[throw2016]

This 'resistance to change' catchall argument puts everything beyond criticism, and it can be used/abused in every case of criticism. It seeks to reframe 'change' from a neutral word - change can be good or bad - to a positive instead of focusing on the specifics.

Anyone making this argument should be prepared to to accept every single criticism they make in their life moving forward can be framed as 'their resistance to change'.

This kind of personalization of specific criticism is disingenuous and political and has usually been used as a PR strategy to push through unpopular decisions. Better to respond to specific criticisms than reach for a generic emotional argument that seeks to delegitimize scrutiny and criticism.

[teddyh]

True, but this was not “specific criticism”. It was a general dismissing criticism without details, and so can be refuted with a similarly detail-less answer. A detailed criticism deserves a reasoned and detailed answer, but vague criticism gets a generic rebuttal.