Senethro
Overlord
Imagine if you had to live it, not just hear about it. Would that not be wearisome.
A question of perspective on "my black friend"
- Thread starter Timsup2nothin
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Akka
Moody old mage.
Yeah, I guess it would make the constant race-obsession even more irritating.
Senethro
Overlord
Quite so. The obsession of racists for the subject of race has endured some centuries already without going away.
It would be a naive utopian to make a college communist look pragmatic that thought you could get rid of race issues by merely wishing them away.
It would be a naive utopian to make a college communist look pragmatic that thought you could get rid of race issues by merely wishing them away.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
America's problem isn't that it's preoccupied with racism, it's that it's preoccupied with trivial expressions of racism. The racial diversity of the Academy Awards and of the prison system are treated as equally significant. The dialogue around race doesn't take on the characteristics of a background noise simply because it is persistent, but because it lacks consequence and direction.
And the reason for that is simply that it's the only kind of discourse that is tolerated. When radical criticism of American social and political structures emerge, they are repressed and co-opted. BLM is met with truncheons and tear gas, and its energy quietly diverted into the deranged bourgeois cosplay of campus activism. This isn't a collective pathology, it's exactly how things are meant to go.
And the reason for that is simply that it's the only kind of discourse that is tolerated. When radical criticism of American social and political structures emerge, they are repressed and co-opted. BLM is met with truncheons and tear gas, and its energy quietly diverted into the deranged bourgeois cosplay of campus activism. This isn't a collective pathology, it's exactly how things are meant to go.
civver_764
Deity
Is it radical criticism that's being repressed or is it rioting?
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Asking the hard questions, huh?
civver_764
Deity
I mean, you left out an important part of the story.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
I missed out an important part of your story. Utilising the futuristic miracle of people-having-different-opinions-about-stuff, I presented an alternative narrative.
civver_764
Deity
I feel like we're going full circle. I know that you have an alternative narrative, the whole point is that I'm questioning it.
Timsup2nothin
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Criticism is repressed until rioting ensues. That would be what I meant by "I just poke fun until the inevitable happens."
As long as "the conversation about racism" is confined to, as TF cleverly put it "the deranged bourgeois cosplay of campus activism" people like you can continue to say "well, I really have no opinion and haven't had any cause to look into it." When the conversation takes a dark turn, like BLM actually getting in your face a bit and demanding that you look into it there are plenty of people saying "OMG you blocked the driveway when I wanted to go out to dinner, bring on the truncheons because I still don't want to look into it or form any opinion...can't you people protest without actually getting in my way?"
So, once the truncheons and tear gas have quietly done their work and the oblivious majority can go back mindlessly about their business everything is just peachy. Until enough of the repressed people figure out that they are going to be gassed and truncheoned anyway, so they may as well skip the silly signs and chanting and get in their own licks first. Of course at that point the people who have been saying "I've never had any cause to look into it" will say "if it's been so bad for so long why didn't they just say something a long time ago?"
civver_764
Deity
Tim, are you suggesting that it's wrong for me not to have an opinion on this matter? And are you therefore suggesting that people should block my driveway to make me have an opinion? And you expect that the opinion I form will then be in favor of these people?
Timsup2nothin
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I'm suggesting that if you are genuinely capable, at this point, of saying "well, I dunno if our criminal justice system really has any problems or not" that you definitely are making a big effort to avoid looking. If you are making such an effort I don't care if someone blocks your driveway, or for that matter burns your house. I'm not advocating it, but since nothing else has gotten your attention I won't be surprised by it nor will I be terribly sympathetic about your plight.
As has always happened before, when that day comes I expect you will say "do whatever it takes to keep my house from getting burned" and problems that you can't even be bothered looking into will finally get fixed, or at least bandaged over, because that and nothing else is what will keep your house standing. And all the damage done and misery, in my opinion, will be the responsibility of the willfully oblivious such as you are claiming to be, because those fixes could be made just as easily right now if you were willing to join in demanding them.
civver_764
Deity
Actually it takes zero effort to not look into something. And so what if I haven't? You want everyone to be up to date on every issue? That's impossible.
You sound like you're saying I deserve to get my house burned down, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that's not what you meant..
You sound like you're saying I deserve to get my house burned down, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that's not what you meant..
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Injustice is injustice now. It is not suspended until you find an opening in your calendar.
Timsup2nothin
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What I said was that when the fruits of playing the "as long as I'm not the one on the short end I don't care what sort of abuses are happening" ostrich get handed out if you get a fair share I won't be crying for you. Is that the same as "deserve"? Maybe.
Well that escalated quickly.
At least he is honest he doesn't care about the lot of nonwhite people.
civver_764
Deity
Man you guys are a kick. Do you really think I was saying that I don't care about nonwhite people, or that I don't care about abuse? Keep your justice boner in your pants.
Timsup2nothin
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Well, you apparently have a sufficient amount of 'don't care' that you have managed to reach 2017 claiming that you 'just don't know' about any biases in the justice system. This indicates that you have seen a fair number of riots happen and said something like "ah, just black people, change the channel, I don't wanna know what this is about." So, yeah, you have basically outright said that you don't care about abuse as long as it doesn't happen to people like you.
civver_764
Deity
I don't know enough about our justice system to say one way or another. I've heard claims from both sides of the argument, but have never personally investigated them.
I don't really watch the news. Actually I pretty much went from 2012-2016 intentionally ignoring politics and news. On top of that, I don't take anything I see on the news at face value. And I won't form an opinion until I've looked into an issue myself, which I haven't gotten around to for BLM. Your attempts to shame me into taking your side on this issue aren't changing that.
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Timsup2nothin
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Didn't I already say that I wasn't trying to get you to change sides, I was just making fun of you?
By the way, when you say "I have for years avoided getting any actual information on this" at the end of a days long very animated presentation of your opinion on it making fun of you is almost unavoidable.
