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this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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Humanities & Cultures
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I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying I can't feel good about the video. In fact, I covered this in my original comment. It needed to be done in some way but I am not sure it's the right way.
i mean. what is the right way to deal with a dude whose entire career is literally built on flagrant stealing, plagiarism, and copyright infringement but whose circumstances make it so that it's nearly impossible to bring him to a court of law and, even if you did, whose finances and job make it exceedingly unlikely he will ever be able to financially remedy the damages he's done to said people?
Yeah I'm with you, I don't think there was a better way to do this (and it needed to be done). I don't think Hbomberguy did anything wrong. But the whole episode has just left me (personally) feeling bad and I don't love how much joy some folks seem to be getting watching somebody get taken apart. Not accusing anybody in this thread of that, I've just seen it in other places.
It's a thief getting their illicit empire taken apart. No sympathy warranted.
It's one thing to steal from the big megacorps. They deserve it because they steal, lie and cheat everyone.
It's a different thing entirely to cheat and steal from independent journalists like James Sommerton did.
I'm not sure that I agree that we should dehumanize people just because the do something wrong or commit a crime. I think all sorts of people deserve sympathy, even those that have done wrong. I'm not saying at all that Somerton shouldn't have to face the consequences of his actions or that what is happening to him is worse than what he did to others, but I don't think that justice and empathy are mutually exclusive.
It's not dehumanizing to say he's a thief.
The entire situation he is in is entirely of his own doing and his own control. he has exclusive agency in all of this.
Generally I would agree. In this specific case the video goes into painful detail into exactly how much the guy's screwed over other people. For profit.
"I don't know, I've no bloody sympathy at all." As long as people don't overstep other boundaries (threats or whatever - edit: the ones he made up obviously don't count) he deserves every last crumb of vitrol headed his way. Pathetic, scamming, ineptly plagiarizing, opportunistic freaking scumbag that he is.
I'm with you. Hbomberguy said it so many times, you don't accidentally steal someone else's work, and especially not as prolifically as Somerton did. If Somerton wasn't prepared for the consequences of his actions, he shouldn't have stolen literally all his content. And that's not to say that anyone should condone harassment for any reason, but calling someone out on their bullshit isn't harassment.
Yeah, exactly. I don't think I have the answer to that. I mean, I am not even saying it was the wrong way. I just don't feel good about the way taken and I am wondering if there was a better way. That said, something needed to be done and the result is good it seems but it's important to remember everyone is human. Everyone has a soul. Everyone's soul is immeasurably valuable.
I think the better ways of resolving it were impossible without more involvement from the platform itself. Because it seems that this is just the last of the plagiarism accusations, and just so happened to stick more than the other accusations. It's very likely that had a prominent YouTuber not made a take down video, nobody would have known that this guy and others were plagiarizing anything. And I mean, imagine how the people whom work was stolen for profit are feeling?
I believe that you don't realize that you are saying that. But you accidentally are. The individual in question targeted and attacked people, smaller creators, that correctly called him out in the past. He abused his weight to hurt people with full knowledge of what he was doing. He plagiarized dozens of people. He scammed thousands of people. He lied to hundreds of thousands of people.
And you're saying he got bullied by Harris. You are (likely unintentionally) implying that many of his victims individual feelings of betrayal are somehow not their own and less valid than the scammers' stated feelings.
Even re-reading what I said, I don't feel like I come off implying that at all. There needs to be room for conversation on how to handle the situation without saying that the victim's feelings are less valid than the attacker's. If there is a better way to word what I wrote to focus on that then please let me know.
I think TheRtRevKaiser said it best "This last video felt like watching somebody’s life being dismantled [..] honestly the whole thing just kind of made me feel sad, I didn’t get much satisfaction out of it." and that's exactly what I was trying to convey.
And, perhaps separate from my other reply. I'd suggest editing to strike out the accusations of bullying. It's quite an unfair accusation.
Yeah, thinking about it, I don't I meant bullying but more or less an attack. Which is it, but a justified one.
I get ya. I don't think there is a real way to feel satisfaction when someone trangresses like this. A sense of justice, one day, perhaps.
That last video was indeed sad, it was good for nobody. I don't envy Mr. Somerton. He, unfortunately, continues to make bad choices, which he puts in full view of the global public. I hope he gets the help he needs. His feelings are valid, and he may need help understanding and processing what he's done and how it's impacted his life. It's probably going to leave an acute trauma, which I don't wish on anyone. It may take years to recover. I also understand that his own feelings don't justify his past miadeeds.
I don't envy his victims either. Those who's work, ideas he plagiarized. Those he scammed. Those he lied to. Their feelings are equally valid. And their voices are numerous. We mustn't try to silence them just because they are numerous.
We'll see what comes from Harris' fund. Maybe that will finally produce a modicum of justice.
Longer term, I hope Mr. Somerton's story can be educational, and make it a bit harder for someone like him to hurt people next time someone tries.
I can sympathize. I'm not sure I agree with you that Hbomb did anything wrong, but I did leave that video feeling pretty shitty in general. With the Tommy Tallarico thing it was so absurd and Tallarico is such a huge figure that it was just kind of funny, but this last video felt like watching somebody's life being dismantled. It needed to be done, because Somerton was hurting folks and being dishonest. And I'm not sure that somebody with less clout than Hbomberguy could have done it. There were several examples of smaller creators calling Somerton out with little to no effect other than getting backlash from Somerton's fans. But honestly the whole thing just kind of made me feel sad, I didn't get much satisfaction out of it.
I mean, I hope I don't come off as saying he did anything wrong. Just that it didn't feel good.
This is exactly what I mean. Like in the end, I want to imagine that James Somerton doesn't harbor any resentment or hate towards HBomberGuy because I feel like they both want the same thing. They both want to write awesome content and great video essays about interesting things. Overall, I hope James turns it around.