The problem with tirades such as this is they validate and energize the lunatic fringe through acknowledgement and goading. Crazy is as crazy does and if you try to meet crazy in the middle you are necessarily dragged halfway to insanity.
So what do you do then, ignore it all? I agree that crazy is futile to dispute, but I do read them just to reassess my own values, to prevent myself from becoming the crazy one.Crazy is as crazy does and if you try to meet crazy in the middle you are necessarily dragged halfway to insanity.
Yup. It's important in one's life to learn the distinction between an argument from logic and an argument from passion. "Check your privilege" is an argument from passion, not logic. Responding to it with logic will do nothing more than inflame the passion, while responding to it with passion will double you down into a fight you will never win by design - the discussion is entirely about how you aren't entitled to an opinion, so attempting to have one only proves you more wrong. If you're going to reassess your own values, use tools with one foot still in the world. There are plenty of arguments about privilege that don't start from "you are not a minority therefore you are oppressive by definition."So what do you do then, ignore it all?
Yeah, it makes more sense to ignore emotion-driven arguments as you can't combat it anyway. It's the very reason I avoid the religious argument or brush it off when I'm asked. I've tried it for a while but it leads to heated arguments or to me giving up using logic against the passion-driven person, who are often remarkably good at pulling nonsensical arguments out of their ass. At the same time, I'm passionate beyond logic on more than one aspect of life. You can't use your sword of logic on everything. Yeah, at the very least this parody (it has to be, right?) made me rethink my 'privilege' a bit. The problem I have with it is the collateral damage of people who believe it.It's important in one's life to learn the distinction between an argument from logic and an argument from passion.
There are plenty of arguments about privilege that don't start from "you are not a minority therefore you are oppressive by definition."