CW: swastika flag
Saying no is really aggressive. How dare. I came here to have a civil discussion about your desire to live.
Nazis be like: “I think people who I don’t like should either be killed outright, forced into segregated impoverished communities, or integrated into forced labour”
The people the Nazis target be like: “Yeah no, fuck you”
Centrists be like: “w…why are you god damn commies always being so extremist? I just want to have a civil debate on this topic, stop calling me a bad person for playing devil’s advocate!!”
Ugh, yeah. I roll my eyes reflexively when someone advocates for a “civil debate” about this sort of thing.
anytime someone says “let’s play devils advocate” or “not to play devil’s advocate but” I immediately know they’re a debatebro who’s only there to push the far-right’s narratives under the guise of being “inclusive to all viewpoints” (to which, they’re never inclusive to the far-left’s viewpoints)
I’m not sure “playing devil’s advocate” is a bad thing in and of itself if it is not in a public debate but when you’re having a friendly discussion trying to understand someone else viewpoint. I regularly play this role in a sincere effort to understand another viewpoint.
That being said, I agree with you if we are talking about a public debate where the goal isn’t to understand and think together, but to convince third party people watching a politician showdown.
(Is there different words for “real debate” and “rethorical/confrontationnal debate” in English ?)
