The point should be to bring everyone up, not pull others down, though
No shit, the only thing leftists want to pull down are systems of exploitation.
Meanwhile, the Right want to pull down your trousers to check your “gender”.
At the same time, privileged people will still sometimes feel a loss of something when you’re portioning out a finite resource. So if a particular group is 25% of the population and they were getting 75% of the pie before and now they’re getting 25% of the pie, that’s a loss. It’s a justified loss, but it’s still a loss.
That said, there are other things like rights that are not finite in any meaningful sense of the word. When someone is feeling a loss because an oppressed group gained rights, it’s usually because they’re an oppressive asshole.
Making sure the rain forest isn’t destroyed doesn’t mean letting the pinebarrens be converted into a strip mall.
“White people be like” memes, so progressive
go back to Reddit
There aren’t a limited amount of rights that can only be handed out to be shared amongst people.
There are just rights and everyone should be entitled to them.
That’s well and good, but bringing everyone up needs to be done in consideration of lasting multigenerational harm from what has come previously, and areas where we as a people and nation continue to marginalize, underserve, and sometimes actively harm some segments of our population.
Folks who think those things should be ignored are not actually interested in bringing everyone up.
That’s impossible since the point was a superficial elevation of their own interests.
Unless you think the point of feminism (for example) is to make men second class citizens. That’s just not a thing. It’s a rhetoric created by assholes to get ignorant people on board with their continued grossness.
There’s also a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ‘elite classes’ where they think that someone getting more means they get less. They literally cannot fathom someone getting welfare without it affecting them negatively. It’s one of the reasons why poor people still support Republicans.
a lot of women who call themselves feminist believe theyre superior to men instead of equal. most of those are very loud about it, so feminism turns into a term that describes that, even if the “real” meaning isn’t that.
“A lot?” No.
L O fucking L
Unless you think the point of feminism (for example) is to make men second class citizens.
More people want this, than you think. These “radicals” are not a minority, and they are the ones who have ruined what feminism once stood for – equality. And the most intriguing part is this has only happened within the last decade, thanks to social media amplifying toxic voices (negativity spreads fastest). Feminism wants to recruit men, but openly says men and their rights (equality) are not their responsibility.
There is a big question mark on equality claims, which frustrates me, because neither needs to suffer.
Unless you think the point of feminism (for example) is to make men second class citizens. That’s just not a thing. It’s a rhetoric created by assholes to get ignorant people on board with their continued grossness.
I think there may be some radicals who genuinely wish for that, but those don’t represent the entire movement and usually only pay lip service to the cause where it aligns with their personal beliefs. They should be ignored.
I’m not even sure the radicals want that. Anger is an appropriate response to oppression. Vengeance is an extreme form of that but I doubt anyone that isn’t truly damaged would be okay with it.
For a while it seemed like that minority owned the term “feminism”
I think there may be some radicals who genuinely wish for that
Those aren’t radicals; those are reactionary trolls who falsely claim allegiance to the movement in order to discredit it.
Are you in this meme right now?
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But isn’t that the point of the meme? Am I going crazy?
It’s sort of like a Rorschach test. What you see reveals things about you and your thoughts.
This is a flawed method of thinking though, there are plenty of factors that go into what you think. If you’re aware of and trying to avoid a negative stereotype, you’re just as likely to fall into the “he doth protest too much” as someone who demonstrates that stereotype.
It is not a 100% accurate factor. It relies on presumed stereotype “boxes” that people are put in, and who presumed and on what basis.
That IS the point, and rarely do equality or equity initiatives “pull down” anyone.
But the Haves feel like they’ve earned their position, and that means that if you help a Have Not in any way, you are taking away from their achievement (which in this case is “not being born poor/black/female”)
The issue is that people generally view their situation not by how much they have, but how much more they have than others. It’s like a race to these people - who’s winning isn’t based on how close to the goal they are, it’s based on how far ahead of the competitors they are. People who have everything they need often see others getting to that same point as competitors catching up, and, seeing that they are not advancing themselves, they feel that they need to prevent that in order to maintain their lead. It’s meant to be everyone working together, but few see it that way, especially among the current “winners.”
The issue is that people generally view their situation not by how much they have, but how much more they have than others.
Some people are that way, but not “people generally.”
I considered putting a “some” in there, but honestly, I feel like it’s sadly the default state, at least in the US. Even fellow politically-left people I meet rarely demand resources for underprivileged people that actually elevate them to their own station. It usually feels like “They deserve more! But still less than me.”
Related JAQing off opinion piece in The Guardian posted today: “Where are all the films about ‘whiteness’?” .
For those unfamiliar with the acronym, JAQ = “Just asking questions,” a bad faith tactic pushing an absurd narrative (e.g. “movies for white people are disappearing”) by pretending to ask innocent questions.
Direct quote, emphasis mine:
That’s why the final step towards true racial equality on screen is for whiteness to be cinematically named, described and dethroned from its “just human” position of cultural power. It’s time for white people to develop a cinema culture all of their own.
It’s riddled with white power talking points like this. This shit is really fucked up. It is irresponsible for a well-known major news source to publish shit like this, even with the “opinion” label attached. It’s basically right wing extremist (aka Nazi) recruitment propaganda.
I didn’t read the whole thing but I made it to your quote and I think their point is intended to be anti-racist. They are saying films have a sort of universal human experience or perspective or whatever you want to call it that’s been “white” by default but shouldn’t be.
Yep, and the top comment showed the exact kind of thinking that led to the creation of OPs meme.
Just talking about whiteness in anything other than accusatory or self-deprecating terms is always racism by default, even if the points made are absolutely valid and not racist at all.
This in turn leads to a situation where a large chunk of the “mildly conservative” folks can only assume, that if those are the advocates of the movement, then just mentioning their own identity will get them in trouble. Demagogues of course gladly take it from there.
Once again, self-righteous zealots sabotage the very thing they claim to be fighting for, by completely not understanding what that actually means.
This is also how I read it. I actually really appreciate attacking the idea of “white as default”. It’s kind of like how some gamers think representing anything besides the “default” demographic is “political”.
I think this is the more revealing excerpt:
This is the defining irony of white film-making. The more oblivious your film is to matters of race, the whiter it plays. Because whiteness is often exactly that: the freedom not to see race, even when it’s right there in front of you.
Basically, being aware of whiteness makes for less racist movies. There’s nothing wrong with white movies, but it’s wrong when white movies pretend they’re not white, but universal and default. The article concludes:
Instead, our twofold expectation should be this: 1) The industry affords more film-makers of colour the same creative freedoms and commercial opportunities that are now afforded white film-makers, and 2) That the film culture – including the film-makers themselves – develop the confidence, insight and language to discuss and dethrone white cinema.
This does not sound like racist dog-whistling or white supremacy to me.
The “Carlson Gambit”.
The real problem with that Guardian piece is the insistence on perpetuating a superficial identity marker well past its expiration date. Why do we keep breathing life into the dead horse that is racism? Let it die along with the aging population of people who grew up when it was still cool to think that race exists.
I read that as white people being perceived as the default human, which they (the writer) assert needs to change by defining white people with a distinct non-default culture. Your emphasis only serves to show me your laser-focus on one statement, disregarding the context, which I perhaps incorrectly assume you looked specifically for after the title of the article upset you.
That’s why the final step towards true racial equality on screen is for whiteness to be cinematically named, described and dethroned from its “just human” position of cultural power.
No, the way to dethrone whiteness as being “just human” is for all movies to have reasonable representation of non-white people.
cishet white men: exist
some marginalized groups: “THEY ARE TRYING TO OPPRESS US, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HATES US AND IS PART OF THE SATAN WORSHIPPING WHITE CISHET PATRIARCHY AGENDA, THEY TOO COWARDLY TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND LET SOME OLD WHITE GUYS TELL THEM WHAT TO DO”
cishet white men: “fuck taxes, man. Btw when you figure we gonna get a sensible politician? Same shit we saw our parents wondered every four years when we were kids, amirite?”
Today on things that didn’t happen
Fuck taxes is such a stupid statement. Taxes are needed and very helpful if used sensible
before y’all try to “own” me or “ratio” me for not confirming to the hive mind, please kindly reread my comment and explain exactly what you think my motive was in writing this before replying. Anyone who fails to do that, whatever they could type holds no value in my tired eyes.
All I get your first comment, is your crippling insecurity
Do you think your comment inherently has value or meaning? Why bother our tired eyes with an inflammatory comment that doesn’t serve to further any meaningful conversation? Your motive isn’t as important as the outcome
fuck taxes, man. Btw when you figure we gonna get a sensible politician?
Ironically that opinion already bothers me
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.” - Malcolm X
I knew Lemmy was a good place, and then the sealab memes came.
Now it’s better.
♪If you’re looking for me, You better check under the sea, 'cause that is where you’ll find me, Underneath the sea, lab, Underneath the water, Sealab, at the bottom of the sea.♪
s are still flagging this post 
Reporter: [REDACTED]
Reason: racismGood luck with that, reporter.
Equal rights are a threat to hegemony. Losing hegemony is scary for the privileged, as it is status quo.
There can be only none, Debbie!
I didn’t expect to see regular Stormy!
Marduk desires not the barren wasteland of your desiccated viscera.
Martian Law!
Be a hitter, baby!
It’s funny because extending rights to marginalized people does not by any means diminish the rights of the privileged.
Turns out, the cruelty of knowing you have more rights than others was part of the fun the whole time.
No doubt that’s appealing to some (one example is the USA civil rights movement in the 1960s, especially with states conforming to federal laws that mandate desegregation of schools) but I think another advantage for the privileged is the lack of competition for good jobs, study places etc… If 50% of your peers are kept in slums then just by biological outcomes (lack of nutrition and sleep) the odds are very much in your favor. Throw in the psychological effects of poverty, mass incarceration, addiction and you have a situation like a running race where half the contestants have a broken leg. Fear of a level playing field might be another factor in why the privileged don’t want equal rights. BUT, imagine if we had 50% more people working on a cure for cancer etc.
But, but, but…I am winning everything. Can’t let those marginalized communities beat me. I’ve been told everything is a zero sum game! I say in the most whiny, navel voice. The kind of the voice that makes your soul shiver up and die
For those who you are wondering, the above comment was dripping in sarcasm. Human Rights are not a zero sum game. When marginalized communities prosper, we all better off as a society.
*neurotypical cis white men
yep… because all white men think like this, and only white men think like this…
As a cishet white man I can confirm that I hate every minority, especially women and blacks.
I’m also cishet white man, but I’m self-aware enough to know this meme isn’t about me
I know this meme isnt about me but I criticize it anyway.
Yes, let’s fight prejudice by stereotyping a whole race, gender, and sexual orientation…
oh god this feels like Reddit all over again. they’re not hunting you! i promise
I very frequently find that very few people here grasp the concept of humor in any measurable way.
It’s concerning how much support these types of statements get.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
–Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to re-educate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.”
“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”
“First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”.”
–Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
MLK Jr., famous for talking about how much he loves white moderates right
He never stereotyped whites as a distinct singular identity that I can recall, it was always about their relation to maintaining inequality. One of his most impactful actions was convincing white and black unions to strike together, and that the fight for jobs and equality was one poor whites and blacks needed to share. In “The Other America” he constantly references poor white populations who share in the struggle.
MLK Jr never divided people by race like this, he thought that was one of the Three Evils plaguing American society.
MLK Jr, the guy that has that one quote about white moderates that gets paraded around constantly while 90% of his other words are completely ignored.
Good to see the true feelings of this community reflected in such quick fashion. ‘That one quote’ is a pretty lengthy diatribe, and it’s far from his only time. But the sick comeback makes white moderates feel better about themselves
No no we don’t have to stereotype anyone.
Let’s just go straight to hunting them for sport
The men who are worried about being hunted for sport have been told too many times that that’s what should happen to them
Or they just read forums like this.
I mean, if it did happen, would that be the worst thing?
Yes. It would be absolutely disgusting.
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“Yeah but they’re assholes, so it’s okay to actually murder them”
This is funny because the cishet white guy the meme refers to thinks it’s his right to stand-your-ground a guy walking around the neighborhood.
Yes, and I is a shock to hear that the struggles you have been through were easier than another’s. We often have no idea what is going on in someone else’s life. Apparently, support groups are good for overcoming this as one hears about the supports others have, or do not have.
