Comment by JumpCrisscross
4 days ago
> this doesn't seem like a useful argument
It's not. It's a comforting lie to justify inaction. You see it a lot when people justify not voting or civically engaging.
To be clear, I am doing jack shit about deep-sea mining. But that's a choice I'm making and I own it, even if it makes me uncomfortable. (And there are plenty of cases where that discomfort drives folks into action, however minor.)
I didn't read it as a justification for inaction but rather a reality check. The tone of the parent seemed to imply that the current situation is somehow unusual or unexpected.
The difference between "he's gone mad" which seems to imply that an urgent response is warranted versus "unsurprisingly, his long standing madness continues".