General Current Events/Political Discussion

[Link | 2,878]

39 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

What am I supposed to watch for 3 hours tomorrow night while I play old NES games?

haha, well, I would suggest keeping your eye on the game

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

6 hours ago, Californication said:

Doing some word gymnastics there.

You think white people that promote the white race oabove others and kill americans are patriots?

Nah you missed my point. I think people who identify as patriots would also identify as nationalist bc of the definition of nationalism. The set of ppl who are white and nationalist is larger than the set of Neo Nazis and thus is a mislabeled

Again, the people you're referring to are Neo Nazis. And I think the term white nationalist is too soft. It's used for a reason. It broad brushes the group and doesn't give the real idea of who the shit heads really are and what they're true ideals are. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by RegularGuyGamer

[Estil | 1,291]

4 hours ago, NESfiend said:

LOL you want to do that to me on the day they cancelled live pd? OK they cancelled it yesterday, but i didn't find out until today. What am I supposed to watch for 3 hours tomorrow night while I play old NES games?

Reruns of Live PD!  At least you'll always have those.  You heard of the CBS rural purge in 1971?  I guess now we have a police purge going on, including that one show with the cute cartoon K9!  I mean what about Rin-Tin-Tin K9 cop?  What about Mathnet?  

Edited June 12, 2020 by Estil

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

11 hours ago, NESfiend said:

Notre Dame? Only place I've ever been that everyone drank keystone light. I remember thinking it wasn't half bad, especially for the price. Never had it again though

I went to Kent State and it was always a solid alternative to Natty.  Really depended on who you were partying with.  There was even a guy we called Keystone Kevin.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

15 hours ago, Tabonga said:

There are some things that I consider problematic about the BLM group

You know what I consider problematic?

The systemic racism and police brutality in this country.

15 hours ago, Estil said:

I more align with the All Lives Matter, however unpopular a viewpoint that maybe be around here.  I don't like or want to see any innocent people get hurt or their stuff destroyed or their lives half ruined or whatever.

If you don't want to see innocent people get hurt, then why on EARTH would you say that you align with All Lives Matter? All Lives Matter is ignoring the systemic racism and police brutality that constantly sees people of color get hurt, have their stuff destroyed, and their lives ruined. Come on man. 

 

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I am big into history - so stuff like this is important to me.

I'm big into human rights - so stuff like shining a light on and eradicating the systemic racism and police brutality in this country is important to me.

 

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People's  perceptions are often  formed by what they want to see - someone disagrees with them it must be because they are racist 

My perception of you isn't formed by what I want to see. I want to see no racist thoughts and opinions being aired anywhere, let alone on a video game platform. My perception of you is based on the things you've said, some of which, whether you can see it or not, can be perceived as racist/supporting racism. It has zero to do with agreeing with you or not.

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And IMHO "conservatives" are much less susceptible to group think. 

Read as: conservatives are much less open to processing new information and letting it shape their opinions. 

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If you are really convinced that  I am blatantly racist

I'm not convinced you are blatantly racist. I'm convinced you are saying thinly veiled racist shit for one of two reasons. Either A) You don't actually have a clue, which I find hard to believe considering how you like to use real big words to make sure everyone knows that you are intelligent or B) you are just trying to troll. Which would be sad, because it just makes you look like a racist instead.

@NESfiend is right. Some of the things you've said have come off pretty bad.

Aaand, by the way, still, no one here has said anything that proves systemic racism and police brutality is not a major issue in our country.

[Estil | 1,291]

2 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

If you don't want to see innocent people get hurt, then why on EARTH would you say that you align with All Lives Matter? All Lives Matter is ignoring the systemic racism and police brutality that constantly sees people of color get hurt, have their stuff destroyed, and their lives ruined. Come on man. 

Aaand, by the way, still, no one here has said anything that proves systemic racism and police brutality is not a major issue in our country.

But All Lives Matter (well most of it anyway) is NOT "ignoring the systemic [or any kind] of racism and police brutality".  I certainly am not.  And who here has said that systemic racism and police brutality is "not a major issue in this country"?  I know I haven't.  And why does this kind of thing have to be an either/or proposition?  Am I expected to only care about people getting hurt if they're of a certain skin color or whatever?  Am I honestly expected to consider it less wrong for police brutality to happen towards whites as is to blacks?

I know you and some of the others would never believe me when I say this but when George Floyd was killed, I didn't see it at all as a black man killed by police brutality...I saw it as a man getting killed by police brutality.  I mean I always thought if we are to be non-racist, that's the ideal way of seeing that kind of thing....

Bottom line is, I have none, zero control over what others think or what some groups think or what society thinks or expects.  I can only control or say what I think.  And I just cannot and will not go along with this expectation that if the victim is of a certain skin color/ethnicity/whatever, that in of itself somehow makes it more or less wrong.  And BLM does clearly expect this to be a zero sum game...that you are to downplay and diminish victims of the same crimes based on skin color/ethnicity/etc.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Estil

[Silent Hill | 284]

2 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Aaand, by the way, still, no one here has said anything that proves systemic racism and police brutality is not a major issue in our country.

I feel like there have been quite a few valid points in this thread on how these aren't "major" issues, at least by comparison to other issues that have a much, much greater negative impact.

Personally, I just find such odd logic in hammering an issue that impacts such a minute percentage of deaths. It just seems so over-exaggerated. To the point where you've got people like LeBron James stating "We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!"  which is an insanely toxic message to send out to the masses and directs attention away from much greater issues/threats. To have the mindset/balls to say something like that (while in reality, black people account for nearly 50% of all homicides in America, 85% of non-homicide violent crimes against white people and kill all other races at a higher rate than those races kill black people), is just unreal to me.  

 

Police Brutality = Wrong, regardless of race. The discrepancy between races can be dissected in attempts to understand the "why", if you're willing to look deeper into the statistics. (ie. number of police interactions, area demographics, crime rates, etc.). Also, not every unjustified police killing is race driven, in fact, its probably only a reason behind a minority of the cases. 

Systemic Racism = Wrong, regardless of race - but I've yet to see anyone point out a law or policy that is explicitly racist. Oddly enough, the one that jumps out to me is Affirmative Action which I think is an over-correction as it grants opportunity solely based on race, ignoring factors/standards that other races are held to. I'm not aware of any counterpart to a law/policy like this that explicitly grants or denies privilege solely based on being white.  

 

[Tabonga | 2,533]

2 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

You know what I consider problem

The systemic racism and police brutality in this country.

That and BLM being somewhat problematic are not mutually exclusive.  If your are counting on BLM as big part of your solution be carefulwhat you wish for.

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I'm big into human rights - so stuff like shining a light on and eradicating the systemic racism and police brutality in this country is important to me.

I am big into human rights too - freedom of speech and individuality. Whatever crusade you choose to pursue is up to you.

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My perception of you isn't formed by what I want to see. I want to see no racist thoughts and opinions being aired anywhere, let alone on a video game platform. My perception of you is based on the things you've said, some of which, whether you can see it or not, can be perceived as racist/supporting racism. It has zero to do with agreeing with you or not.

 

Big into thought control now.  Cool.   And I am big into correcting false perceptions.  Of course you don't perceive that yours (and others') perceptions might be just be flat out wrong??

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Read as: conservatives are much less open to processing new information and letting it shape their opinions. 

Or read as liberals are willing to accept whatever someone puts in their heads as being the current mantra.  Consider "All Lives Matter" - we can't have that refuting the other mantra (black lives matter (code words apparently for only black lives really matter - and then only in certain circumstances).  Can't have that can we?

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I'm not convinced you are blatantly racist. I'm convinced you are saying thinly veiled racist shit for one of two reasons. Either A) You don't actually have a clue, which I find hard to believe considering how you like to use real big words to make sure everyone knows that you are intelligent or B) you are just trying to troll. Which would be sad, because it just makes you look like a racist instead.

I am glad to have someone with the vast wisdom to decide what is racist.  Strong with the force are you!!  It does make a handy way to deal with things that are said that one can't refute/deal with doesn't it?  What size of words can you process then? Does it just occur to you that I might use "big" words simply because I have a wider vocabulary than you?   (See Dick. See Jane. See Dick and Jane Run.)  And (by implication) how unintelligent does one have to be to post here? If I was going to troll I could do a far better job of it.  And just because your mighty jedi powers make you think I look like a racist doesn't mean I look like a racist nor that I am a racist.*

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@NESfiend is right. Some of the things you've said have come off pretty bad.

As do many of the things both of you say.

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Aaand, by the way, still, no one here has said anything that proves systemic racism and police brutality is not a major issue in our country.

 

Depends what one defines as major doesn't it?

-------------------------------------------------------

*

 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

24 minutes ago, Estil said:

But All Lives Matter (well most of it anyway) is NOT "ignoring the systemic [or any kind] of racism and police brutality". 

Yes it is. Saying All Lives Matter is ignoring the systemic racism and police brutality perpetrated on people of color in this country. All Lives can't Matter until Black Lives DO Matter.

If a house on your street is on fire, do you run out and tell the firemen to spray water on the house next to it because "All Houses Matter?". No. You are concerned with the major threat. The fire. In this case, the systemic racism and police brutality perpetrated against people of color in this country.

26 minutes ago, Estil said:

And who here has said that systemic racism and police brutality is "not a major issue in this country"? 

Tabonga, Cartman, Silent Hill... etc....

27 minutes ago, Estil said:

Am I expected to only care about people getting hurt if they're of a certain skin color or whatever? 

Of course not. But the facts are that there is systemic racism against black people in this country. 

27 minutes ago, Estil said:

Am I honestly expected to consider it less wrong for police brutality to happen towards whites as is to blacks?

It's a terrible thing regardless of race. But the fact is that due to systemic racism, police brutality is perpetrated disproportionately towards people of color, despite what deniers in this thread would have you believe. Tabonga even provided a source article that he didn't read well enough showing this.

30 minutes ago, Estil said:

I didn't see it at all as a black man killed by police brutality...I saw it as a man getting killed by police brutality.

That's kind of the problem man. You are purposefully turning a blind eye to the racist behavior because you "aren't seeing the color", or however you want to put it. You shouldn't be ignoring that fact man. To ignore that factor that race played in this man's murder is in itself racist.  

32 minutes ago, Estil said:

I always thought if we are to be non-racist, that's the ideal way of seeing that kind of thing....

No man. You don't ignore the color. You recognize it, celebrate it, and do your best to understand what they have to go through on a daily basis. "I understand that I'll never REALLY understand, but I STAND WITH YOU."

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

4 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Or read as liberals are willing to accept whatever someone puts in their heads as being the current mantra.

Please old man. I've been anti racist/sexist/homophobic since I was making my own crossed out swastika patches and t-shirts in Junior High. This isn't a fucking bandwagon.

5 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Consider "All Lives Matter" - we can't have that refuting the other mantra (black lives matter (code words apparently for only black lives really matter - and then only in certain circumstances).  Can't have that can we?

Correct. We can't have people thinking everything is fine and that everyone is treated equally when people of color are being exposed to systemic racism and police brutality every day in our country. 

6 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

I am glad to have someone with the vast wisdom to decide what is racist. 

I don't decide what is racist. I just call out racist shit when I see it.

7 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

And just because your mighty jedi powers make you think I look like a racist doesn't mean I look like a racist nor that I am a racist

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

7 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Depends what one defines as major doesn't it?

I'd counter the murders, the daily prejudice, the fear, the hate, etc,  that people of color are exposed to, due to systemic racism and police brutality in this country, as pretty major but to each their own I guess?? 

[Tabonga | 2,533]

4 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Tabonga, Cartman, Silent Hill... etc....

No man. You don't ignore the color. You recognize it, celebrate it, and do your best to understand what they have to go through on a daily basis. "I understand that I'll never REALLY understand, but I STAND WITH YOU."

Just call us Snowball 1, Snowball 2, Snowball 3 for we are LEGION!

So we are talking modern day Eloi here - coolie beans.

Heh - sixties rhetoric - MAN THE BARRICADES!

[Estil | 1,291]

32 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

If a house on your street is on fire, do you run out and tell the firemen to spray water on the house next to it because "All Houses Matter?". No. You are concerned with the major threat. The fire. In this case, the systemic racism and police brutality perpetrated against people of color in this country.

I've seen that analogy or cartoon and there's an obvious flaw.  Why would you spray water on a house that isn't even on fire?  Of course "all houses matter"...which is all the more reason to put the out the house that is on fire so it doesn't get destroyed or damaged too much and then risk spreading the fire to the other houses!

Hey, I've used analogies like that to make certain points too, but this one just doesn't work.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

11 minutes ago, Estil said:

Why would you spray water on a house that isn't even on fire?  Of course "all houses matter"...which is all the more reason to put the out the house that is on fire so it doesn't get destroyed or damaged too much and then risk spreading the fire to the other houses!

Dude! Exactly! You proved my point!

You wouldn't spray the house that's not on fire. So why would you tout "All Lives Matter" when blacks are the ones being prejudiced against?

Let's say your friend has cancer and is posting about it for awareness. Do you highjack the post and comment about other diseases because they matter too? No. You focus your efforts on the ISSUE AT HAND.

Which is, of course.... the systemic racism and police brutality against people of color in the United States.

Edited June 12, 2020 by CodysGameRoom

[Estil | 1,291]

39 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

That's kind of the problem man. You are purposefully turning a blind eye to the racist behavior because you "aren't seeing the color", or however you want to put it. You shouldn't be ignoring that fact man. To ignore that factor that race played in this man's murder is in itself racist.  

No man. You don't ignore the color. You recognize it, celebrate it, and do your best to understand what they have to go through on a daily basis. "I understand that I'll never REALLY understand, but I STAND WITH YOU."

Do we even yet know one way or the other if was indeed done out of racism?  I hope you're not suggesting that if it wasn't done out of racism we have to be all like, oops, our bad!  It's not as wrong as we thought it was!  You wanna know a true test of how non-prejudice someone is?  Pay attention to how they treat/view certain groups of people that are not of the "protected classes".  Of course most people won't be crazy enough to be too open about racism/sexism and such...because we've all been taught for the past half century or so that it's totally and morally (as one of your fellow Turtles would say) wrong-o-la!  But if they think it's the kind of prejudice that not nearly as many people care about or see as a big deal then they will be more open about it.  Ageism is one that immediately comes to mind.  So you don't have to convince me that there is at least some systemic racism out there and it will never completely go away...because it can just as easily be "taken out on" towards other groups they think they can "get away with" being prejudice/-ist/-phobic/whatever.  You might say racism and sexism can just as easily branch out towards other kinds of prejudice and that is why I have repeatedly cautioned about sending the wrong message that this being "a black problem"...because other bad kinds of -isms can just as easily happen to any one of us.

[Estil | 1,291]

6 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Dude! Exactly! You proved my point!

You wouldn't spray the house that's not on fire. So why would you tout "All Lives Matter" when blacks are the ones being prejudiced against?

Let's say your friend has cancer and is posting about it for awareness. Do you highjack the post and comment about other diseases because they matter too? No. You focus your efforts on the ISSUE AT HAND.

Which is, of course.... the systemic racism and police brutality against people of color in the United States.

So why do we have to exclude victims of police brutality who did not happen to be people of color?  As for your second point, no because there are other places to comment/discuss for those other diseases.  Still it would be nice for example not go so overboard with the pink month and not only ignore other diseases but also the fact that believe it or not men get breast cancer too.  IOW just like police brutality is not just "a black person's problem", breast cancer is not just "a women's problem" either.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Estil

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

1 minute ago, Estil said:

So why do we have to exclude victims of police brutality who did not happen to be people of color?

We literally don't man. If a policeman beats up or murders a white person, that's fucking awful and they need to be dealt with accordingly.

The problem is that white people murdered and beat up by police is not due to systemic racism. 

We are talking about systemic racism. That is what protesters are protesting. 

I'm not sure how much more clear I can make it. 

[Estil | 1,291]

1 minute ago, CodysGameRoom said:

We literally don't man. If a policeman beats up or murders a white person, that's fucking awful and they need to be dealt with accordingly.

The problem is that white people murdered and beat up by police is not due to systemic racism. 

We are talking about systemic racism. That is what protesters are protesting. 

I'm not sure how much more clear I can make it. 

No I think you made your position pretty clear on this one.  I just don't see it in the same way.

[Silent Hill | 284]

13 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

We literally don't man. If a policeman beats up or murders a white person, that's fucking awful and they need to be dealt with accordingly.

The problem is that white people murdered and beat up by police is not due to systemic racism. 

We are talking about systemic racism. That is what protesters are protesting. 

I'm not sure how much more clear I can make it. 

This is where I don't really agree. White cop and black victim doesn't automatically equate to racism, let alone systemic racism. By that logic, black cop and white victim equates to racism. Jumping to that conclusion (especially so broadly) is toxic and perpetuates racial division, which is exactly what's happening. 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

17 minutes ago, Estil said:

No I think you made your position pretty clear on this one.  I just don't see it in the same way.

I guess that's it then. I'll just leave you with this article. If you read it with an open mind you might understand why saying All Lives Matter in response to Black Lives Matter is not only foolish, but also racist.

It's from Good Housekeeping of all places, haha. Feel free to tear it down as liberal propaganda. 

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a32745051/what-black-lives-matter-means/

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

1 minute ago, Silent Hill said:

By that logic, black cop and white victim equates to racism. 

No it doesn't. There's no systemic racism in the US against white people. So a black cop and white victim would not be racist. 

 

2 minutes ago, Silent Hill said:

Jumping to that conclusion (especially so broadly) is toxic and perpetuates racial division

It's not jumping to conclusions. It's watching a fucking pattern emerge over and over and over again. 

You know what perpetuates racial division? People who deny racism is a fucking issue. 

You know what perpetuates racial division?

The systemic racism and police brutality against people of color in the United States.

[Strange | 1,727]

17 hours ago, Tulpa said:

I have a friend whose wife is a respiratory therapist (working a lot of overtime these days.) 

She smokes.

I dated a girl in college who was a flute player/music major. She smoked. One night she was smoking behind the music building and one of the other music majors saw her. He said:

”How are you going to base your entire career on using your lungs to make music and be a smoker?”

She said: “Like this.” And lit the cigarette.

[cartman | 195]

12 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

No it doesn't. There's no systemic racism in the US against white people. So a black cop and white victim would not be racist. 

 

It's not jumping to conclusions. It's watching a fucking pattern emerge over and over and over again. 

You know what perpetuates racial division? People who deny racism is a fucking issue. 

You know what perpetuates racial division?

The systemic racism and police brutality against people of color in the United States.

You've proven no systematism in the cop killings against blacks.

You've proven no racism in the cop killings against blacks.

You've claimed that questioning these lackings is also racism.

So basically you feel that you're right on ideological grounds and you'll just keep adjusting reality accordingly so that it fits into the narrative.

[Silent Hill | 284]

5 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

No it doesn't. There's no systemic racism in the US against white people. So a black cop and white victim would not be racist. 

 

It's not jumping to conclusions. It's watching a fucking pattern emerge over and over and over again. 

You know what perpetuates racial division? People who deny racism is a fucking issue. 

You know what perpetuates racial division?

The systemic racism and police brutality against people of color in the United States.

If you refuse to look beyond just the skin color to identify racist intent, then it's just as fair to say black cop/white victim = racism. I'd love to hear the definition of the systemic racism in police departments that automatically makes white cop/black victim 100% racially driven, in every instance.

Racism and Systemic Racism are two totally different animals. People who don't feel systemic racism is rampant, aren't denying racism as a whole, myself included. 

When asked how to best combat racism, Morgan Freeman said "stop talking about it", so I think there's a valid argument that people who don't show attention towards racism are actually helping close the gap so-to-speak. And that goes against the whole "silence is violence" BS that's floating around. Like if you don't publicly admit your "white guilt/privilege" or "virtue signal", then you're somehow racist and keeping racism/systemic racism alive and well. It's very cult-ish.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

Don't worry guys. Just ignore the problem or pretend it doesn't exist. That is how every great leader has solved the world's problems throughout history. Tabonga knows, he's a historian. Ignorance, silence, and inaction. That's the ticket!

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

18 minutes ago, Silent Hill said:

When asked how to best combat racism, Morgan Freeman said "stop talking about it", so I think there's a valid argument that people who don't show attention towards racism are actually helping close the gap so-to-speak.

https://www.nme.com/news/film/morgan-freeman-share-peoples-experiences-racism-social-platforms-2682978

'The actor shared news of the project on his Instagram page yesterday (June 5), telling his fans to “continue the conversation”.