Post AX9fugB7HOIFRMJ1ea by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
 (DIR) More posts by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
 (DIR) Post #AX9fuexbo7tVfAyixc by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
       2023-06-28T15:09:04Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       If a terrible person says something correct or true, you don't have to say "[Terrible person] was right about [X]." I mean, you can say it, but you don't have to.The terrible person is rarely the originator of whatever it is that they said that was correct. Saying that they were right about [X] is often an attempt to give them credit for something positive. It comes from a place of wanting them to be more accepted by the public.We should explore why the speaker wants them to be more accepted
       
 (DIR) Post #AX9fugB7HOIFRMJ1ea by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
       2023-06-28T15:16:47Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Same with "I agree with [terrible person] on [X]." It draws power and ownership of the idea away from originators, and towards the terrible person.Concrete example: Trump was ridiculed for saying that California should rake the forests to prevent forest fire. Because people didn't understand that "raking the forest" is a term for controlled burns."I agree with Trump on controlled burns."🙅🏿‍♂️"Trump is right about forest fires."🙅🏿‍♂️"Trump is quoting both native American and forestry experts."👍🏿
       
 (DIR) Post #AX9fulw5s9qFIVK74S by mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
       2023-06-28T15:25:39Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       When I hear the pattern "Hitler was right about..."Or "Trump was right about..."Or "DeSantis was right about..."Or "Elon was right about..."I understand that what follows is less about the quality of the idea, and more about the speaker trying to build empathy for the issuer of the statement. This can be a good thing! Empathy is generally good, and no one is wrong 100% of the time.But oftentimes the speaker's intent is to make the listener more palatable to the subject's other "ideas."
       
 (DIR) Post #AX9fuoNSnMvIry900e by brianonbarrington@mastodon.world
       2023-06-28T15:58:16Z
       
       1 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @mekkaokereke Sub-mediocre people like Trump have careers built on the excellence of marginalized people whose ideas and work they appropriate and rebrand as their own.It’s a big feature of western business and the reason why so many everyday people believe that Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and Elon Musk invented the electric car, when in truth neither had any of the technical skills required to do so, and branded the work of others as their own.