Is there a phrase doing more heavy lifting right now than "It's just a difference of opinion."
Over the years it's taken on more and more work. It used to be used for things like art. Subjective things. I am not a big fan of Jackson Pollock's work, but I have friends who are. We have a difference of opinion. It's not a big deal. It's not even something to argue over. Clearly they are wrong, but it's just a difference of opinion. I'm obviously joking here. I am in the minority with not liking his work. They are the ones who could be considered more right. If one of us needed to be right. But since it's just an opinion on art and personal taste we don't need to be. It's just a difference of opinion.
Subjective things.
I saw a friend's boyfriend tell her that she would never have short hair again. Because he didn't like it. Clearly she and I have a difference in opinion on what a boyfriend should say about her hair, on her head, which should be her choice. But she wasn't offended so I didn't say anything. I mean, I had to walk away so I didn't, but it still counts. It's a difference of opinion. His being different than mine. I think she looked adorable with short hair but the main thing being the length of her hair is nobody's choice but hers. And hers being different than mine. My response when someone tells me they like long hair better is to let them know they are free to grow theirs out. It's just a difference of opinion.
But now it's happening with objective things.
You see it in response to science. It's just a difference of opinion. No. Not really. It's a disregarding of scientific facts. Maybe the opinion is that you don't think facts matter and someone else does, but it's not a difference of opinion. When it's objective, when you can see the work, when you have the studies, it's not an opinion.
I had someone a few weeks ago try to shame me by saying that I was being condescending in assuming that someone wasn't as informed as I was on a subject, and that the real truth was we were just having a difference of opinion. Another one I walked away from. I mean, she already thought I was being condescending, my response starting with Oh, sweetie...would not have helped change THAT opinion at all. But the facts of the argument, the quotes I would have pulled, those weren't opinions. Those were facts. Disregarding facts doesn't make it a difference of opinion. And to be perfectly fair, I didn't assume the person I was arguing with was any less informed than I was. I assumed they were disregarding the facts because they liked their opinions better.
You see it in political arguments. It's just a difference of opinion. When you are talking about things that aren't opinions. The January 6th Insurrection was not a group of undercover Antifa secret agents posing as Trump loyalists. You know how we know? Because the plotted and planned in the open on social media then filmed themselves and posted those clips. They told you who they were, they told you why they were there. Trump tweeted about it multiple times before it happened. It's not a difference of opinion. It's a disregarding of facts.
When Limbaugh died I had someone tell me that they couldn't believe I hated him just because he had a different opinion that I did. He cheered when gay men died from AIDS. He said if a woman has her birth control pills covered by government health insurance they owed a sex tape to every tax payer. He coined the term feminazi after saying that feminism was for unattractive women to have access to the mainstream. And it goes on and on. He spread conspiracy theories. He was vile. I guess maybe we had a difference of opinion. But "just" a difference of opinion doesn't really seem to cover it does it?
I mean, what sort of sense does it make that we are all supposed to just wave our hands and wish away everything as "That's just a difference of opinion."
That's a lot of heavy lifting.
I'm not willing to help carry that load.
Some things aren't just a difference of opinion.
Some things are a disregarding of facts.
Some things might be opinions but they aren't "just" benign opinions. They are awful and we shouldn't treat them as just one more different opinion to give weight to.
But, you know, that's just like my opinion, man....
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