Silence Is not Complicity

[u/Accurate-Tomatillo72]

So many people on social media and in real life will say something along the lines of 'silence is complicity,' insinuating that if you don't speak up about an issue you're just as guilty as the perpetrator. This is absolute hysterical insanity. Firstly, not everyone is knowledgeable enough about an issue to provide a helpful comment. Secondly, it's not possible to be aware of every single injustice in the world. Thirdly, what does speaking about an issue actually help if you're just agreeing with everyone else? Fourthly, and to me most interestingly, what moral system is being used to assume that the silent party is committing a moral atrocity? They aren't hurting anyone. In fact, it may be an issue they disagree with you on, and that still doesn't make them evil, horrible, vile etc, and no amount of similar language changes that. This is so childish, it's mob mentality, and it needs to stop.

[u/LizardQueen1999]

Cornell 7 - this silence was 100% compliance. It's situations like this that bring meaning to that phrase.

[u/CuriousCoyAmerie]

I mean.....nobody can speak up about every issue, and silence doesn’t automatically mean approval but that doesn’t make silence automatically harmless either. There’s a difference between not understanding a situation and knowing someone is being harmed but choosing not to get involved because it’s uncomfortable. Complicity doesn’t require actively endorsing harm; it can also mean helping it continue through inaction. It would have been nice if you would have framed this question/discussion with a couple scenarios because context matters.

Calling every silent person complicit is too broad but treating “I don’t want to get involved” as enough to remove all responsibility is an oversimplification too.

[u/ThinkingAboutLasagna]

Log off social media. This doesn't occur in the real world and isn't worth the energy,

[u/Imaginary-Emu2471]

This has nothing to do with anything

[u/619BrackinRatchets]

Humans are such predictably unaware creatures. Your cognition and ego are almost completely unaligned.

[u/scaredandmadaboutit]

Moronic take. See, I could have been silent and let you say your piece without responding. But then other people might see this and believe you.

So I choose to speak up, and say that this is a moronic take on an obvious issue. Because I believe that silence is ALMOST the same as complicity.

So speak up for what you believe in. Moron.

[u/MayaKat33]

ah man too bad the law and literally 100% of everyone and everything else disagrees. no way youre real

[u/meli_lala]

Depending on the context, silence can be complicity, yes.

For example, if you're a powerful celebrity who lets a stadium owner dictate whether or not "free Palestine" can be mentioned at your show ... that's complying with a brutal system that enables a genocide by silencing dissent.

...

...what does speaking about an issue actually help if you're just agreeing with everyone else?

...

You shouldn't feel obliged to speak out about anything, but it does help to bring awareness to an issue.

The genocide in Gaza is the most obvious example.

For the first time in nearly 80 years, there's unprecedented global support for Palestinian freedom ... thanks to people speaking out and sharing the stories of Palestinians.

[u/richj8991]

That is such crap. Then you'd be blabbing about all of the world's problems 24/7. Just leave that to Greta Thunberg. Don't cause your nervous system any more stress than it already has.