Rationalization

The idea Christians can't comprehend.

Christian: I believe in God, because the Bible says so!
Rational thinker: have you tried rationalization with the Bible?
Christian: What is that? Sounds like science, and science is evil!
Rational thinker: *FACE-PALM*

by ChristoPhedora May 21, 2016

rationalization hamster

The rationalization hamster is a legendary creature dwelling deep in the minds of the self-delusional, and is particularly common among young liberal women. From birth, the rationalization hamster enters a symbiotic relation with its host, whereby whenever the host feels a craving to do something completely insane and malicious that will have horrible consequences for everyone in the long run, the rationalization hamster will jump on its wheel and run really, really fast, getting the magical hamster wheel to spin out a long sheet of paper full of neat rationalizations for the ultimately devastating action.

Rationalization hamsters are thought to be a key component in producing liberal scholarly works, particularly those of feminism. Young, liberated women often rely on it to explain their attraction to the asshole who is going to pump and dump them, as well as their contempt for the nice guy who, unaware of the hamster within, strives fruitlessly to gain their true love. Older, liberated women also rely on it for dumping their husbands and using the resulting child support money on jewellery, cars and/or crack.

The adulterer: Well, it's okay to lie about cheating on him and say it's his baby, as long as his feelings aren't hurt!

Some dude: Whoa, you think it's okay to lie, cheat and commit paternity fraud on your man? Your rationalization hamster must be working overtime!

The adulterer: But it's not my fault I slept around, it kinda just happened! And those guys probably raped me because I don't really like them right now anymore...

Some dude: Hot dang, that's one tough hamster!

by rampaging teddybear of wub December 14, 2012

Rationalization of Evil

The psychological process of concocting emotionally plausible, self-serving excuses to justify one's own or one's group's harmful, cruel, or immoral actions. It uses the language of reason—practical necessity, greater good, victim-blaming, or righteous retaliation—to evade moral responsibility and soothe cognitive dissonance. The rationale is crafted after the decision to do harm, not as its guide.

Example: A colonial administrator rationalizing the exploitation of a colony might tell himself, "We're bringing them civilization and saving them from themselves. It's for their own good, even if they don't understand it yet." This Rationalization of Evil dresses up greed and violence in the noble costume of a "civilizing mission."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 4, 2026

Rationalization against Victims of Capitalism

The cognitive process of using abstract economic principles to explain away suffering, making it seem like an inevitable outcome of natural laws rather than political choices. It involves appeals to “market logic,” “incentive structures,” or “competitiveness” to drain moral outrage from scenes of human devastation.

Rationalization against Victims of Capitalism Example: An economist on TV discussing factory closures: “While painful for communities, the relocation of manufacturing overseas is a rational allocation of global capital and labor. It’s simply how efficient markets work.” This rationalization uses the clinical language of efficiency to neutralize the tragedy of deindustrialization.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026

Rationalization against Victims of Western Colonialism and Imperialism

The use of historical counterfactuals, geopolitical realism, or cultural relativism to explain away imperial violence as a product of its time, an unavoidable human tendency, or a practice no worse than “what local empires did.” It seeks to normalize and de-exceptionalize the violence.

Rationalization against Victims of Western Colonialism and Imperialism Example: “Every great civilization has expanded. The Europeans were just better at it. It’s naive to judge them by today’s standards.” This rationalization removes specific moral responsibility by appealing to historical fatalism and a myth of neutral civilizational competition.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026

Rationalization against Victims of Liberalism

The process of explaining away liberal society’s failures (deep inequality, democratic erosion) as results of insufficient liberalism (“not enough free markets,” “not enough democracy”), or as aberrations caused by external illiberal forces. The system’s logic is never wrong, only imperfectly applied.

Rationalization against Victims of Liberalism Example: “Our politics aren’t corrupt because of lobbying and dark money; it’s because we don’t have true campaign finance liberalism. More transparency and more speech will fix it.” This rationalization treats the systemic flaws as accidental, preserving faith in the original ideology by blaming its imperfect implementation.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026

Rationalization against Victims of Neoliberalism

Explaining neoliberal harms through a lens of technocratic inevitability and complex global dynamics. It uses the language of “there is no alternative” (TINA), “global realities,” and “market confidence” to make social devastation seem like the result of impersonal, expert-managed forces, not political ideology.

Rationalization against Victims of Neoliberalism Example: A news analyst explaining pension cuts: “With an aging population and global bond yields under pressure, reforms were mathematically unavoidable to avoid a sovereign debt crisis.” This rationalization replaces ideology with a narrative of mathematical and economic destiny, removing human agency and choice from the equation.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026