I Hate Racism

[Bread Filter]

I don't like racism.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Bread Filter

[Psylo]

Racism is alive & well, and it breathes a fire in the belly of many hosts, not just the obvious types such as the skinheads (well thats what they used to be referred to). Having just watched Season 2 of Go Back To Where You Came From, it's startling to me that people can be so open about it, almost to the point about being proud of their convictions.

In your instance this morning though, I fail to see how this was a practical example of such. The agressors are without doubt carrying around a lot of narrow minded baggage to dress up as they do, emblazon patches & tattoos aligning themselves with a long-gone totalitarian movement that bears no relevance in 2012 Australia. In fact the whole subculture was born in London in the 1960's, not Nazi Germany in the 1940's. A revival of sorts was evidenced in Sydney in the 1980's, which is where myself and friends have been exposed to the violent, but not particularly racially motivated, actions of such boneheads. The generations may be two times removed, but the intention sounds identical.

As a late teen who would bounce around town in our own 'gang' of sorts (longhaired, torn denim clad stoner metalheads), we would also have altercations with Skinheads, and back then the story was the same, they would initiate randoom acts of extreme violence while fuelled on amphetamines and booze. These guys had no boundaries, and knives were often produced. Fortunately we came to learn that a pool cue was a superior defence against blade-weilding monkeys, but there were some ugly situations of injury from all parties. With some of our crew having minor associations with bikers, retribution was often swift, and the jackbooted clowns would come unstuck on more than several occasions. Ugly scenes that would span for weeks at a time, simply because one group of (mostly) guys seem to believe that it's OK to spoil the night for another bunch of (mostly) guys, the latter which only wanted to get high, have a beer, play some pool and load the jukebox up with back-to-back Metallica songs and rock their night away in a cosy little pub.

A dear friend of mine, who I didn't know during these times, used to get around the inner-city in his own gang, as scooter-riding, snappy dressing "Mods", also a revival from the 1960's London scene (actually, the skinhead movement was a working-class breakaway from the Mod subculture). Despite their somewhat twee apearances, they were also a lot of tough motherfuckers who, while not intending to go looking for a blue, would not think twice about standing toe-to-toe with skinheads who were out of line. They encountered skinheads often, and were also targeted at random, based on how they looked, not for any ethnic origins. Once again though, they agressors had their work cut out for them, and blood was drawn from both parties. One can only imagine the humility of these meatheads getting done over by a bunch of Vespa-cruising pageboys LOL.

There's no doubt that the lovely chaps you encountered today are extreme in their racist viewpoints, but it would seem that this was hardly the motivation for the violence you found yourself an unwitting player in. I mention this only because of your assignment of the title "I Hate Racism". In many ways, the greater danger to the very fabric of modern Australian culture, is those who carry the fire of hatred, but hide it under a carefully presented sheen of normalcy. Those men & women who appear to be well-adjusted in their world view, but spread a message of intolerance, infecting those around them. Whether it be a media personality attempting to be articulate in their disdain, or a parent influencing their child, or a tradesman corrupting his young apprentice, this element of racism is by far the most damaging for our future.

[Bigred]

what i find funny about skinheads is that they are so stupid when they try to explain there ideals to me when i said have you read mein kampf most of them didnt know what i was talking about and one only remembered it from the movie romper stomper

Edited September 8, 2012 by bigred82

[ThunderIdeal]

too many australians think that starting fights is an acceptable pastime, and it's not always average jerks on liquid courage, i reckon a lot of people that start fights are very, very dangerous, the older i get the more i want to avoid fights at all costs, for my own safety.

i knew a quite intelligent guy who thought each race should go to their original continent. he got over it by mid twenties, had the brains to see what a wasted and misguided ideology he had fallen into.

australians stink of racism, world war two infected the grandpartents and great grandparents generation with hate, and now the media and federal government make a big deal out of a few people rocking up in boats. it's hard to be more disgusted by the government, but i'm dismayed to hear refugee hate/ignorance frequently, people talk about it on the streets and at work, but the only evidence of boat people i have ever seen or heard about is reports in the press.

these media cunts should retain some honour and fall on their sword, stirring up a "big story" and clouding public opinion / government response when boat loads of people are sinking into the fucking sea.

[Stillman]

Psylo I remember the razor carrying mod types from Sydney in the late 90s your right they were far more dangerous than the skinners. I really haven't seen much of the classic jack boot crowd up here in Brissy for years. I think the large polynesian population here pretty much sorted that rot out.

[goneski]

Racism is not the issue. People are just fucked.

Australia does seem to have a higher incidence of illiterate fuck wits too.

[Psylo]

Breadfilter ! You removed that whole huge post about Skinheads !?

[whitewind]

Racism comes from worthless people who need to find negative behaviour in others to make themselves look worthwhile. The mouthiest racist I knew was a cop, he hated Aboriginals, having worked in some very deprived areas his poorly thought out reasoning was somewhat understandable, but very unpleasant. Periodically I used to pass through a very deprived area in a country town, and the locals used to stare aggressively and walk slowly in front of my truck forcing me to swerve or brake, and made it clear I wasn't welcome - even though this was the only route I could use to get to my destination. I can imagine growing up in that medium-sized town would have been no picnic as far as race relations go, but racism really hard to combat when aggression is daily in your face.

What I hate most is the thick people who aren't exposed to daily aggression like this, they are just racist because it makes them tough or part of the local culture. Probably never met an indigenous person in their entire life.

[Bread Filter]

Breadfilter ! You removed that whole post ?

 

Sorry guys but I live in a small town.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Bread Filter

[chnt]

Racism is not the issue. People are just fucked.

Australia does seem to have a higher incidence of illiterate fuck wits too.

 

i agree that racism is part of a much larger issue.

[qualia]

imo hating things isn't going to solve the problem, and likely there won't be anything you can do or say which will change these peoples attitude/behaviour.

"Hatred's do not cease in this world by hating, but by not hating; This is an eternal truth" - Dhammapada

[ThunderIdeal]

for a country with huge scientific and other first world resources, and one of the most highly educated populations of any country (so i understand), small mindedness in certain kinds of thought is encouraged.

i can't help but think that sport, and alcohol, as a whole, which i judge to be fairly base pursuits, enable people to stay occupied during the week without growing the mind too much in challenging/dangerous directions or stepping outside of what is accepted. "sport" "yeah sport" "yeah thunder, sport?" mmmmmm, nah. why would i give a fuck about sport (full stop). i find almost everything fascinating but my mind can only feign interest in how some guys fight over a ball. "yeah nah gotta support ya team, footies good, get into it" who cares what happens to your team? its of no consequence. they win, they lose, what does it matter?

does that make sense? you get work the hottest topic on everyones mind is some fictional occurrence in a controlled, seperate environment. the heroes are meat heads who literally can't keep out of the news for attacking and molesting people and misbehaving very publicly. whoooo this is great, muscle man, sports hero, moneeyyy, school girls, adoring fans, punching cunts, take a look at me, the fucken man, a shaved gorilla and braindead inconsiderate cretin. man can aspire to no greater heights.

i know some footy players are far from thugs, but why are we saying anything about a brilliant player, when he acts the monkey off field, other than 'what, a, fuck, ing, cockhead. i hope his team fucks him off'

why is there any surprise when aussie youth aspire to act like careless nobs, when their parents idolise the biggest nobs

australia has some weird national psyche going on where the convict/bushranger/rebel/insubordinate diggers under crown command/bogan muscle car outlaw myths all form into an impulse to be a bit of a rough, piss-taking folk champion. something like that eh? i know that kind of stuff is in my psyche but it doesn't compel me to reject the intellect or be an anti social turd. like, driving around with your mates drinking in the car, throwing empties and abuse at pedestrians. how does that even, ughhh. you go through phases as a teenager because you've barely dented that eternal dilemna 'wat do?'

bit of a rant sorry. i do love australia but we can do better, we've got some crap to grow out of.

Edited September 9, 2012 by ThunderIdeal

[goneski]

Thunder's post is spot on. This is why (along with other reasons) I hate people and society at large.

I don't expect hating people to change anything. In fact. I'm quite pessimistic and don't believe things can be changed -- not in my lifetime, anyway.

I believe nurture (and education) are only one part of the picture -- nature/genetics has a lot to do with this as well. If Barbie & Ken or Sharon & Aaron (or whatever sterotype we want to use)

want to fill up the world with their useless, illiterate, bigoted children who take after them and are so incredibly proud at their effort toward rooting/conceiving and inability to raise

a decent child (by enforcing certain attitudes, behaviours ,gender roles, etc) -- there's not much I can do about that.

Once you observe the average person is a beer-swilling moron with the most basest of pursuits, you begin to realise how fucked we all are.. Whether it's

racism, homophobia, misogyny.. Society has come a long way, but it's taken a long time to get there and there's still a long way to go.

I'll often come across someone, get to know and like them a bit, then they'll just say something so outrageous / outlandish that completely changes my opinion of them.

Sure, no one's perfect -- but once you hear someone start spouting about 1) some race 2) 'faggots' / 'poofs' / etc 3) how women should be in the kitchen or whatever,

it leaves you disappointed and rather cynical about further attempts at engaging with people.. And once you see how people seem content with their attitudes and situation,

the absurdity just smacks you in the face.

We are the product of millions of years of natural selection -- at the very least we could act like it.

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist” ~ George Carlin

Edited September 9, 2012 by SYNeR

[ThunderIdeal]

i feel you syner but i don't share your abject hopelessness.

we're the genius monkey spaceman for fucks sake, any one of us can be plato, aristotle, oppenheimer, ghandi. next to truth, fiction is like a limerick about going potty.

stuff will happen, it'll be rough and radical. human potential, scoping out the picture, preparing for some unforeseen extraordinary feat. the funny-walking wonder of the solar system. humans. we just choose a path and face down the obstacles. it only takes one exceptional person in the right surroundings to point the way.

i dunno how to do it but one obvious, easily removable blood sucking sack of lifeless old turds has been holding us back too long, international banking, the hyper-wealthy hyper-malicious hyper-greedy. no matter what you're doing, it can wait until you find and remove any bloodsuckers.

Edited September 9, 2012 by ThunderIdeal

[Stillman]

We WERE the product of millions of years of natural selection. Now everyone gets a run. Maybe thats the problem lol.

[space cadet swami]

I find almost everything fascinating but my mind can only feign interest in how some guys fight over a ball. "yeah nah gotta support ya team, footies good, get into it" who cares what happens to your team? its of no consequence. they win, they lose, what does it matter?

 

pmsl...here, here...

this is possibly the platform the internet provides, that could undermine mainstream media's attempts to program the masses. It's obvious that majority of people from SAB support the concept of humanity. It would be interesting to see a poll on SABers preferences regarding other races, immigration etc. I would set up a poll, but my brain's on holidays at the moment... , has been for a few days now...It's footy finals time, Yeah!!!

Just kidding...enjoy your truth, brothers & sisters. Make it a pleasant journey..

[qualia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fowd29dOyh0

[CβL]

There are many problems, and I would love to write a detailed reply. But in lieu of that, I'll just add a few points to the mix:

• People who watch sports, are not, just for that - sports lovers. They're TV lovers~ If you love sport, then shut your yap and go play some. I haven't had the opportunity to say this to someone, but one day, I totally will.

• Many people fail to grasp timespans that are anything more than a few years, or less than a few seconds. If the life of the Earth was shrunk to a day, then humans popped onto the scene something like 2 seconds before midnight. We've not guaranteed our spot as the apex species for having this spot for 2 seconds of the day. (We've got about 2 "days" left of the sun being around to get knocked off our pedestal). The currently accepted age of the universe is about 4-5 "days" (I think this number will almost certainly go up by a large ratio once the science catches up).

• I think these issues are not innate to the human species, but rather to the society which we've created (funnily enough, this is most clearly illustrated by the Velociraptors in The Lost World [book] ). Our media loves to play up differences, and ignore similarities. When you couple that with people who've actually forgotten how to think (wish I was exaggerating) - then they think that there's nothing but differences between them and the guys voting for the opposite of their red/blue character.

I think that the only way out of this mess, and every mess, is critical thinking. My hypothesis (that if "proved", would explain why) is that critical thinking can eventually create/unlock empathy, and that it's the only surefire way to get it, other than to brainwash people to "be nice". I think we tried the brainwashing of people to be nice a few hundred years ago via religion, and without the critical thinking - it's obvious that it backfired (crusades in the name of religion, for example).

[IndianDreaming]

Stupid people don't know that they are stupid.

[Max Cady]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc2mmqiO8mkDo you know what you are?

Edited September 9, 2012 by Max Cady

[indigo264nm]

I love it when people say something like this "I'm not racist but I hate *insert race here*"

[incognito]

I dont use the term racist anymore. Just ignorance.

[chilli]

Just so you know Breadfilter and anyone else, when you delete something here it is still on Google's cache, where I just read the original post.

Something to think about before posting stuff you might regret later.

Oh, and for my contribution to this thread:

Edited September 10, 2012 by chilli

[Bread Filter]

Just so you know Breadfilter and anyone else, when you delete something here it is still on Google's cache, where I just read the original post.

Something to think about before posting stuff you might regret later.

Oh, and for my contribution to this thread:

 

Great. Do you have any idea how I get rid of that?

Thanks for the info mate. I had no idea.

[IndianDreaming]

 

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1663691 Prevention is better than cure when it comes to dealing with TFSEs