Shaming / not shaming.

The question about a tool is what you do with it.

At Slate, Kendra Pierre-Louis puts forth the case for shaming people who break COVID restrictions (or things that are not really “restrictions” along the lines of “to enter, wear a mask,” but which are not recommended, like holiday travel). “We’ve seen people contribute negatively to society in ways large and small: from refusing to wear masks to attacking businesses that enforce social distancing, to spreading vaccine misinformation,” Pierre-Louis writes. “We’ve also learned that, regardless of how abhorrent a person’s behavior is, apparently the worst thing you can do is shame them for it.”

She goes on to discuss the distinction between guilt and shame and how shaming is partly about making the violator of some social norm an object lesson for others. Thus, shame “also serves to send a signal to your classmates that cheating is unacceptable behavior. Shaming isn’t merely about making people feel bad. Shame can serve as a cautionary tale for others. Shame is inherently  public …