---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are beginning to become…"
description: "\"People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable with a kind of official hypocrisy. Bizarrely, for instance, we've become numb to the idea that ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg"
---

#  People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable…

![“People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable with a kind of official hypocrisy. Bizarrely, for instance, we've become numb to the idea that rights aren't absolute but are enjoyed on a kind of sliding scale.” quote by Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg)

> “People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable with a kind of official hypocrisy. Bizarrely, for instance, we've become numb to the idea that rights aren't absolute but are enjoyed on a kind of sliding scale.”

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Society is growing comfortable with selective enforcement of rights, treating them as conditional.

**In simple terms:** Rights are being treated as optional.

Key Takeaway

Question the fairness of conditional rights.

Themes

politics ethics rights

Mood

critical concerned

Type

analysis commentary

When to use this quote

- legislation
- public policy
- civil liberties
- media critique

Key Concepts

social contract moral relativism

Questions to Reflect On

- What rights feel most threatened?
- How does selective enforcement affect trust?

A Different Perspective

Rights are still legally protected despite public perception.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Beginning Disturbingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning-disturbingly-5541920/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Enjoyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyed/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Hypocrisy Bizarrely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy-bizarrely-5541918/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Numb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numb/) [Official Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/official-hypocrisy-5541919/) [Officials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officials/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Rights Aren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights-aren-1757881/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/)

## Related quotes

> [Human rights are fundamental rights, they are the minimum, the very least we demand. Too often, they become the goal itself. What should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/human-rights-are-fundamental-rights-they-are-the-minimum-the-very/)

[Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/)

> [We all deserve to live in a world where our rights aren't violated at the whim of our leaders. It doesn't matter if our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-peterfreund/we-all-deserve-to-live-in-a-world-where-our-rights-aren-t-violated-at/)

[Diana Peterfreund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-peterfreund/)

> [It's not good enough to announce 'I know my rights' if you aren't prepared to accept that you have responsibilities to society and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-grayling/it-s-not-good-enough-to-announce-i-know-my-rights-if-you-aren-t/)

[Chris Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-grayling/)

> [Over the years, many in the public have become numb to news of financial corruption, partly because too many of these stories involve banker-on-banker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/over-the-years-many-in-the-public-have-become-numb-to-news-of/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [“But it takes courage to want things, and to pursue them. Staying numb means you can never be disappointed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarina-bowen/but-it-takes-courage-to-want-things-and-to-pursue-them-staying-numb/)

[Sarina Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarina-bowen/)

> [I know from my own clinical work that when people are beaten and hurt, they numb out so that they cant feel anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/i-know-from-my-own-clinical-work-that-when-people-are-beaten-and-hurt/)

[John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/)

> [“Being numb no longer suits me. It’s ill-fitting and I’m antsy about it. I find myself snapping back at people more. Or writing little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shonda-rhimes/being-numb-no-longer-suits-me-it-s-ill-fitting-and-i-m-antsy-about-it/)

[Shonda Rhimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shonda-rhimes/)

> [“Never pass up an opportunity to expand your mind (or numb it).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-pass-up-an-opportunity-to-expand-your-mind-or-numb-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/)

[Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/)

> [How do you resign yourself to something that will never be? You stop wanting just that thing. You go numb. Or you kill the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/how-do-you-resign-yourself-to-something-that-will-never-be-you-stop/)

[Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/)

> [What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/what-i-am-telling-you-is-that-you-do-not-need-to-know-to-love-and-it/)

[Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/)

> [You work on something for so long that you become numb to it. Like, you don't even know how to listen to it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-faiyaz/you-work-on-something-for-so-long-that-you-become-numb-to-it-like-you/)

[Brent Faiyaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-faiyaz/)

> [I think violence in movies, for it to work, you have to use it smartly. People get numb very fast. If you have too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fede-alvarez/i-think-violence-in-movies-for-it-to-work-you-have-to-use-it-smartly/)

[Fede Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fede-alvarez/)

> [Because I'm not, in fact, depressed, Prozac makes me manic and numb - one of the reasons I slice my arm in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/because-i-m-not-in-fact-depressed-prozac-makes-me-manic-and-numb-one/)

[Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/)

> [She still felt shell-shocked by all of it, numb. Beneath the numbness, though, was a raw and terrible anger that was unlike anything she'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/she-still-felt-shell-shocked-by-all-of-it-numb-beneath-the-numbness/)

[Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/)

## More by Matt Taibbi

> [ The Congressional Record will forever show that \[Obamacare\] was passed in a romper room of overgrown children seemingly barely old enough to keep from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-congressional-record-will-forever-show-that-obamacare-was-passed/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/sniper-is-a-movie-whose-politics-are-so-ludicrous-and-idiotic-that/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [I get the cynicism thing all the time, although I don't really know where that comes from, because I think I'm actually the opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/i-get-the-cynicism-thing-all-the-time-although-i-don-t-really-know/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [It's really interesting that we've had this great Tea Party movement that is all about restoring free market capitalist values, but what they completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-really-interesting-that-we-ve-had-this-great-tea-party-movement/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> ['Nobody goes to jail.' This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/nobody-goes-to-jail-this-is-the-mantra-of-the-financial-crisis-era/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [The basic scam in the Internet age is pretty easy even for the financially illiterate to grasp. It was as if banks like Goldman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-basic-scam-in-the-internet-age-is-pretty-easy-even-for-the/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [For the broadcast business to be successful, viewers need to be not merely interested in our political melodramas, they have to be in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/for-the-broadcast-business-to-be-successful-viewers-need-to-be-not/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-not-a-stretch-to-say-the-whole-financial-industry-revolves/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [You know what an effective deterrent to crime is? Jail! And do you know what kind of criminal penalty actually makes people think twice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-know-what-an-effective-deterrent-to-crime-is-jail-and-do-you-know/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/conspiracy-theorists-of-the-world-believers-in-the-hidden-hands-of/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [Like wars, forest fires and bad marriages, really stupid laws are much easier to begin than they are to end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/like-wars-forest-fires-and-bad-marriages-really-stupid-laws-are-much/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [You can have somebody living next door to you and you can live in a completely different world from that person, which is definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-can-have-somebody-living-next-door-to-you-and-you-can-live-in-a/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [George Bush and John Ashcroft were religious in a scary way, but the rational among us could always take heart that, deep down, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/george-bush-and-john-ashcroft-were-religious-in-a-scary-way-but-the/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [“People aren't pissed just to be pissed. They're mad because a tiny group of crooks on Wall Street built themselves beach houses in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-aren-t-pissed-just-to-be-pissed-they-re-mad-because-a-tiny/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

[Explore all 175 Matt Taibbi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

## More Absolutes quotes

> [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/)

[Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/)

> [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/)

[John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/)

> [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/)

[Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/)

> [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/)

[Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/)

> [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/)

[Christy Nockels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-nockels/)

> [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/)

[Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/)

> [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/)

[Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/)

> [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/)

[Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/)

[Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/)

> [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/)

[Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/)

> [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable with a kind of official hypocrisy. Bizarrely, for instance, we've become numb to the idea that rights aren't absolute but are enjoyed on a kind of sliding scale.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Matt Taibbi"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbingly-comfortable-with-a-kind/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Absolutes"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbingly-comfortable-with-a-kind/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/matt-taibbi-2257_absolutes_people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbin_1507455.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“People are beginning to become disturbingly comfortable with a kind of official hypocrisy. Bizarrely, for…” — Matt Taibbi",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Matt Taibbi",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "People are beginning to become disturbingly...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbingly-comfortable-with-a-kind/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-are-beginning-to-become-disturbingly-comfortable-with-a-kind/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
