Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Subtweeting

A constant locally is suburbanites who lecture Philadelphians on how they're suppose to run their city, including a large number of the local journalist types. I'm not saying this is always wrong. It's a regional economy. Much of the local culture is here. People who work here (and pay taxes!) have a legitimate stake in what is going on. People can have opinions about stuff that doesn't really impact them! I express such opinions myself sometimes.

But there's a subgenre of this, which is the paternalistic Great White Colonial Father Lectures Native Inhabitants About What's Best For Them. It isn't the expressing of the opinion that's the problem, it's the condescension that comes with it. It's a bit like mansplaining, assuming the person you're talking to is an idiot when they probably know much more than you do about the subject at hand. "If only you knew what I know...." Yeah, we know it, and think you're wrong. And maybe you're right! But don't assume we're stupid.