Some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head whilst binging the You're Wrong About podcast:
- If everybody's following the rules and something catastrophic happens as a result, the rules are the problem. They, and the people who made them, should be critically examined. (Challenger Disaster episode)
- When comparing costs, always consider the cost of maintaining the status quo. Especially when the topic is the criminal justice system, in which not being overly punitive is frequently less expensive. Sometimes far less expensive. Kindness and compassion can be, and often are, cheaper. (Homelessness and Murder episodes)
- There are always reasons why people do things. "Even" mentally ill people (scare quotes because it sucks to even have to say this, but clearly a lot of folks believe otherwise). Even people who do horrible things, like serial killers. Trying to understand these reasons does not justify those horrible actions-- it does, however, help to prevent them from happening again. Trying to understand people and their motivations is never the wrong thing to do. (DC Sniper episodes)
- Taste is subjective, which most people acknowledge, but yet those same people have engaged in campaigns to demonize art they dislike and those who consume it, instead of...just not consuming it themselves. (Disco Demolition episode)
- When an organization has a hierarchy that explicitly or implicitly assigns power primarily to men, you're gonna see that power abused, whether physically, sexually, or emotionally, or all three. (A whole bunch of episodes)
- The tyranny of expectations can ruin lives. Expectations of others for you, expectations for yourself...they're not inherently a bad thing, but most of us are told in one way or another since birth that we should live primarily for others, or at least according their expectations of how we should live, which become our expectations for ourselves, and we can live our entire lives without having the chance to confront and evaluate those expectations. (Amy Fisher, the Preppy Murder)
- No person can, by their actions or identity, invalidate the right to be treated with dignity by society, and equality under the law. (Every single episode)
- Looking for a suspect in a white van is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and especially a bad idea if they are not actually driving a white van (DC Sniper episodes).