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The same logic applies to any situation where we naturally want to prevent future incidents. We should not focus on gratitude that it wasn't worse. Everything could always be worse. The point is to make things better.
Spilled oil is objectively bad, and to be harshly criticized, every time.
Spilled fuel (not oil) is objectively bad, but a small spill is objectively less bad than a large spill.
To take your rape analogy, it's more like non-pentrative sexual assault vs full blown rape. Both are sexual assault, both are bad, but one is worse.
The big problem here is that the root cause of a small spill like this is the same as for the large spills: poor maintenance and lack of enforcement in the rail industry. The only reason this was a small spill is pure luck. Thus, this deserves equal criticism, but we can still be thankful for the luck.
There's no function or purpose to your false gratitude. Condemn the spill. Full stop.
Sure there is. If you get equally upset over every injustice, you lose sight of what's actually important. Not all situations are equally bad, and thus shouldn't be treated as if they are.
Spilling 100 gallons of fuel is BAD. Spilling 1000 gallons of fuel is WORSE. People should be thankful that it was 100, not 1000 because:
It makes people less miserable. Seriously, if you're upset over every small injustice equally, you're going to be just miserable. Find the silver lining.
It focuses on all-or-nothing solutions. If you say 100 gallons and 1000 gallons are just as bad, because it's still a spill, it means I, as a company, have no reason to incentivize disaster mitigation. Bad things will happen, it's important to put measures in place specifically to minimize them. To turn this disaster from a 1000 gallon disaster into a 100 gallon disaster.
Focusing on being grateful that the problem wasn't worse doesn't address the root cause of the issue. It's essentially copium.
Sure. People need some cope in their lives, that's not a bad thing. Mental health is precarious enough without catastrophizing everything, and instead seeing what's happening as it really is.
Focusing on making big problems into smaller problems, though, is a real thing. Why did this one only spill 100 gallons, what's different between this spill and the 1000+ gallon spills, and how can we get more of the former, instead of the latter?
If you cannot differentiate between a small catastrophe and a large one, you can't adequately examine them to figure out how to make more of the bigger catastrophes into smaller ones. It's not all or nothing. It's not any spill or no spill. Spills will happen, it happens here, it happens in other countries, and it'll keep happening as long as industry exists. Learn, so as to minimize future catastrophes.
Of note, though. I have not once attempted to absolve the company of their wrongs. They still fucked up. It could have been a much more massive fuck up, though, and I for one am happier that it's a (relatively speaking) small incident than I would be if we had another, say, East Palestine.
I'm grateful when there are no spills. I'm critical when there are spills. You're whitewashing to minimize the pushback. You're seeking to cause harm. Gratitude is the wrong response.
I'm grateful that the small electrical fire I had two years ago was able to be put out and didn't destroy my home.
I'm grateful that the pothole I hit last year only destroyed a wheel, and not my whole car. I'm even more grateful that it didn't launch me into traffic, probably killing me.
I wish these things hadn't happened at all. I'm not grateful that they occurred. I'm grateful that they weren't WORSE.
I've also learned and taken steps to mitigate further disasters of the se nature from possibly becoming these worst case scenarios. I keep the fire extinguisher closer. I slow down a bit more and keep more follow distance.
This is why people choose to be grateful that a small tragedy isn't a larger one. It lets us get some perspective, learn what is actually important about these situations, and take steps to make them less likely to occur in the future. I'm also a bit happier today, I'm able to say "it could be so much worse."
Nothing else in your statement matters, just this little grudging reference to the fact that oil spills must be deterred, which I had to drag out of you as you encourage gratitude for oil spills.
You've dragged nothing out of me, this has been my stance since we've been talking.
That's a good way to ignore the actual words I'm saying, too. Saying that nothing else in my post is relevant. Nothing of the fact that all of the other words you choose to throw away provide context and analogy. It's clear you're not approaching this in good faith, and never have been.
Enjoy spreading gratitude for oil spills, nested in qualifications so you can gaslight people who are against oil spills.