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It's not exactly generous of me, but as a midwesterner, I find this kind of thing morosely comical. While I understand that everyone has their own issues and t
by obviouslygreen 14y ago
It's not exactly generous of me, but as a midwesterner, I find this kind of thing morosely comical. While I understand that everyone has their own issues and there's no good reason to discount them out of hand, it's hard not to raise my eyebrows a bit at some of the 'problems' Californians advertise.
We call our version of that White People Problems, but I suppose that might be considered offensive in other places now...
- pstuart 14y agoThe PC wording is "First World Problems".
- obviouslygreen 14y agoHaha, thanks; I knew there was something more appropriate there. One reason I love living where I do, though, is that almost no one gives a rat's ass about political correctness... even the minorities. :)
- eaurouge 14y agoI bet you that's not true. Where do you live?
- obviouslygreen 14y agoThe only reason I'm not going to answer this is that it'd start a pedantic debate that's not worth having. Suffice to say that I have friends who are first-generation immigrants from South Korea, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, and Italy, and none of them are as reactionary about racial slurs as your average white American. Don't bet about things you don't understand. You and I could live next door to each other and have totally different experiences; many of my neighbors are Somali and they'd certainly have mixed interpretations. Basically... it's not as simple as either of us has made it out to be, but it helps no one to turn it into a debate that can't end well.
- eaurouge 14y agoSuffice to say that I have friends who are first-generation immigrants from South Korea, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, and Italy, and none of them are as reactionary about racial slurs as your average white American. Reacting differently to racial slurs is quite different from not giving "a rat's ass about political correctness". Don't bet about things you don't understand. You and I could live next door to each other and have totally different experiences; many of my neighbors are Somali and they'd certainly have mixed interpretations. Exactly. So how do you know how minorities feel about political correctness? Are you basing this on what you've been told? How large is your sample size? How do you correct for people (your first generation immigrant friends) telling you precisely what you want to hear? You should take your own advice and not pretend to know how every member of a diverse group may react to your choice of words.
- obviouslygreen 14y agoI don't pretend to know such a thing. I cite the sample group I have and if you can't figure that out it's your own failure.
- rdouble 14y agoMinneapolis is one of the most PC places on the planet.
- obviouslygreen 14y agoThat would have been my assessment as well. However, given the ridiculous reactions to my posts here, I have to reconsider that assumption.
- readme 14y agoIt is honestly a bit offensive to any white person who grew up with serious problems, of which there are many. The term first-world problems is much more acceptable.
- obviouslygreen 14y agoWhile I understand your point, it shouldn't be. It's a pretty obvious references to well-off white people, which is the stigma we get (and certainly one of the reasons I paid for almost all of my education despite being a national merit scholar finalist). My intention was certainly not to offend. My ex-fiancee came from a very poor white area in the midwest, and I also have friends from similar backgrounds in the south... the problem with "acceptable" terms is that they limit your discourse. If you grew up somewhere with serious problems, you should be concentrating on solving the problems, not changing the way people talk about them so others will think about it less.
- encoderer 14y agoBut what you're talking about are clearly socio-economic problems. Calling them "white people problems" is just wrong even if it wasn't offensive. Which it is.
- obviouslygreen 14y agoThen please accept my unqualified apology for offending you (and whoever else is offended by this term). Clearly we have different perspectives, and as I said, my intention was not to offend. However, separately, please also consider that intention should be considered when deciding whether something is "offensive." Taking offense to an offensive comment is appropriate, but deciding whether it was actually made in such a manner is something relevant (whether you consider it so or not) that people too often skip.
- encoderer 14y agoI didn't say I'm offended, just that what you said is offensive.
- ritchiea 14y agoWhat kind of problems do people in the midwest have? Midwest problems sound legit.
- gknoy 14y agoThe morning surf commute is killer. Also, they probably fear Monsanto more than most of us do.
- obviouslygreen 14y agoWow, +1 for grabbing Monsanto before I even posted. ;)
- obviouslygreen 14y agoKind of depends on who you ask. Many of my friends in college came from farming families, which Monsanto and similar companies have largely eradicated. Those that remain are and have been in serious trouble or unrecoverable debt (which is how farmers spend most of their lives, interestingly). So in the rural midwest, the problems are far bigger. Aside from that, in the cities... there are homeless here, and there are poor here, and there's unemployment here. It's pretty much the same as anywhere else; it's just smaller, which for some of us is nice. The cities still have the same stuff, they're just not as big, and urban sprawl isn't quite as bad as it is in some other places. Or maybe you were making a joke and I missed it. Simple northern folk, we are... ;)