Why silence is not complicity

Recently, we're starting to see more and more slogans that attack people who are "silent".  These slogans say things like "if you don't say you're against violence, you're a criminal".

Another example of this is Seattle Seahawks player Richard Sherman, who said "anyone who doesn't speak up and say they are in favor of black rights is a racist by default".

Or: "if you're silent about women's rights, you're complicit with the abusers."

These types of slogans are not good.

The problem with this kind of attitude is that it assumes the worst about people.  It says that, by default, all people are terrible, and in order to show that they are not, they need to speak up and prove it.

In other words, these types of slogans make everyone guilty until proven innocent.  That's the exact opposite of democracy and freedom.  In order for a society to be truly free, each citizen should, by default, assume that everyone else are GOOD, not bad.  We should be presumed to be innocent, not guilty.  That is one of the cores of democracy: that you give the other person the benefit of the doubt and assume that, by default, they are innocent and good.

This also means that that an average person should not have to speak up by default.

Why not?

Because most people (99%+) believe in equality, oppose the idea of violence, want peace, etc.  As the fathers of the Constitution said, "we hold these truths to be self-evident".  It shouldn't be a requirement of people to speak up and state what we all feel.

Think of it this way: suppose that you saw someone standing on the corner of the street market and yelling this: "I am against oppression.  I am against violence.  I am against abuse of women.  I am against racism."

And this person went on and on, yelling out what they were against.

How would that make you feel?

Most likely you'd be thinking "Why doesn't that fool be quiet?  Everyone feels that way, it's no big deal."

And that's the point: most people are good and decent already - they oppose human cruelty, oppression, etc.  They shouldn't have to "speak out" and say it; instead, we as a society should already assume that they feel that way and give them respect.

This is why slogans that say that silence or inaction implies approval are wrong.  Someone who is out beating up blacks - is a racist.  Someone who is hitting a woman - is an abuser.  Someone who is just living their life - is innocent - regardless if they express their opposition to racism or violence or not.

What a person actually does is what matters.

The real irony of it is that the people who use those slogans - THEY are the ones creating hate and suspicion.   They are the ones who are ruining society, because they are going around and saying that we, as a society, should assume everyone is guilty first, and need to be proven innocent.

In other words, we should assume the WORST about our fellow humans beings, and everyone has to PROVE that they are not a terrible person (racist, sexist, etc.)

That is a terrible attitude to have towards fellow human beings.

By default, everyone is a racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-freedom, oppressive Nazi?

No.

It's the other way around: by default, most people are hard-working, decent, and worthy of respect.

To be clear: the "if you don't speak, you are, by default, guilty" attitude is, quite frankly, completely bollocks.  It's an attitude that most of us find totally reprehensible.  It's negative, anti-freedom, anti-human, cynical, and anti-democratic.

And as this article shows, people certainly ARE willing to speak up: but don't be suprised if what we are speaking against - is YOU and your awful attitude towards humanity.

LKvi