A few of my friends have invariably asked about the validity of looting, wondering why and wondering how it achieves anything. In any discussion where I bring up understanding, someone invarabaly confuses understanding and compassion with condoning and being okay with it. It is important to understand that these are not the same thing.
While it's frustrating to have to blacksplain everything over and over, I stumbled upon this way of describing it to a friend that seems to have worked the best:
"[The point about looting is] not invalid, [name], but it's also an extremely common and expected discussion that all-too-often derails discussion about the root problem. It does not help that that the rioting discussion invariably ends up being a discussion that is used to support the negative views. Try to think of it as the equivalent of "Well, look what she was wearing!" or "Look at how she was dancing!" to derail rape discussions. Except, you know — the destructive results from rioting are an actual valid consideration. It's another in the chain of "This is why you people can't have nice things!" and a lifetime of that crap breeds illogical reactions like rioting.
For me, it just breeds rage and writing a lot of words. Sometimes a lot of big words."
This is in no way meant to equate rape and looting, but rather using an imperfect example to illustrate how discussion is commonly, expectedly derailed from root problems. I've been struggling to find better examples than rape or abuse.
While it's frustrating to have to blacksplain everything over and over, I stumbled upon this way of describing it to a friend that seems to have worked the best:
"[The point about looting is] not invalid, [name], but it's also an extremely common and expected discussion that all-too-often derails discussion about the root problem. It does not help that that the rioting discussion invariably ends up being a discussion that is used to support the negative views. Try to think of it as the equivalent of "Well, look what she was wearing!" or "Look at how she was dancing!" to derail rape discussions. Except, you know — the destructive results from rioting are an actual valid consideration. It's another in the chain of "This is why you people can't have nice things!" and a lifetime of that crap breeds illogical reactions like rioting.
For me, it just breeds rage and writing a lot of words. Sometimes a lot of big words."
This is in no way meant to equate rape and looting, but rather using an imperfect example to illustrate how discussion is commonly, expectedly derailed from root problems. I've been struggling to find better examples than rape or abuse.
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