Hancock: The “both sides do it” fallacy sabotages truth—and it’s corrosive
By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack
How false equivalence sabotages truth, corrodes accountability, and dumbs down public discourse
It happens like clockwork. Someone presents a clear-cut case of corruption, hypocrisy, or abuse by a political figure or movement, and just as the conversation approaches clarity, someone nervously shifts in their seat and sighs, "Well… both sides do it."
And just like that, the conversation flatlines. Moral momentum is halted, intellectual energy deflated, and any hope of civic clarity dies under the crushing weight of false equivalence.
Here's the disturbing truth: most people who say "both sides do it" aren't being malicious — they're being automatic. They believe, almost reflexively, that this phrase is a kind of foundational political...