[BigV]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Oh you figure you can counter any argument by talking about the arguers sex and race.

And you also think you're in the "smart" group.

Well pick one, cos you can't have it both ways!



That's true! (Gosh when did you discover it? What a find! OMG did you read history books or something??? Oh you didn't??? Well, that makes it more amazing!!!)

And the piece's answer, and your answer, to that is to have an equal amount of reverse sexism.

Feminism used to be about equality. Now it's about inequality, ensuring women are superior for 240 years. You know, for "justice". We can only assume that the real problems of feminism and racism are entirely gone now that we are concentrating on righting the events of all of history. Society has changed -- and is continuing to change -- but that's not enough. Let's visit the sins of our forefathers because maybe we don't feel bad enough about it. And if you don't agree? You must be sexist and racist. We don't call it that, we call it "privileged". And even if you grow up in a poor, integrated neighborhood and wind up working at a ghetto pawn shop, that's your tag!

And we get to win every argument about it just by NAMECALLING! We think that's a smart way to go about this. Well,

FUCK YOU,

~ and ~

TRUMP 2020. Guaranteed. Because of people like you.

Hey Undertoad.

There's a lot going on here, a lot going on in the country and in my head. I want to try to sort out some of it. It's not all super clear, I'm gonna try and I hope you follow along.

First of all, I consider you a friend. I value what you've provided for me and my friends and family here. Thank you for that. I also thank you for engaging and arguing with me on the topic. Your thoughts and ideas are interesting and I find them important to help me understand what the fucking fuck is going on around here *waves at the country and the society, hell, the whole world*.

Let me start by answering one of your questions. Yes, I am smart. I'm smart enough to see our fucked up history. And I'm empathetic and sympathetic enough to feel the pain of the inequality and unfairness of what has happened and what is still happening. I am not a member of all of the groups that I feel this way about; for example, I'm not a woman, of course. But I know women who've been treated unfairly, women I care about and women I don't know but I still get the injustice. I still feel the compulsion to fight against it. There are plenty of other groups that fit this same pattern. A common aspect is injustice, unfairness, prejudice, and power.

I want to address a couple more of your questions and the words you've put in my mouth.

No, I do not

...figure you can counter any argument by talking about the arguers sex and race.

Nor have I done so. That's stupid, it *is* namecalling and it's ineffective at best.

My response was to you for incorrectly summarizing the thrust of the article as a political piece having to do with ... y'know what. It is a political piece. And there's a lot there about stupidity. About the stupidity of hyperfocusing on (relatively) small, unimportant but flashy topics, topics important to those with power and privilege and paying scant attention to topics that affect huge sections of our population (women, non-white people, poor people)--but notice they are groups with less, maybe no power or privilege. That is stupid.

Please note, not you, Undertoad, are stupid. Not Trump voters are stupid. Our collective preference to focus on dumb shit and shrug off important, widespread, but unattractive strongly negative shit, is stupid.

The examples of this ABOUND around us. They're not all in politics. Look at the news this week. USA Women's Hockey, World Championship is happening soon. And the story around that event is that the Women's team earns $1000/month, for six months, every four years. And we have the champion fucking team. The women fly economy and the men's team flies business class. I don't have a cite, but I'm confident the financial numbers are valid. What the fuck is up with that? How is this right? Why is that? Why should we accept that?

How about another example from the political news. Did you see that picture tweeted by Mike Pence about sitting with the Freedom Caucus? A group of forty or so mostly older, mostly whiter, *all* men, discussing key components affecting women's health. Why are there no women in the room? Why are no women being included in the decision making process touted and celebrated? Another good question, why don't these guys fucking notice?

These are just a couple specific, contemporaneous examples. I know you, all of you can find a thousand more. As the article I linked to states, I'm fighting to overturn horrific systems of dehumanizing oppression.

"The piece's answer, my answer is to have an equal amount of reverse sexism."

Your words, not mine. Not the author's. And they're wrong, that's not the answer. While we're at it, there's no such thing as reverse sexism or reverse racism. We've covered this elsewhere. Judging the worth of a person based largely or solely on their gender or race is still sexism or racism. It's *all* backwards thinking. And stupid.

So. Namecalling. Fine, knock yourself out. Be outraged, be petulant. You may be free from bias. You may be living your life based exclusively on the content of your character and the merit of your skills. It's possible that you're that rarest creature, the 100% completely self bootstrapped individual. If so, then why arent you using those talents to help the others around you less fortunate? Why aren't you using those talents and that experience to share with the majority of other people who remain unmoved either through ignorance or ennui?

There's work to be done. I'm in a position of privilege, power, and perception. I have the means, motive, and opportunity to change things. I can't unsee them, and now I can't leave them unchanged.