It's too bad it's anonymous, because it so nice when assholes label themselves as such.
It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be, women do this, ethnic group a can't do that. We're all human, we're just not that different.
It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be, women do this, ethnic group a can't do that. We're all human, we're just not that different.
Grandparents watching Fox News or saying something racist over Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make them horrible people or evil. They are a product of their time, as are you. This doesn't excuse their behavior, but it doesn't by itself render them subhuman or worthy of hate.
Prejudice is best counteracted by engagement, commerce, and exposure. The vilification of political enemies in the US was understandable given some of the truly horrific things done as recently the 20th century. Today's 1st world should be a different place.
I didn't say they were subhuman or monsters, I said they were assholes. And they are, they are no different than the guy who cuts you off on the way to work. And yes, they should be ridiculed for it.
> saying something racist over Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make them horrible people
Yes, it does. It is basically the definition of horrible people.
> you are engaging in a form of prejudice yourself.
Nope. A prejudice is "preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience." I called the author an asshole based on their writings and actions. I will call my FIL an racist asshole when he spouts racist remarks. I didn't say everyone in the US South is a racist.
This is "technically correct" in a naive sense, if you assume groupings of people and attributes like "asshole" can be treated like mathematical sets. I find that the hair-trigger and reductive application of pejorative labels anti-intellectual, divisive, and counter productive. It takes very little cognition to do such simple pattern matching and it cuts off any involved discussion. Often, the real motivation is self-aggrandizing at the expense of others. It is one of the pernicious behaviors I've often seen in bigots, who will also argue their "technical correctness" and cite examples to assert that their labeling is based on "reason or actual experience."
The real act of righteousness and courage is to live with people.