Slanderers and their enablers should no longer be able to hide behind the veil of anonymity, ignorance, or "just words." There should be a need to answer to the real life fallout experienced by the victim.
We need to facilitate living in a world where truth an integrity are valued. We need social accountability. We need to change and elevate our emotional intelligence as a society.
Empathy is fundamental to our very existence, and the lack of it is a threat to life itself.
Character assassination can be a precursor to much more dangerous outcomes, including the possibility of actual physical harm to the victim. When someone's reputation is systematically destroyed through slander, they become isolated and discredited, leaving them entirely vulnerable. The slanderer creates a narrative that frames the victim as deserving of hostility, making it easier for others to dismiss or overlook the violence that is being incited.
If the situation escalates to physical violence, including an actual assassination, the groundwork laid by the character assassination provides the perfect cover.
Since the victim has already been socially ostracized, any harm that is perpetrated can be seen as coincidental, and in some cases, deserved, and no one would think to connect the slanderer to the crime, or that it was even considered a crime, but that it is "justice" for getting rid of an unlikable person.
"Oh haha, well they get what they deserved, they were a disaster of a person anyway. Karma's a bitch." Except this is not karma, this is not even who you think you are talking about. This is a narrative to incite violence within others to act against an innocent person.
In this way, the slanderer could orchestrate or contribute to the victim's real demise without raising suspicion, as they have already distanced themselves from the victim through lies and manipulation.
Feigned ignorance is a deliberate act of pretending not to notice or acknowledge harmful behavior, especially in situations of slander or character assassination. When someone spreads falsehoods about another person, those who claim ignorance, despite being aware of what’s happening, become complicit in the wrongdoing. By choosing not to intervene, they allow the slander to continue unchecked, providing a silent endorsement of the actions.
This passive complicity shields a slanderer from accountability as they put on a theatrical performance disguised as a biography of the victim.
Feigned ignorance creates a safe space for false narratives to thrive, giving the illusion that the issue is unworthy of confrontation or doesn’t exist. It is easier to act as though nothing is happening than to take a stand, especially when standing up might risk social backlash or personal inconvenience.
Ultimately, pretending not to see the harm being done is an act of moral cowardice.
Feigned ignorance, while seemingly passive, is an active choice to side with the perpetrator by failing to defend the truth. The complicity of silence ensures that the character assassination reaches further than it ever could go with just the slanderer's voice. In doing nothing, those who feign ignorance become co-conspirators in the harm, sharing responsibility for the fallout that follows.
Victims are left defenseless, betrayed not only by the person attacking them but also by those who had the power to help and chose not to.
Yes, had the power to help, and CHOSE NOT TO.
If one is to align with the action to facilitate such a narrative, or to align themselves with the inaction of doing nothing, they align themselves with the consequences that follow.
Every single action has a consequence, every single one. So when aligning with our choices or non choices, we are really aligning with our consequences, and there is no feigning ignorance there.
By aligning outcomes with actions, we are responsible in facing the weight of our decisions. This is reality, and reality means we are together in this, for better or worse.
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