Whataboutery and blame culture

[Lencoboy]

By reading threads on other forums over the past 2 days concerning the showdown between Cummings and Bozzer, the amount of whataboutery concerning MPs of other parties (Labour in particular) is unbelievable.

Whataboutery seems to be the biggest get-out clause for nearly everything these days, and not just concerning political issues either.

For several years now many people have revelled in 'blame games' too, which again don't just involve politics.
In particular certain people's persistent mistakes never being their fault, such as certain staff members at day centres, respite units, etc, that I have attended in the past when I was younger, leaving paperwork with confidential information lying around and hastily accusing me of reading it when I didn't even know what it was and getting funny with me when I told them that perhaps they shouldn't be leaving such stuff lying around unattended in the first place, but as per usual, they proclaimed their god-given right to do so and also said 'we shouldn't have to keep the offices, staff toilets, etc locked, you should know full well that those areas are out of bounds to all clients'!

Yeah, asking for trouble by keeping those rooms unlocked and open to all and sundry at all times, plus refusing to display 'Private, Staff Only' signage on the doors of the offices, staff toilets, etc, and not forgetting poor communication in the first place!

Hardly rocket science is it?

[Lencoboy]

By reading threads on other forums over the past 2 days concerning the showdown between Cummings and Bozzer, the amount of whataboutery concerning MPs of other parties (Labour in particular) is unbelievable.

Whataboutery seems to be the biggest get-out clause for nearly everything these days, and not just concerning political issues either.

For several years now many people have revelled in 'blame games' too, which again don't just involve politics.
In particular certain people's persistent mistakes never being their fault, such as certain staff members at day centres, respite units, etc, that I have attended in the past when I was younger, leaving paperwork with confidential information lying around and hastily accusing me of reading it when I didn't even know what it was and getting funny with me when I told them that perhaps they shouldn't be leaving such stuff lying around unattended in the first place, but as per usual, they proclaimed their god-given right to do so and also said 'we shouldn't have to keep the offices, staff toilets, etc locked, you should know full well that those areas are out of bounds to all clients'!

Yeah, asking for trouble by keeping those rooms unlocked and open to all and sundry at all times, plus refusing to display 'Private, Staff Only' signage on the doors of the offices, staff toilets, etc, and not forgetting poor communication in the first place!

Hardly rocket science is it?

At least at my current day centre they have put numerical key pads on the doors leading to rooms/areas that the staff prefer to keep clients out of (including the offices, kitchens and store cupboards).

Regarding the toilet situation, there are no 'segregated' facilities there between staff and clients, and the outer doors of all such facilities are clearly labelled.

Best of all (so far), there's no stroppy, blame-gaming staff members there, unlike my previous day centres and respite units.

[Lencoboy]

The whataboutery and deflection in other online forums concerning the current scandal involving Matt Hancock is absolutely unbelievable.

Some examples being 'but what about the MP's expenses scandal of 2009, under the late New Labour?', and another said 'what about Corbyn's (more recent) anti-Semitism scandal?', 'what about Bliar and the Iraq war?'

Seriously, of what relevance is those past issues concerning Labour to these current issues concerning the current Tory govt?

With regards the MP's expenses scandal, it was MPs from all parties (including Tory and Lib Dem) that were involved at the time and not only Labour MPs, but The Scum, Daily Fail, etc, were endlessly screaming out 'Broken Britain' at that time!

[pulisa]

People love a good moan though and scandals sell newspapers like hot cakes..Don't get too wrapped up in it, Lenco

[Lencoboy]

People love a good moan though and scandals sell newspapers like hot cakes..Don't get too wrapped up in it, Lenco

It's the people deflecting the topic to whatever Labour did wrong in the past, and the fact that it bears no direct relevance to nor is addressing the current issues, that's bugging me right now.

I mean, what's the MP's expenses scandal of 12 years ago got to do with Hancock's recent misdemeanours?

[pulisa]

It's the people deflecting the topic to whatever Labour did wrong in the past, and the fact that it bears no direct relevance to nor is addressing the current issues, that's bugging me right now.

I mean, what's the MP's expenses scandal of 12 years ago got to do with Hancock's recent misdemeanours?

Nothing..but that doesn't matter. Debates go off topic but I know this must annoy you.

[Lencoboy]

Nothing..but that doesn't matter. Debates go off topic but I know this must annoy you.

It does annoy me but we can all be a bit guilty of that on here, myself included.

BTW, Hancock has now finally given himself up and called it quits!

Probably also scared of getting a kicking from the protesters in central London today, but at least he is finally owning his misdemeanour!

[Lencoboy]

I remember reading something online back in 2017 (can't remember where exactly) about an incident at a school where the class were waiting for an educational TV programme to start that was preceded by a news bulletin that still hadn't ended when the teacher switched the TV on, then Trump came on and a couple of pupils started slagging him off and the teacher severely reprimanded them over it and I think even put them in detention over it, even though she (the teacher) probably despised Dollard herself, but it all sounded a bit like a case of 'PC gone mad' to me.

Likewise, at my old day centre about 20 years ago, one staff member reprimanded me for slagging off racists and lecturing me about the fact that 'other people's views and opinions also matter' and also about 'people's rights to freedom of expression', in which he wasn't wrong on the whole but at the same time I remember him on an earlier occasion (quite rightly) reprimanding other clients there for making openly racist and sexist remarks.

Again, smacked of double standards IMO and us clients were wrong either way!

[Lencoboy]

Another thing I've been wondering over the past couple of days, namely triggered by the 'smart meters' thread where there's much talk of alleged poor practices from utility companies, if the same applies to certain consumer brands, in particular those who have increasingly jumped on the 'Made in China' bandwagon over the past 20-odd years.

Some products that Argos have sold over recent years that are badged with certain 'historical' brand names that were once considered reputable, have been a cause for many complaints amongst customers, especially when they found out that those (poor/faulty) products weren't actually made by those brands but outsourced from some dodgy anonymous manufacturer in China, and the named 'brand' or the company who owned them actually had nothing to do with the production process.

One item in question is a Walkman-style portable radio cassette recorder badged with the Bush branding (said name exclusive to Argos since about 2008), in which I purchased back in the summer of 2016, purely out of curiosity, and I'm sure Argos are still selling that very same item today.

Probably the biggest rip-off of the century, as not only is the sound quality the worst-ever, what with appalling wow-and-flutter, it records and plays back in mono sound only. It says on the device itself that it's a radio cassette player with no mention of recording capability (or incapability, as the recordings are submerged in an ocean of a mid-frequency 'blowing' noise), plus no safety mechanism to prevent the record button being accidentally pressed if the tabs are removed from the cassette shell. Also when I did a recording test on one side of an old cassette of mine, it also erased the right-hand channel of the other side of the cassette, so a total liability had it been an important recording on the other cassette side, which luckily it wasn't.

Finally that device barely lasted a year, especially as it felt like it was designed and put together by a complete amateur, plus many other customers have complained of similar flaws (as noted in online reviews), but Argos still continue to sell this blasted item despite users being taken for a ride.

People have also had bad experiences even with proper 'named' brand items where the items bore the brand logo on the front but not actually made by those companies but again by some iffy manufacturer in China, probably so they could say 'well we never actually manufactured the item so we can't be held responsible for the faults/defects'.

WRONG, those companies gave those dodgy manufacturers the go-ahead to produce those poor goods for them, so they're still very much to blame.

Hardly surprising the second-hand vintage market is a thriving business (especially eBay and even charity shops), and people are increasingly avoiding many new products like the plague, even clothing items!

Plus vintage NOS is now the absolute holy grail of many people.

[Carnation]

I second the like for vintage (excuse the pun).
I've gone through 4 kettles in 5 years. Got a fridge that thinks it's a freezer. And since when did mattresses need toppers? My granny's bed certainly didn't.
Current clothing seems to thread at the seams and material is thin and weak. I'm sure they cut the cloth to the bare minimum. And don't get me started on footwear.
Where as my 1950s musical ornament is still going strong and my 1980s jacket still looks as good as new.
And my friend's 1950s fridge is working perfectly.