• grue@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    The hypocrisy is by design: it’s how they mock and taunt you with their power.

    “Never believe that [racists and bigots] are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The [racists and bigots] have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

    • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      You can leave the “antisemite” in, as Sartre demonstrates in the essay, “the Jew” is just a blank cypher anyway.