RE: Deflection and Taboo words... Troll, Racist, Conspiracy Theorist, etc.
Calling someone a troll is different from racist or conspiracy theorist.
Mainly because its very hard to be sure if someone is a troll or not.
Racist or conspiracy theorist on the other hand is relatively easy. You can call them that when they act that way.
But there is a problem WHEN someone is a racist or CT.
For example: Is it racist to mostly control black young man for drugs?
There are those who will say it not racist because black young man account for (random number) 80% of drug arrests.
But that is a statistic and first does not say anything about the individual (and if you are looking at stats and not the person, you are racist - or at least a statisticist).
Second you have to ask teh question WHY are young blacks the group mostly in the statistic? Because they get controlled 5 times more often then white young man, who may (or may not) do drogs as often as blacks?
Maybe it has nothing to do with the color and instead with poverty? And since many white people do a lot that blacks don't come out of poverty...
Similar with conspiracy theorist:
If you believe there is some secret circle of politicians meeting in a certain pizzeria - yeah, why not. Possible. Such things happen. Not CT
If you believe half of all politicians like to fuck children without really good proof, then you ARE a CT because that is statistically less likely then a spontaneous, complete class reunion without anyone knowing on a different continent.
If you believe that a lot of politicians gather discriminating material about each other, then you are probably right.
If you believe all politicians are completely bullshit, ignorant, selfish and power hungry bigots then you are wrong.
There are a lot of them, but that is not because politicians are that way but because in politics (and other places) those people are advanced. And we all participate actively in promoting or at least tolerating the advancement of such behavior.
You can see that in school: Who are the students that get admired by peers and often adults too?
The shy, thoughtful problem solver who does not care about being praised in the center of the stadium?
Or the cheerleader and football players who don't solve a problem and may be total power hungry but look good on the field?
It CAN be different.
It is NOT always different.
I didn't for example state there were no Trolls. I defined what they are. I did not say there are no Racists, or Conspiracy Theorist.
If a person lashes out and calls someone a Troll simply because they disagree with them how is that different from someone lashing out and calling someone a Racist or a Conspiracy Theorist when they have no evidence to support that other than their discomfort over something.
Examples: My daughter works at a gas station (one of the small ones where the attendant is more or less in a booth). A black lady drove up and parked her car in such a way that the license plate was not visible. Policy dictates they have to tell the people to turn their car around.
My daughter asked her to turn her car around. Sure enough"What are you racist?" to which my daughter replied "No, I am not" and explained the policy, but the lady kept ranting on about racism. My daughter explained that she could turn her car around or she could have her $20 back, but policy required that the license plate be visible.
When the lady came back my daughter told her that "as far as racism, I have one son and a husband that are darker color than you are".
This happens a lot and it is the same as the use of Troll in such cases.
This is also true with the phrase Conspiracy Theorist. Conspiracies do happen, there are theories explaining events yet they are closer to a hypothesis and are not the same as a theory in the scientific method.
Even the government tells conspiracy theories. They explain events when the evidence is destroyed, and the witnesses are all dead. They use the best evidence they can and they present a Conspiracy Theory.
These days that phrase will be used to shut people down or as a "I don't need to listen to a word you say" and it is an instant trigger reflex to hearing any piece of information that offers discomfort and does not fit within that persons world view. They won't consider anything the person is saying and they'll feel good about it because that person is speaking "blasphemy", he/she is a Conspiracy Theorist...
So are they the same thing? NO, and I didn't say they were.
Yet are all of the terms I provided frequently used the same way? Yes. That is what my article was about.