What is the mindset of someone who makes excuses for awful behavior?
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Given the abundance of stories of harassment and abuse which came out of Hollywood after the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., etc., there are some interesting conclusions one might draw from the mess of it all. Stories of the “cWhat is the mindset of someone who makes excuses for awful behavior?
Given the abundance of stories of harassment and abuse which came out of Hollywood after the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., etc., there are some interesting conclusions one might draw from the mess of it all. Stories of the “casting couch” have been a fixture of the entertainment industry. But, to me, the more interesting aspect to analyze is, with the degree to which this sort of thing seems to be pervasive and the number of victims, the mindset of people who knew this was going on and stayed silent or made excuses for why it wasn’t so bad. Because people had heard stories and knew at least bits and pieces about this, and yet some still cashed their checks after working with a bunch of creeps. For the victims in these cases, the fear of speaking out, the difficulty of whether or not they might be believed, and the affect on their careers were very real considerations. But for others on the bystander side of things, the love of money overruled common decency. And even before the current climate, many rationalized working with Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Chris Brown, R. Kelly and others even though those men have well-documented allegations or proven incidents of abuse hanging over their heads. Of course, there are a lot of creeps in this world and they go beyond Hollywood, as we have learned with our current president and mall-cruising Senate candidates. And beyond just the united spectrum of dirtbags which populate all segments of society, there’s just as much diversity in their enablers. While it’s not exactly a 1:1 comparison, what has struck me in recent days, given the lengths some conservatives have gone to defend Donald Trump, Roy Moore, or any other scumbag is how the mentality of defending awful politicians matches the other apologists. The only difference being one is about lifestyle where the other is ideology. Because if one makes the choice a conservative vote for tax cuts or abortion restrictions is worth electing a pedophile, then how is that any different than a selfishness which values dollars signs and fame? It’s just conservatives are conveniently outraged about one, while largely deflecting and making outlandish conspiracy theories about the other. People make compromises every day. People sell out and sell their dignity every day. But how exactly does someone get to that point? How does someone either ignore reality or try to form a thought process which allows them to betray everything they claim to care about? How do millions of people get to the point they’re okay with political leaders who are abusers? In more than a few previous posts, I’ve mentioned my struggles trying to reason with people who are anti-vaccine. One can break down all of the fallacies, point to a stack of studies, and note a lack of evidence for their position, but at a certain point it doesn’t matter. People who want to believe a lie will find a way the lie makes sense … if only to them. Because one can’t make someone realize the sky is blue and water is wet if the other fella is certain their eyes are lying to them. Read more