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What's the difference between discussing and 'taking down'? Is there any way to talk about this without disturbing you, or would you rather that this topic not
by CathedralBorrow 7y ago
What's the difference between discussing and 'taking down'? Is there any way to talk about this without disturbing you, or would you rather that this topic not be discussed at all?
- oh_sigh 7y agoWell, they literally took down a statue of Gandhi. I wonder if we just won't be able to have statues any more? Or, we can only have statues of people whose lives are largely inscrutable or unknown to the public.
- CathedralBorrow 7y agoThe University of Ghana removed a statue of Gandhi last year, that had been there since 2016, after several professors petitioned for its removal. Is this the takedown you are referring to, that makes you fear about all statues in general?
- oh_sigh 7y agoWhy would you represent my viewpoint as a fear about statues futures, unless you were intentionally trying to misrepresent my point in order to make your own point. Do you honestly think I am fearful about the future of statues?
- CathedralBorrow 7y agoI must have misunderstood you then, sorry. Can you explain better what you meant by "I wonder if we just won't be able to have statues any more?", if it was not fretting over the future of statues?
- geofft 7y agoI'd rather live in a world with meaningful public discussion of controversial topics than a world with statues, if that's really the choice we face.
- yakshaving_jgt 7y agoYou don't think those statues catalyse the discussion?
- geofft 7y agoNo - they tend to catalyze a different discussion about the statues themselves, they encourage emotionally entrenched positions (the whole point of a statue is to stir up emotion), and they do nothing for discussion about the people or events without a statue.
- yakshaving_jgt 7y agoI think that’s debatable. I don’t think you can reasonably argue that constructive discussion can’t be had in the presence of statues. I also think people are going to be emotional when discussing controversial historical figures whether the statues are there or not.