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The effect of one's culture and surroundings changing will naturally be anxiety. Consider a proud ethno-cultural place like Iran or Japan. If a large number of
by meri_dian 9y ago
The effect of one's culture and surroundings changing will naturally be anxiety. Consider a proud ethno-cultural place like Iran or Japan. If a large number of non-persian or non-japanese people began moving into each of those respective countries, the result would be anxiety among the established majority.
Similarly, it's really just a natural human response that people of European descent are experiencing anxiety in their native countries when faced with large scale migration.
I think that a lot of people are unwilling to give sympathy to Europeans because of the recent history of European colonization across the world.
But it's not some failing of white people in particular that they in some cases may have anxiety about their communities changing. It's just a result of the human condition, human social behavior. As such they do deserve sympathy. Just like the hypothetical Iranians or Japanese in my prior example.
- praulv 9y ago>> "If a large number of non-persian or non-japanese people began moving into each of those respective countries, the result would be anxiety among the established majority." If you really think an intellectual bastion of rational, logical thought such as HN is going to let you get away with those kinds of MAGA reddit Breitbartisms, you probably haven't thought carefully enough.
- gt_ 9y agoSo far, you haven’t displaced, or even responded to the claims so much as expressed something along the lines of a threat, a type of discussion that is much more offensive in my view.
- praulv 9y agoI do not tolerate nor deem the claims worthy of a response. There must be a minimum acceptable level of intellectual debate which warrants engagement. The poster is incapable of providing any form of evidence and hence such laziness must be punished to enforce quality of debate in the wider interests of human progress.
- Knufen 9y agoYou have made no argument and are not really helping your cause. Please refrain from name calling, over generalization and ad hominems.
- praulv 9y agoAt what point does identifying and labelling an ideologically driven argument devoid of any rational substance class as "name calling". Clearly the poster is parroting views consistent with identity politics and I was merely pointing out the blaring lack of propositional logic.
- KingMob 9y agoWhile you can argue that racism is universal, that doesn't excuse anyone for racist behavior, whether they're Japanese, Iranian, or American. If you examine "may have anxiety about their communities changing", it clearly implies they think non-whites are changing their community for the worse. It also implies the community belongs to the whites, and they get to define it. Alternatively, they could (but don't) view their community as something they share, becoming more diverse, more interesting, more inclusive, etc.
- question_that 9y agoIf I prefer green grass, and I've built a community with fellow green grassers, a sudden influx of those who prefer red grass will make my life worse. My preference is not malicious, and may possibly be genetic - why is it less valid than the opinion of someone colorblind?
- whatyoucantsay 9y agoTribalism is a part of human nature and you engage in it, too. It's not pretty in any circumstance.
- meri_dian 9y agoYour assumptions about me are wrong. It doesn't matter how the change manifests itself. People often dislike change, especially of communities they are familiar with. Hence my point that it's not a problem with white people, but rather a condition of human beings. If a community of majority Latinos became subject to sudden white immigration, I'm sure there would be a certain amount of anxiety on the part of the original residents. I can understand and sympathize with these anxieties though. Can you?
- krapp 9y ago>As such they do deserve sympathy. No, they don't. White people aren't victims, they never deserved the privilege they enjoyed in the US, so the loss of that privilege isn't a tragedy. They are just now beginning to experience what for the rest of the country has always been normal.
- meri_dian 9y agoPeople dislike gentrification in part because it displaces established communities. People don't gain or lose the right to sympathy because they are a majority or minority group. They are human beings regardless.
- krapp 9y agoTheir culture isn't changing. They're still American, they're still white, they're still Christian, probably. The only change is their relative status amongst an already heterogeneous population, and the assumption that their point of view represents the "default" (and therefore most correct) American identity.
- Id15eba6u 9y agoHow did they not deserve the privilege? Did they not work for it?
- krapp 9y agoIf I rob a bank, does that mean I deserve to keep the money?
- specializeded 9y agoAnd if so, if the bank takes it back is it wrong?
- meri_dian 9y agoAlmost all cultures and societies on Earth are living on land that once belonged to another group of people. According to you, no one on Earth deserves to keep anything they have, because their ancestors took it from someone else.