[bradjohnson]

>an anonymous stranger on the internet, or a politician proselytizing for their punative economic policies is _not_ that type of friend

You replied to the above with

>It may not be a much better approach than pandering and patronizing their feelings, but it's probably at least a little bit better.

It's not better. That's all. If you missed that and were never talking about unsolicited advice from strangers, then I'm sure we agree.

[darkerside]

Fair. I think I got confused by the split thread. Although, I stand by my response there. They're both crappy ways to respond, but I have a particular repulsion for patronizing, cloying false empathy that contributes to the ubiquitous feeling of victimhood that is natural to human beings but seems to be supercharged in the modern era.