Kathleen Stock on the ‘be kind’ mantra

[Korimiko]

Thought many of you may enjoy this article - if you have not seen it already.

kathleenstock.com/the-pity-party-on-the-left-2/

It’s fantastic. Razor sharp.

a performative turn towards kindness
God, yes.

Kindness really matters, but it's not the final arbiter of what is right or wrong, sensible or stupid. It's not 'kind' to put someone in prison, but it might be the best way forward.

Excellent article. Thank you for the link.

Although I do strive to be compassionate and kind myself, I think that article makes very good points. There is a good book in this kind of area:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathological_Altruism

It is not enough to just merely be kind as oftentimes in the rush to kindness ill conceived actions can result in harm to the very people you could be trying to help, or even to oneself.

Book looks interesting!

It's not just the left that talk about being kind. Liz Truss talked about it in her statement about GRA reform. I thought at the time it was a really odd thing to say:

"we need to improve the process and experience that transgender people have when applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate – making it kinder and more straightforward."

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/response-to-gender-recognition-act-2004-consultation

'Kind' seems really out of place here. What is needed is something which is fair and appropriate. Since when were laws made in order to 'be kind'?

Great article. This is hugely problematic with the treatment of children. People think it’s kind to stop them going through puberty and cruel to allow it, but it’s actually cruel to block puberty for life with all of the consequences of that without evidence for doing so.

Kathleen Stock is just plain brilliant. Excellent article. Hits every necessary point to expose the silliness (at best) of exhorting kindness. At worst, it's cynical exploitation with a side order of sanctimony.

I think sometimes people say “Be Kind” when what they mean is “Be quiet”. It’s a good way of silencing people who have dissenting views that might not necessarily be seen as “kind”.

Yes Ozgirl - I completely agree. Be kind often = shut up and don’t make people uncomfortable.

It is not enough to just merely be kind as oftentimes in the rush to kindness ill conceived actions can result in harm to the very people you could be trying to help, or even to oneself.

Yes.
Buddhism sums it up by pairing compassion with wisdom.

Many of us are parents - we know that some measure of 'tough love' may be required.

What interests me about 'be kind' is that lots of parents seem unable to say 'no' to children and they have grown up with not only some sort of entitled expectation but also that they have mostly experienced parents trying to accommodate their every wish. This must impact on the ability to think critically and to accept that 'be kind' can be very detrimental (as already mentioned).

I have noticed that comedy has become nasty. No longer intelligent satire, just nasty comments. This is what Kathleen is talking about, be kind has its dark, mean side and this is where it shows. You can now say nasty things dressed as comedy but because you buy into 'be kind' you are very amusing not very nasty

The saying ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ has been around, in one form or another, for hundreds of years. There’s an arrogance and rigidity to the current ‘be kind’ mantra, as though progressive kindness is absolutely correct and any deviation is therefore unkind and wrong. Any consideration of unintended consequences is strongly discouraged, and pointing any out receives the sort of screeching you’d expect from people who dislike having their unshakable moral certainties questioned in awkward ways. The funny thing is that it’s the same sort of screeching that progressives so deplore when it comes from others, branding them boomers, gammons, or Karens. Current trans ideology is just one example, all the potential negatives are shouted down because they’re inconvenient, even though nobody can even agree as to what trans really is.

My takeaways:

As we know, ‘be kind’ comes from a moral, virtual signalling mob... a not very bright bunch, admittedly...who think their passive un-thought out little homilies put them on ‘the right side of history’ (heh heh, how little they know).

From now on, when anybody tries to shut me up with their blanket Reagen-like motto, I’m going to reply with “I’d rather just be fair. Considering both sides of the argument is so much more tolerant”.

Then I’ll do a Garland-esque mike drop, a big fat eye roll, and will walk out of that joint, haughty stropbucket I am, once and for all.

Thank you Dr Stock for putting into words the words I needed. X