Be afraid when people talk about "consequences". It's a very clever thing they do when they invoke this concept.

Consequences are something that is caused by an initial action. Push a glass off the table and in consequence, it breaks. It cannot be otherwise and no third party has to participate for the glass to break.

The only reason there is a consequence is that there was an initial action, and the person who performed the initial action is solely responsible for it.

That is the key. Hold that thought.

When people say something and others opt to get offended, the consequence of what was said is, at most, that some people got offended. (I'd argue that offense cannot ever be given, just taken, but let's set that aside for now.)

But nowadays, the woke, especially, want revenge. They want to take reprisals against the person who said something they don't like. They want to inflict pain and anguish.

These are all reprehensible things to do, though, and they will often be met with rejection, condemnation and resistance.

So these folks speak instead of consequences. By doing so, they are hiding the fact that they want revenge and that they want to harm others, and they instead present the situation as one in which their victim has caused the retribution and revenge to happen to themselves.

This is gaslighting. And it's the ultimate in victim blaming!