“My dog died yesterday.”
“But what about all the animals getting killed for meat every day?”
“I don’t know, Petra. My dog died yesterday. Give me a break.”

The what-abouts never end, so Whataboutism, also known as whataboutery, exists. It is based on the incorrect argument: two wrongs make a right.Do people fail to understand that one bad thing cannot excuse another bad thing? Or is it just easier to point fingers at others if the attention is on your wrongdoing? It is human nature to get defensive to avoid taking responsibility, but how far can you stretch it? And is there a right time? Or a topic? AHH.. the questions are endless, and the answer? Just plain unnecessary diversion of the actual discourse.

Whataboutery has been derived from the Latin logical fallacy called “tu quoque,” which means “you too”. The issue with whataboutery is when someone is not ready to listen, instead mainly present a valid, probably equally important argument in a needless situation. The fixation on what they believe in goes a tad too far and probably will try their best to attack your beliefs rather than dealing with the issue at hand. However, the problem arises because it sheds people from taking accountability for their wrongdoings.

Here’s how to prevent yourself from succumbing to it. The simplest way is to acknowledge your mistake. If someone calls you out for something you’ve said or done in the past, the easiest thing to do is apologize and move on; it’s tried and tested, trust us.

Another way to tackle someone arguing using whataboutery is by ignoring it or merely responding with an “okay.” Someone that uses whataboutery is not ready to change their mind, so you’d rather spend the little mental energy you have on better things. After all, the world seems to be ending, and maybe, just maybe, none of this will matter anyway.