How often have we accused others or been accused of hypocrisy?
How many times have we heard, "Dad/Mom is such a hypocrite, telling me I shouldn't smoke while puffing on menthols, or that drinking is bad for me while cracking open a Lone Star"? Or, "Grandma is calling out her granddaughter for having a boyfriend so young, while she had her first kid at fifteen." We've all encountered similar examples. They're such hypocrites, right? Wrong.
Let's break it down example by example. The first thing we notice is how people try to pass off an action as having the same value regardless of surrounding conditions.
Take Papa, for instance. He told his son he's a dork for watching Let's Play videos, then sat on the couch and turned on an NBA or soccer game. He even started telling the screen what the players should do, as if they could hear him.
Papa came home tired from his nine-to-five job or was enjoying his leisure day. He sat down, turned on the TV, and switched channels. He saw Marvel's new "Marvel Universe" fiction and got lost in the superhero references, thinking it's silly. He switched to another channel and saw classics he used to like as a youngster, now altered beyond recognition, such as the Mad Max saga. He saw game-based movies and series like Fallout and Borderlands, and grew tired of seeing the same two old movies on the "Classic" channel. Eventually, he stopped at a football or soccer game. It didn't require much plot focus, no subtitles, and had the push-and-shove tension of a sport he probably played.
A game stream, on the other hand, lasts about twice as long as a match. People watch game streams for two reasons: either they enjoy the game's plot but don't like the gameplay or can't run it, making it like a TV series with very long episodes, or they enjoy watching a personality suffer through an excruciatingly bad or boring game while making fun of it, which has almost nothing to do with sports.
Was Dad a jerk for calling his son stupid? Yes. Was he wrong because he watches sports? No.
What about drinking and smoking? Chances are, parents who consume these substances are addicts, preferring not to have started in the first place because quitting is now so hard. Their concern is legitimate; they think they're done for, and their child is the future, who shouldn't indulge in vices that could compromise that future.
Grandma lived in a different era, where having a boyfriend wasn't a concept; instead, she had a fiancé, probably chosen or approved by her family. In those times, conceiving at a younger age was common. Perhaps Grandma suggests being more discerning when engaging in a first sexual encounter, considering the changing times.
Notorious cases of political hypocrisy denounce racism in other countries while ignoring deeply rooted issues at home. Instead of pointing fingers, perhaps we should question why other countries have a say in our domestic affairs.
It's better to address the root problem behind these situations and assess surrounding circumstances rather than point fingers to feel better. What if Republicans are vehemently celebrating Trump's return? Shouldn't Democrats question what went wrong with their candidate instead of focusing on the other party's flaws? The lesser evil is still evil; just because someone else does something bad doesn't make it okay for us to do it too.
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