Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
As CHL said above, now its come to any sort of communication that any body doesn't like has become considered harassment or misconduct. The whole thing has jumped the shark, and truly takes away from actual victims. That's the saddest part.
|
This isn't quite what I said. I get what you're talking about, particularly the part about being unable to distinguish between degrees (see Bill Maher's latest rant on his show about "distinction deniers", which Minnie Driver then hilariously doubled down on).
I was specifically talking about using the language of personal safety to deal with people saying things you don't like (even if, as in this case, you're quite right to object to what was said). There are, surely, some contexts where words can reasonably make a person feel unsafe - if you're standing in an elevator with someone and they say, "I'm going to stab you unless you give me what I want" being a pretty simple example. But, sort of along the same lines as that apparent collective decision not to acknowledge nuance or matters of degree, there's a tendency now to suggest that anything that so much as makes one uncomfortable is tantamount to a safety threat. It's obvious why they do this: safety threats are to be taken more seriously than discomfort, and demand immediate decisive action in response to stop the person in question. So now, vague allegations about "creating an unsafe atmosphere" are everywhere - it's a go-to line to throw in to any complaint about anyone, whether it applies or not. Might as well - if anyone questions you, you can simply accuse them of victim blaming.
If Kent Hehr tweets at you, even something awful that he absolutely should not say that makes you feel bad or uncomfortable, what are the odds he's going to do anything to you directly? It's the internet. Turn off your phone. Not to mention, to put it bluntly, it's Kent Hehr. He's in a freaking wheelchair.