What is Whataboutism?
Whataboutism is a technique used in making arguments that’s often used to deflect. It’s real, and if you don’t recognize it, it can be effectively used against you. You can easily lose an argument. Or, if you’re making a request of someone, you may never get what you want or need.
Wikipedia defines it this way: “Whataboutism (also known as whataboutery) is a variant of the tu quoque logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent’s position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument.” …
Most of the time when you see a #walkaway story, it’s someone who has left the left within the last four years. Not me. I was a pretty hard-core liberal, a Democrat, leaning strongly toward the left, when I was young. (I’m not any longer. Young, that is. Or leftist.) What that means is that I left the left many years ago. But it’s still a #walkaway story, and — I hope — worth telling.
First, I’ll explain what made me lean left politically. It definitely wasn’t my family. My parents were Republicans, but I didn’t know that until I…
The following is my response to Lori Gallagher Witt’s “I’m a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does” with apologies for borrowing some of her language in answer to her language:
I’m a conservative, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let’s break it down, shall we? Because, seriously, I’m getting more than a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. …
Deborah Jackson, PsyD
Dr. Jackson is a freelance editor and writer and has created and edited content for business professionals, small businesses, nonprofits, & academics.
