Hmm... there's actually 2 kinds of decency that can look the same.
1. Decency arising out of compassion and wanting to spare the feelings of someone who's hurting.
2. Decency arising out of not wanting to challenge authority and start battles you might not win.
Conversation
Both kinds of decency operate to preserve a fiction of greater equality than actually prevails.
One kind is humane. It lends dignity to those who lack it in a given situation.
The other kind is just cowardice sublimated into ceremony.
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The decency of refraining from punching down/kicking someone while they're down/fighting fair
The decency of not rocking the boat, not punching up, not provoking the powerful etc.
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Type 1 indecency evokes outrage in people with normal levels of compassion. Nobody likes to see a bully beating up on a weaker person.
Type 2 indecency evokes fear of being caught up as collateral damage in any disproportionate response.
Stepping in to protest vs. moving away.
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