotion the song, book or movie is trying to convey. We cry because we are open to feeling what the character feels.
When people practice "whataboutism" they never even think of the people in the situation as people, much less open themselves to think about or experience the emotions the people in the situation are experiencing.
Rather than listening and connecting to the thing that is happening in the world, they immediately go to rifling through their mental file cabinet to come up with analogies that refute the legitimacy of the problem.
I'll try a couple of examples. "The police shot an unarmed teenager in Pittsburgh last night." A whataboutist may respond, "Well, if black on black crime wasn't such a problem, police would have an easier job."
What?
Or, "It is inhumane to separate children from their parents just because the parents are seeking amnesty."
A whataboutist, "What about how Obama had to have a court ruling because of unlimited detention of unaccompanied minors?"
Huh?
Or, "A trade war is not going to improve the economy, or help anyone in America get a job".
A whataboutist, "The democrats are so weak they let China steal all our jobs."
Seriously?
You will become less and less human the more you practice "whataboutism". Trust me, I'm watching it in real time.
In order to stay human, whenever you hear something, you have to think about it. You have to imagine how you would feel if you were the person in the event. You have to think about the systemic ramifications of what is happening. You have to read multiple sources, or listen to multiple different outlets with different viewpoints. When you stop doing that, you become less of a human and more of a tool.
There is no perfect system, or political party, or person on this earth. Everyone can be trying to manipulate you to take advantage of you. Everyone can be trying to convince you to see things only the way they want you too. Everyone can be trying to callous you to "the other" so that they can rob you of your decency.
The only person that can stop them is you. Question. Feel. Cry.
Examine every news story and every situation as it is. Let things stand on their own. Don't compare current injustices to anything except an ethical or moral standard. If you don't have one handy, use the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you".
Then decide what you think or feel about an issue. You may still not care about children being ripped from their parents, or black teenagers being murdered by police for not reason. You may still not care that the current administration is shredding our relationships with our allies, and supporting dictatorships.
But at least you will be informed in your callousness. My regular readers know I believe in God. For those that don't, but believe in karma or balance, or the power of good in the universe; we all come to the same point.
Your informed callousness will not go unnoticed. As Theodore Parker said, and Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
Those who choose "whataboutism", who chose informed callousness, will wind up on the wrong side of that moral arc, and there will be no one there to save them.
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