User:ThomasHobbes/Deliberately Offended

''This article is threatened with extinction. It is saved here for posterity, in the hope that a more benevolent administration may allow free speech to reign someday.''

Being deliberately offended is a state of mind often seen in politicians and internet communities. Since being offended allows people an excuse for being rude, irrational, or simply stupid, it is a common tactic to employ in order to stifle debate.

For example, whenever a white person raises crime as an issue in South Africa, ANC politicians rush out and claim to be 'offended' by the allegation. The subtext of their argument is that the 'whites' are blaming high levels of crime on black people. So in order to stifle a national debate on crime, (Which would undoubtedly reflect badly on their governance) South African politicans shrewdly employ the race card and claim to be offended.

On the internet, being deliberately offended is a popular leisure activity which causes mirth to the propogator and dismay to the victim of this tactic. It is a largely succesful tactic to use in a debate, as being in a state of offensiveness immediately garners sympathy for the user.