• GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
    312·
    10 months ago

    Literal whataboutism:

    What about Japan?

    Cause people apparently need help:

    Japan is generally perceived as more advanced on a variety of issues, but has recently been in the news regarding an execution. It’s for that reason I asked about Japan.

    I asked about another country to learn about the speaker’s perspective, was it specific to the issue, or some other factor. They replied.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      10 months ago

      What’s with this stupid trend of taking what someone says about one thing, applying it to a different thing, and acting like they’re contradicting themselves? For fucks sakes, assume the person you’re talking to has consistent views. If they say that the death penalty is a solid reason not to consider the US civilized, then it stands to reason that they would feel the same way about Japan, or the United Arab Emirates, or Qatar, or any of the other 50ish countries that still kill people as punishment. What about what they said would imply otherwise???

      • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        It’s not a trend. I wondered if their opinion was more about America, or a very different country, or a topic like the death penalty. It’s a common conversational pattern with which to highlight the core views of the speaker and identify if those views are tied to the subject (america) or the topic (death penalty.) Japan is generally seen as superior on many topics, but recently was in the news for ruling on an execution, hence was the example I raised.

        They replied that they think Japan is the same, are thus logically consistent, and I was satisfied.

        If they had said Japan IS civilized, even though they too have execution, that would be logically inconsistent and problematic.