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I have taken to making whataboutist arguments fairly regularly in response to what I perceive as what has come to be a standard debate tactic from the Right. It was pointed out to me in another thread just now that I made a whataboutist post (which was, to be fair, in response to a whataboutist post). Regardless, there is no doubting that anybody who uses whataboutism is just part of an ongoing problem that effectively breaks debate. I would stop using it, except for the feeling that if everybody on the left were to stop using whataboutism, it would really just be the Right who engages in the tactic (the "prisoner's dilemma").
Therefore I came up with the idea of a pledge to avoid using whataboutism arguments. But in order to avoid a prisoner's dilemma situation, the pledge would only apply within the group of people who also make the pledge. In other words, for every person who takes the pledge, I agree never to use whataboutism in response to their posts (until or unless, of course, they break that pledge). It's just a rough idea at the moment, but it seems okay on the surface of it.
What say ye?
For those who may be compelled to say, "How about you just don't use whataboutism?" I'll say in response, "You know who you are, and you know if this applies to you." Also, that "prisoner's dilemma" thing.
Therefore I came up with the idea of a pledge to avoid using whataboutism arguments. But in order to avoid a prisoner's dilemma situation, the pledge would only apply within the group of people who also make the pledge. In other words, for every person who takes the pledge, I agree never to use whataboutism in response to their posts (until or unless, of course, they break that pledge). It's just a rough idea at the moment, but it seems okay on the surface of it.
What say ye?
For those who may be compelled to say, "How about you just don't use whataboutism?" I'll say in response, "You know who you are, and you know if this applies to you." Also, that "prisoner's dilemma" thing.
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