5 ms·

These jokes aren't funny. They marginalize an entire nation of people. You should stop making them.

by natrius 12y ago

warcher 12y ago
Cmon, that was a little funny.
lewisflude 12y ago
I found it funny!
kenrikm 12y ago
My intent was not to marginalize anyone, I actually think Africa has a lot of potential for awesomeness. Read my comment minus the joke.
- _pius 12y ago
  My intent was not to marginalize anyone .... Read my comment minus the joke. If that's true, how about you simply make your comment minus the joke? Also worth noting that those scams mostly come from the United States now, not Nigeria. http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/U-S-Internet-fraud-at-all-time-high-Nigerian-2576989.php http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/U-S-Internet-fraud-at-al...
  - kenrikm 12y ago
    "This should go a long way as Africa is not limited by many of the strict regulations or entrenched cooperate interests that can limit trying new things. Mobile payments taking off there long before here in the US being a good example of this in action."
    - smtddr 12y ago
      See how much better your comment is now? You should have just said this to begin with.
    - afarrell 12y ago
      SJ issues aside, this is also a better comment because it doesn't start with something that makes me immediately think "This is of no value; How did it get past my spam filter?"
    - wpietri 12y ago
      That is definitely a better comment. But I'm not sure it's correct. Note that M-PESA, which I think is the leader here, originated from a do-gooder scheme, is controlled by an entrenched interest, and happened not because there were no regulations, but because the regulators were willing to try experiments: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/economist-explains-18 http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/ec...
EGreg 12y ago
Nigerian scammers don't have much to do with Nigerians themselves, so the joke isn't making fun of Nigerians, but rather the perception of Nigerian entrepreneurship until now.
- natrius 12y ago
  It doesn't matter. These jokes perpetuate a meme that makes Nigeria poorer. I hope you'll join me in avoiding that.
  - brymaster 12y ago
    > These jokes perpetuate a meme that makes Nigeria poorer. That's absurd. 419/Yahoo-Yahoo and corruption are a big problem there. That makes Nigeria poorer, not jokes.
themartorana 12y ago
They are funny to me, so stop trying to speak for everyone. A lot of people were scammed out of millions of dollars, and everyone here has likely received a similar email. Levity is just about always called for and just as often griped about by someone trying to assert moral superiority. Self-righteous indignation is bad enough, but on a forum like this you're practically waving your hands begging for actualization. Meta. Edit: A lot of judging going on on HN today.
- turnipbreath 12y ago
  Some people find racist jokes funny. It doesn't mean the such jokes should be tolerated. You're judging an entire nation, yet you're complaining about judgement?
  - cracoucax 12y ago
    I didn't read the comment you answer to, but people like you drive me nuts, seriously. Racist jokes can be perfectly funny, any joke can be perfectly funny it just depends who you tell it to, and at what humor degree you and the listener function. I find some racist jokes funny because they're mostly a joke on racists on some level. On the other hand i find totally insulting that people dare believe that i'm actually racist if i happen to say a racist joke. In most cases it just means the listener is dumb enough that he doesn't try to analyze context and just wave his flag because he heard a bad word. A joke is not a political commitment FFS, it's a fucking joke. For your enjoyment at work in my unit we actually have a racist day every week where racist jokes fly all over the whole day, and most times make them with the targeted /(race|nation|skin color|whatever)/ present. It could go like that for example : - someone : anybody saw my paperclip ? can't find it - someone else : Abdel probably took it, remember the guy is Arab, he steals all he can find. Seen your sister lately ? - a guy that happens to be jew : yeah Arabs are bad people, we've been telling you all along. - The Arab guy : Sorry i needed it for the seven virgin that are waiting for me guys.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      Holy crap that company is headed for a lawsuit.
10098 12y ago
Speak for yourself, they are pretty funny.
witty_username 12y ago
s/nation/continent?
ams6110 12y ago
Oh come on. The classic Nigerian email scam was the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline. I half expected a parody but saw that it was Forbes. People are too sensitive these days. Especially people who get self-righteously offended on behalf of someone else. Relevant: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/chris-rock-colleges-conservative_n_6250308.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/chris-rock-colleges...
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  Grow up.
- natrius 12y ago
  You're attempting to discredit my argument based on my ethnicity. You shouldn't do that. I am Nigerian. Not that it matters.

These jokes aren't funny. They marginalize an entire nation of people. You should stop making them.

by natrius 12y ago

These jokes aren't funny. They marginalize an entire nation of people. You should stop making them.

warcher 12y ago

Cmon, that was a little funny.

lewisflude 12y ago

I found it funny!

kenrikm 12y ago

My intent was not to marginalize anyone, I actually think Africa has a lot of potential for awesomeness. Read my comment minus the joke.

_pius 12y ago
My intent was not to marginalize anyone .... Read my comment minus the joke. If that's true, how about you simply make your comment minus the joke? Also worth noting that those scams mostly come from the United States now, not Nigeria. http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/U-S-Internet-fraud-at-all-time-high-Nigerian-2576989.php http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/U-S-Internet-fraud-at-al...
- kenrikm 12y ago
  "This should go a long way as Africa is not limited by many of the strict regulations or entrenched cooperate interests that can limit trying new things. Mobile payments taking off there long before here in the US being a good example of this in action."
  - smtddr 12y ago
    See how much better your comment is now? You should have just said this to begin with.
  - afarrell 12y ago
    SJ issues aside, this is also a better comment because it doesn't start with something that makes me immediately think "This is of no value; How did it get past my spam filter?"
  - wpietri 12y ago
    That is definitely a better comment. But I'm not sure it's correct. Note that M-PESA, which I think is the leader here, originated from a do-gooder scheme, is controlled by an entrenched interest, and happened not because there were no regulations, but because the regulators were willing to try experiments: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/economist-explains-18 http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/ec...

EGreg 12y ago

Nigerian scammers don't have much to do with Nigerians themselves, so the joke isn't making fun of Nigerians, but rather the perception of Nigerian entrepreneurship until now.

natrius 12y ago
It doesn't matter. These jokes perpetuate a meme that makes Nigeria poorer. I hope you'll join me in avoiding that.
- brymaster 12y ago
  > These jokes perpetuate a meme that makes Nigeria poorer. That's absurd. 419/Yahoo-Yahoo and corruption are a big problem there. That makes Nigeria poorer, not jokes.

themartorana 12y ago

They are funny to me, so stop trying to speak for everyone. A lot of people were scammed out of millions of dollars, and everyone here has likely received a similar email. Levity is just about always called for and just as often griped about by someone trying to assert moral superiority. Self-righteous indignation is bad enough, but on a forum like this you're practically waving your hands begging for actualization. Meta. Edit: A lot of judging going on on HN today.

turnipbreath 12y ago
Some people find racist jokes funny. It doesn't mean the such jokes should be tolerated. You're judging an entire nation, yet you're complaining about judgement?
- cracoucax 12y ago
  I didn't read the comment you answer to, but people like you drive me nuts, seriously. Racist jokes can be perfectly funny, any joke can be perfectly funny it just depends who you tell it to, and at what humor degree you and the listener function. I find some racist jokes funny because they're mostly a joke on racists on some level. On the other hand i find totally insulting that people dare believe that i'm actually racist if i happen to say a racist joke. In most cases it just means the listener is dumb enough that he doesn't try to analyze context and just wave his flag because he heard a bad word. A joke is not a political commitment FFS, it's a fucking joke. For your enjoyment at work in my unit we actually have a racist day every week where racist jokes fly all over the whole day, and most times make them with the targeted /(race|nation|skin color|whatever)/ present. It could go like that for example : - someone : anybody saw my paperclip ? can't find it - someone else : Abdel probably took it, remember the guy is Arab, he steals all he can find. Seen your sister lately ? - a guy that happens to be jew : yeah Arabs are bad people, we've been telling you all along. - The Arab guy : Sorry i needed it for the seven virgin that are waiting for me guys.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    Holy crap that company is headed for a lawsuit.

10098 12y ago

Speak for yourself, they are pretty funny.

witty_username 12y ago

s/nation/continent?

ams6110 12y ago

Oh come on. The classic Nigerian email scam was the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline. I half expected a parody but saw that it was Forbes. People are too sensitive these days. Especially people who get self-righteously offended on behalf of someone else. Relevant: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/chris-rock-colleges-conservative_n_6250308.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/chris-rock-colleges...

GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
Grow up.
natrius 12y ago
You're attempting to discredit my argument based on my ethnicity. You shouldn't do that. I am Nigerian. Not that it matters.