This week, 26-year-old Andrea Shieh proved that she could lose an argument and still feel completely morally superior to her opponent, all at the same time.
“My aunt and I got into this heated argument when she said she voted third party in the election, and I called her decision selfish and then we just kind of yelled back and forth from there,” says Shieh. “I didn’t win the argument. Nobody did. But that didn’t stop me from feeling morally superior to her for making the right choice.”
Shieh walked away with her head held high, proving that you don’t need to accomplish anything in a debate to walk away feeling like the better person.
“She does this a lot,” says Shieh’s sister, Pam. “She’ll see an opportunity to call someone out without even giving them any logical explanation of why. The amazing thing is she doesn’t even need to get through to the other person to feel satisfied with herself.”
“It’s not really about winning or losing,” says Shieh. “It’s more about loudly asserting my beliefs so everyone knows I have them because I am right. And because they’re the right ones, I feel pretty pleased about it regardless of who I’m failing to convince.”
What an inspiration! Shieh doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to being honest about her self-righteous motivations.
“One time, a lady in a giant SUV with a bunch of American flag stickers backed into me in the parking lot,” says Shieh. “So I started telling her off about carbon emissions until she drove away. I didn’t make a difference, but I still felt proud of myself.”
Shieh later admitted the parking lot incident was technically her fault since she parked directly behind the SUV. But in a remarkable feat of moral indignation, she still felt herself to be in the right overall.
“Sure, I pulled right up to her bumper. But even if I’m being the shitty one in the situation, at least I’m driving an electric car. That counts for something, right? I think it does, and that’s all that matters.”
At the conclusion of the interview Shieh was seen losing an argument with her sister about universal access to healthcare.
