smibbo

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Comments to smibbo

dystopianfuturetoday says...

Awesome Smibbo! I like this Smibbo much better. All that worrying about feelings just holds you back. Let it all out! Kick my ass! Our discussion has finally begun.

Yes, you remind me of myself when I was in my twenties.

Your opinion similarly reminds me of that of a young adult. I didn't mention it earlier as I thought it might anger you.

Ever read Pop Psych?

No, is it a good read?

I didn't say anything about being free from the influence of culture. THat was part of my argument with you.

Then what holy hell are we arguing about. We Agree!!! (:

Tell me, would you have said the same things to me originally if you had known I was raised by an adoptive family of minority status here in the US?

Yes.

Would you have told me that I was "a little bit racist" then?

Yes.

And if I had asked you "well then HOW am I racist and WHO am I racist against?" what would you have said?

"It's different for everybody, so I couldn't say without knowing more about you. I would probably start with the parts of culture you like most and least. I'm not a psychologist, so I probably wouldn't be the best person to ask."

I would hope you would have needed more information about me before you coulkd truthfully answer.

Yes, I typed that just above before reading this.

But because you see a picture of a white child on my avatar you assume you can dictate my prejudices? My bigotry?

Specifically? no. Generally? Abso-fricken-lutely, I can judge you as part of the larger multi-cultural society of which I am a part.

Think about that.

Done

Point being, unified in America or not, culture is a vast enterprise that evolves and changes

I'm with you so far.....

..but more importantly encompasses much more than the mainstream that is shoved in our faces 24/7.

Well... yes.... but culture encompasses EVERYTHING, and that is apropos of......?

Yes, subculture and subsects of average culture. Which culture have I been influenced by? Which culture have I subscribed to myself willingly and unwillingly?

Prejudice doesn't discriminate (no pun intended) against willing or unwilling.

If there's anyone who knows the truth of the statment "my assumptions don't define you" it's me.

You are clearly obsessed with how other people perceive you. You are the last person still discussing this thread with me, and all of your arguments are based around how others (namely me) perceive you. If your assumptions about my assumptions are correct, then you've got nothing to worry about. And, if your assumptions are wrong about my assumptions, then you've got nothing to worry about because who fricken cares? I'm a random smart-ass on the internet, 10 years your junior. MY OPINION IS MEANINGLESS!

Yes, I will not pretend to be humble in this respect and you don't have to believe me just because I say so but I do say this much: the average person's assumptions about me, upon meeting me, are generally 95% dead wrong. I am speaking of pure appearance here. Thus although I appreciate your recognizing this vital fact of human esteem, I know it quite well; no one defines me but myself. HOWEVER I also know just as well that there are categories and labels people use in order to facilitate communication. Categories and labels do not have to be evil inherently, a fact I am aware of but I'm not sure you are. I could be called a "freak" a "mutant" or "zomgwhathappenedtoyou?" and I doubt I would even blink, much less care because I'm aware of the dire need humans have for categorizing the outside world in order to make some kind of comfortable sense. I do not begrudge anyone their labels. I take issue with productivity and action.

Me, me, me, me, me, me, me! When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi, the first three words just happen to be, Mi Mi Mi..... How many I's and Me's do you count in that paragraph?

Your assertion that "everyone's a little bit racist" strikes deep against my core because

As well it should...

(here's the crux) it's non-productive.

At the very least it's produced a nice discussion between the two of us, which is a good thing, right?

I wouldn't care except that I see how important a subject it is to you..

I don't buy it, you've expended way to much time and energy to not care.

You say something like that to the "right" people and they will all nod and play "whose more self-aware" with each other. Mutual back-patting is nice but hardly productive to any particular ends. You say something like that to the "wrong" people and you will perk their defenses to the extreme and fuel the fires of backlash. And in the end, right or wrong people, what does it ultimately matter? If you're right, thenwhat's the point of caring? If you're wrong then you've made people needlessly paranoid. Either way you've contributed to the exact opposite of what you wanted to happen.

There is always violent backlash at every major cultural change. Think of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Western Expansion, Suffrage, Civil Rights, etc, etc........ It's painful, but seems to be part of the process.

Again, I like the 'real' you. This Smibbo is a bad ass and needs no ones approval.

I'm going to vote up 10 of your vids as a sign of respect!!!

I'm happy to continue if you like.

dystopianfuturetoday says...

(Imagine these words spoken in a friendly, spirited, slightly perplexed tone.)

Pop-psych? New Age-y? Twenty-something idealism (in my thirties no less)? Are you kidding me? You are very assumptive for someone who abhors assumption, and that's fine with me.

None of the things I've mentioned are even slightly controversial in academia, let alone new age-y, which has more to do with crystals and Enya than cultural studies. If you believe that you are free from the influence of culture, then maybe you are. You need not give me your age or shoe size in order to tell me this. My assumptions don't define you.

We aren't even debating the topic, we are stuck on feelings, assumptions and rhetorical style. Circling endlessly.

I don't mind it, though. Let me have it. Don't hold back. Change my mind. I love a frank and honest discussion. I love nothing more than to be able to admit I was wrong.

dystopianfuturetoday says...

Smibbo,

These are just words. You are allowed to think and feel anything you want to. You are free to take my words anyway that you like, or dismiss them outright. I won't hold it against you.

I happen to believe that we are part of a unified culture, meaning that we all share the good and bad aspects of our culture. I believe that although I attempt to rid prejudice from my mind, that it still exists. It comes from the culture I was born and raised in, and it is unfortunately part of me. I believe this about everyone, including you. I could be wrong.

I'm not trying to talk anyone into anything, I'm just sharing my thoughts and ideas on subjects I care about.

IMO 85% of EVERY genre is crap, no special exceptions for Hip-Hop. I'm not even a big Hip-Hop fan, I just like to stick up for marginalized styles of music, like Hip-Hop and Country. I'm a music person and can find something to like about every genre.

No offense, but maybe your defensiveness means something. Please don't be offended by this sentence! I find that defensiveness in myself is usually a sign of some type of internal conflict. No assumptions, no accusations, just words from my brain. I could be wrong.

Are we cool, Smibbo?

dystopianfuturetoday says...

I'm with you Smibbo. Technically, we are all colored people, except for albinos (uncolored?). The use of this word colored was not an overt attempt to attack African-Americans, but rather just a subtle internalized prejudice. I'm not getting bogged down, I was just using this as an example of how everyone is subject to internalized, systemic, cultural blah blah blah racism. I'm sure there are better examples. This is obviously a tough thing for people to accept.

In reply to this comment by smibbo:
...and technically speaking, "black people" has just as much implication of "color"
being a dark skin hue means you have more melanin. that means you are, in fact, colored. That's just fact and saying so has no racist implication on its face. The reason "colored" to describe black people is a negative phrase is because of it's history of use. American Natives called themselves "red man" for a long time before we came over in boats and starting decimating them. there was a time in history when saying "colored" was preferable. Then it was "negro" then it was "person of color" - do not get too bogged down in hair-splitting over old terms. call people what they want to be called and worry more about actions. I don't use the term "african american" unless I know for a fact that the person's heritage hails from an African country. I learned this from having several friends whose heritage was from the carribean and east indies. "black" is still acceptable because its descriptive, no more no less. if they had chosen "colored" we would be using it and denigrating the term "black" *shrug*

dystopianfuturetoday says...

I have no research to back this up, but I do believe that living in a racist culture rubs off on EVERYONE, even smart, compassionate people like you, Smibbo. I'm talking about subtle, internalized, culturally acceptable racism that you might not even recognize as racism if it were pointed out to you.

Take the NAACP for instance. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization dedicated to fighting racism, uses the racist term 'colored' in its name. The word was culturally acceptable at the time, but that doesn't make the implication that black people are 'colored' people any less offensive.

This is internalized racism, and I'd wager that even an intelligent, forward thinking person like you has internalized racism/sexism/classism locked away somewhere in your brain.

It doesn't make us bad people, we are a product of our time.

Remain vigilant.


In reply to this comment by smibbo:
racist <> prejudiced

racist <> ignorant

one can be all combinations of the three, but it's a fallacy that "everyone's a little bit racist" - believe it or not, some people are NOT "a little bit racist"; some are merely ignorant of other cultural aspects and some are prejudiced because of ignorance etc etc
That is not the same as being "a little bit racist"

lucky760 says...

I first posted it upon watching the "Top Viral Vids of 2007" on Attack of the Show (on the G4 channel), and figured that like all the other year-end listings deciding the best stuff just prior to the actual end of the year, my listing would just be a fun bit of info and that'd be it.

It's only because of popular demand that I'm now going to have to re-do it for the full end of the year. I meant and would have been happy to keep my initial list as the "final" list.

I hope it's not that people are down-voting your vids in an attempt to jockey for position of their own vids... That would be a shame.

In reply to this comment by smibbo:
actually, I wish I had not upvoted the idea before thinking about it. Since you posted that, I've gotten a few downvotes on my top vids. Hmm...



In reply to this comment by lucky760:
Let's do something new with this whole comment voting thing and give democracy a try in a new way.

If you want to replace the above listing of top 100 videos with a new listing once the clock strikes midnight on Jan 1, 2008, vote this comment up. If you think the listing should remain as is as of Dec 27, 2007, vote this comment down.

Thylan says...

Is eq2 any good? I was in the final month of the beta for eq1, and I've tried a few other mmos, most recent being wow and briefly lotro, but haven't been back to the EQ.

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