4 ms·

This person's life sounds like it has been hard. They have some justification to feel scared and angry at the world. However, I would say that channeling that a

This person's life sounds like it has been hard. They have some justification to feel scared and angry at the world. However, I would say that channeling that anger into racist terrorism does in fact make them evil. They had alternatives. In fact, most people in the world have hard lives but do not join organizations committed to racist terrorism.

jacobush 9y ago
Sure they had alternatives, but what if it seemed to them the alternatives were "sigh and resign" vs "racist terrorism"?
- foldr 9y ago
  Sigh and resign is the only sensible response to about 90% of life's frustrations.
  - rabidrat 9y ago
    So it's that other 10% to which racist terrorism is a sensible response.
    - foldr 9y ago
      How can racist terrorism be a sensible response to anything?
      - Banthum 9y ago
        It's just a matter of definition. You could label any violent movement against any white colonial power as racist terrorism if you wanted. Of course you'll say that it doesn't count for whatever reason. But try to flip perspectives for a minute and understand that to the man in the quotation, he feels like an American aboriginal watching whites disembark by the thousands from ships stretching to the horizon. He's watching his whole way of life and his family be permanently annihilated by foreigners who hate him (and this includes both rich white liberals and immigrants). There's a good chance you are such a foreigner who hates him, too; that you'd really like to see his culture and religion and social structure destroyed. "Real 'Murican"-hating is a funny pastime to American liberals who will happily shout about the evils of Christianity and how it should be erased, to anyone who will listen. These situations are far more symmetrical that almost anyone is willing to understand.
        foldr 9y ago
        That's an eloquent expression of the views of the KKK. The KKK is, however, 100% wrong to think that their violence is justified by imaginary oppression of white people. >Of course you'll say that it doesn't count for whatever reason. It doesn't count for the very simple and very obvious reason that colonialism was based on an ideology of white supremacy, whereas anti-colonialism was not based on an ideology of black/brown supremacy. In other words, the British thought that their superiority to the Indians entitled them to run India. The Indians didn't think that their superiority to the British entitled them to run Britain.

jacobush 9y ago

Sure they had alternatives, but what if it seemed to them the alternatives were "sigh and resign" vs "racist terrorism"?

foldr 9y ago
Sigh and resign is the only sensible response to about 90% of life's frustrations.
- rabidrat 9y ago
  So it's that other 10% to which racist terrorism is a sensible response.
  - foldr 9y ago
    How can racist terrorism be a sensible response to anything?
    - Banthum 9y ago
      It's just a matter of definition. You could label any violent movement against any white colonial power as racist terrorism if you wanted. Of course you'll say that it doesn't count for whatever reason. But try to flip perspectives for a minute and understand that to the man in the quotation, he feels like an American aboriginal watching whites disembark by the thousands from ships stretching to the horizon. He's watching his whole way of life and his family be permanently annihilated by foreigners who hate him (and this includes both rich white liberals and immigrants). There's a good chance you are such a foreigner who hates him, too; that you'd really like to see his culture and religion and social structure destroyed. "Real 'Murican"-hating is a funny pastime to American liberals who will happily shout about the evils of Christianity and how it should be erased, to anyone who will listen. These situations are far more symmetrical that almost anyone is willing to understand.
      - foldr 9y ago
        That's an eloquent expression of the views of the KKK. The KKK is, however, 100% wrong to think that their violence is justified by imaginary oppression of white people. >Of course you'll say that it doesn't count for whatever reason. It doesn't count for the very simple and very obvious reason that colonialism was based on an ideology of white supremacy, whereas anti-colonialism was not based on an ideology of black/brown supremacy. In other words, the British thought that their superiority to the Indians entitled them to run India. The Indians didn't think that their superiority to the British entitled them to run Britain.