So, PieDiePie said the n-word.

[Mechanicalsalvation]

I respect you very much as a poster, but that's a really poor answer. I don't think PJW is being racist at all in most of his videos and I never said so. Rather, he is the ultimate philistine, always completely uninformed and reductionist whenever he talks about a topic. Never did I call him a racist my man

He's some useful idiot making opinion pieces for pathetic alt-righties and self-declared national socialist life-action roleplayers in their late teens or early twenties. If you fall for him I really couldn't care less, it's your loss.

I mean he stylises himself like a character from fight club ffs. He worked for/with Alex Jones.

You are ofcs right he is no racist - that was an artistic licence on my part to make that one-liner work. But he is a "racist" (someone whos opinion you disagree with: in the sense/meaning as in the video I posted) on art.
As for the other errors you point out you may be partialy correct but thats not the whole PJW and not even the most important part of the man. If you reject the whole for less important parts it may be your loss.

 

[Kyriakos]

I also like you a lot, Mechanical, yet also have a low opinion of P. Watson. I dislike the whole host of either right, alt-right, left, or alt-left commentators on youtube and (afaik) in most newspapers and tv. They just don't cut it intellectually. Sure, some are more entertaining than others, and some are more openly jerks than others, but the one thing they all share is ultimately being self-styled soothsayers and not being worth one's time imo.

 

[Senethro]

Pdp probably isn't an actual racist ideologically, but throwing slurs about is still a racist action.

The bigger problem imo is that if you look at all the recent closed threads then the same defenses of Pdp (edgy comedy/shock jock/free speech/immature pushing boundaries etc) have been employed by some to excuse actual racists. Its handing tools to the enemy all for the sake of some very low quality jokes. It would certainly make neo-nazi identification easier if people just, y'know, didn't adopt their things unless they were sincere about it.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

It would, but that's never going to happen, so that line of reasoning might as well stop right there.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Pdp probably isn't an actual racist ideologically, but throwing slurs about is still a racist action.

The bigger problem imo is that if you look at all the recent closed threads then the same defenses of Pdp (edgy comedy/shock jock/free speech/immature pushing boundaries etc) have been employed by some to excuse actual racists. Its handing tools to the enemy all for the sake of some very low quality jokes. It would certainly make neo-nazi identification easier if people just, y'know, didn't adopt their things unless they were sincere about it.

There are things in common, but it is a huge stretch to equate them. How many neo-nazis or racial supremacists or even the likes of Ann Coulter are ever made to take back their words, even begrudgingly?

 

[Senethro]

Nah, I'm not equating them. I'm saying that the argument that these are generally acceptable/excusable subjects for humour creates cover that actual racists can use to hide in the open.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Still a huge stretch.

Legitimate things can be abused by bad people but it doesn't mean that everyone has to suffer a loss of rights because of what a few do. Considering the fact that merely existing is already a "tool" for these racists, it would suggest that whatever reasoning they use isn't founded in rationality anyways. (At least their propaganda. I'm sure there's some degree of rationality to invite the racists for political and economical reasons)

 

[Camikaze]

What does that mean for the race-relations of the USA?

You're certainly right that cultural contingency often seems to be forgotten (or only considered within the confines of US culture - there's often discussion of who can and can't use the n-word within the US), and that there is a substantial difference in meaning between a 20-something Swede and a 90-something Alabaman saying the same word. I definitely appreciate the natural pushback at the projection of American culture and social mores onto non-American communication.

But that of course is not to say that the use of the n-word by a 20-something Swede is acceptable within their own context. That the word carries a different meaning outside the US should be uncontroversial; but that different meaning isn't necessarily any more socially acceptable or excusable, and shouldn't necessarily result in any less criticism.

 

[Commodore]

Pdp probably isn't an actual racist ideologically, but throwing slurs about is still a racist action.

The bigger problem imo is that if you look at all the recent closed threads then the same defenses of Pdp (edgy comedy/shock jock/free speech/immature pushing boundaries etc) have been employed by some to excuse actual racists. Its handing tools to the enemy all for the sake of some very low quality jokes. It would certainly make neo-nazi identification easier if people just, y'know, didn't adopt their things unless they were sincere about it.

I can agree with this. People like PewDiePie would probably stop using such "edgy" humor if it didn't get such a huge reaction from people. I mean, I bet this whole controversy and the reaction it stirred up probably made him a whole bunch of money because both his haters and supporters will flock to his videos to either criticize him or defend him. So if doing such things makes him money every time he does it, what's his motivation to stop?