Thoughts on race/racism

[leo-rcc]

Topic split from here: http://rationalia.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 78#p305178 - Charlou

I digress. But seriously... Religion. AND Nation AND Race... they are the same lie. The same. Fantasies to feel the "chosen ones".

Agreed.

I disagree. Race, it is a determination of features.There is nothing inherently that makes one race better than another. An German shepherd is not better then a Labrador, or a poodle, the labels just focus on the differences between them. There is a difference between me and a Chinese person, and telling me that that is a lie doesn't make our racial difference go away. The lie would be that the one race is better than the other, not the existence of various human races.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I digress. But seriously... Religion. AND Nation AND Race... they are the same lie. The same. Fantasies to feel the "chosen ones".

Agreed.

I disagree. Race, it is a determination of features.There is nothing inherently that makes one race better than another. An German shepherd is not better then a Labrador, or a poodle, the labels just focus on the differences between them. There is a difference between me and a Chinese person, and telling me that that is a lie doesn't make our racial difference go away. The lie would be that the one race is better than the other, not the existence of various human races.

But is that difference inherent or is it part of the environmental influences?

[leo-rcc]

I digress. But seriously... Religion. AND Nation AND Race... they are the same lie. The same. Fantasies to feel the "chosen ones".

Agreed.

I disagree. Race, it is a determination of features.There is nothing inherently that makes one race better than another. An German shepherd is not better then a Labrador, or a poodle, the labels just focus on the differences between them. There is a difference between me and a Chinese person, and telling me that that is a lie doesn't make our racial difference go away. The lie would be that the one race is better than the other, not the existence of various human races.

But is that difference inherent or is it part of the environmental influences?

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

[leo-rcc]

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

Again, point?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

Again, point?

A different color coat of paint doesn't make a house especially different from one just like down the street. Humans are humans, wherever I've been. They all start out the same, a slimey noisy bundle of demands. Then people get in their heads and convince them they're "different" from the rest of humanity.

[leo-rcc]

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

Again, point?

A different color coat of paint doesn't make a house especially different from one just like down the street. Humans are humans, wherever I've been. They all start out the same, a slimey noisy bundle of demands. Then people get in their heads and convince them they're "different" from the rest of humanity.

You can live in Botswana all your life, you will not turn black and neither will I. It is the factor of time, offspring, and environment that makes the differences.

[Drewish]

To be frankly honest, I do feel the pull of racial pride every now and then. There’s an extreme existential power in its clarity. Imagine a shark that were aware of its state, as a powerful killing machine, feared and certain, remaining virtually unchanged over millennia simply because it is so effective at what it was meant to be, the predator of the seas. I see racism as looking at your genome and saying, “This is my sole. It is what ties me to my ancestors. When I am long gone this is what shall remain of me. My nature is my destiny and I shall not fail to win in the struggle for its survival!” Powerful stuff, that.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Does that matter? How the differences came about does not alter the fact that the differences are there.

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

Again, point?

A different color coat of paint doesn't make a house especially different from one just like down the street. Humans are humans, wherever I've been. They all start out the same, a slimey noisy bundle of demands. Then people get in their heads and convince them they're "different" from the rest of humanity.

You can live in Botswana all your life, you will not turn black and neither will I. It is the factor of time, offspring, and environment that makes the differences.

But you're still human, with no significant differences between you and the Swahili.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

To be frankly honest, I do feel the pull of racial pride every now and then. There’s an extreme existential power in its clarity. Imagine a shark that were aware of its state, as a powerful killing machine, feared and certain, remaining virtually unchanged over millennia simply because it is so effective at what it was meant to be, the predator of the seas. I see racism as looking at your genome and saying, “This is my sole. It is what ties me to my ancestors. When I am long gone this is what shall remain of me. My nature is my destiny and I shall not fail to win in the struggle for its survival!” Powerful stuff, that.

You've been taught to feel that way. My parents tried to turn me into a "whites are best" person, but that just didn't work when I was out in the world. Our Little Brown Brothers were a lot tougher than most of us. The black guys in my unit were every bit as good as I was at many things, and better at some. The one Sioux in our unit was just fuckin' spooky at moving quietly. But you could have taken me and put me in his place and I would have learned the same things he did and been, maybe, as good at it as he was.

[leo-rcc]

If they're not inherent, they're superficial. A Swahili didn't get to be seven feet tall because he's a different race from me, it was environmental factors that got him into the stratosphere.

Again, point?

A different color coat of paint doesn't make a house especially different from one just like down the street. Humans are humans, wherever I've been. They all start out the same, a slimey noisy bundle of demands. Then people get in their heads and convince them they're "different" from the rest of humanity.

You can live in Botswana all your life, you will not turn black and neither will I. It is the factor of time, offspring, and environment that makes the differences.

But you're still human, with no significant differences between you and the Swahili.

I never asserted that it did. What part of my dog analogy did you not understand?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I never asserted that it did. What part of my dog analogy did you not understand?

All of it, apparently.

[leo-rcc]

I never asserted that it did. What part of my dog analogy did you not understand?

All of it, apparently.

If I remember correctly, you were the one arguing against labeling birds as dinosaurs. I just think the labeling can be done at a much shorter level.

[Drewish]

To be frankly honest, I do feel the pull of racial pride every now and then. There’s an extreme existential power in its clarity. Imagine a shark that were aware of its state, as a powerful killing machine, feared and certain, remaining virtually unchanged over millennia simply because it is so effective at what it was meant to be, the predator of the seas. I see racism as looking at your genome and saying, “This is my sole. It is what ties me to my ancestors. When I am long gone this is what shall remain of me. My nature is my destiny and I shall not fail to win in the struggle for its survival!” Powerful stuff, that.

You've been taught to feel that way. My parents tried to turn me into a "whites are best" person, but that just didn't work when I was out in the world. Our Little Brown Brothers were a lot tougher than most of us. The black guys in my unit were every bit as good as I was at many things, and better at some. The one Sioux in our unit was just fuckin' spooky at moving quietly. But you could have taken me and put me in his place and I would have learned the same things he did and been, maybe, as good at it as he was.

Yes, well I'm not racist in the classic sense. I hold that intelligent people are better than stupid people, (and while there may be a few different types of intelligence, I'm referring to the capacity for rational thought and deductive reasoning.) I believe that taller more muscular men are superior to shorter effeminate men. And to be frank, I laugh at modern society's infatuation with skinny twig women. I'll freely admit that because vitamin supplements are easier to take than to continuously apply sunscreen, that darker skin is superior to light skin. I hold that because lighter colored eyes are semi-translucent and allow for better night vision (and sunglasses are easier to wear effectively than night vision goggles) that blue and green eyes are superior to black or brown eyes. I recognize that classical racial boundaries are arbitrary and outdated, but I completely don't buy the view that all people are equal.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I never asserted that it did. What part of my dog analogy did you not understand?

All of it, apparently.

If I remember correctly, you were the one arguing against labeling birds as dinosaurs. I just think the labeling can be done at a much shorter level.

I was taking the piss on that.