Society today as we know it

I’m probably going to get a lot of hate for this…. or not. I’m really not sure. I’ve been on this site for one and a half years now and this community has honestly surprised quite a bit and not in a negative way. We all come from different walks of life and have different opinions about everything. Despite that however, more times than not, I have seen people here have honest, genuine, and respectful conversations with one another. So that is why I feel okay talking about all of this.

I am going to cover a wide variety of social subjects in this blog. Not for my own gratification, but to genuinely know why people think the way they think. I may say some things that you may not agree with or maybe something that gets your blood boiling. So I ask this from everyone, please give me your opinions about the subjects I’ve discussed. I hold in high importance the value of discussion. With all that said, here we go.


[1] Liberalism and Conservatism

I felt it very important that I start with this topic because it’s the most broad and includes the most amount of people. Name calling is rampant between these two ideologies. But I’m not wanting to talk about what their ideologies, I’m wanting to talk about the people that identify with these groups. I identify as a conservative. Now put your pitch forks down and listen. I do not care if you are conservative or liberal. I don’t. What I do care about it is why you identify with that group. That is a vague statement so let me explain. We all come from different parts of the world and we all grew up differently. Some of us buy into what are parents raise us with while others may choose to go against their parent’s ideology. I think either is fine, but only if there is a solid reason as to why you believe the way you do. If you think that their should be free healthcare, that’s fine. I may disagree with you, but I will listen and respect your ideas if you are polite and want to discuss. I don’t know what else to say about this topic. It may not have been to focused on the actual subject. I’ll just move on.


[2] Words and Speech

The most valuable right that I think that people (should) have is the Freedom of Speech and Expression. I love this and I use it every day. I’m using it right now as I’m righting this. I hold this right in such high value that I will never tell someone to stop talking about anything. So how far can I take this freedom. That is one of the biggest questions right now. Not just in the US, but worldwide. Places today are trying to silence people’s words or ideologies; shaming people just for thinking a different way than them. Is this wrong? Should people not be allowed to say what they want? I think so. I have seen some very revolting things in my life that make me sick and angry. Some examples are the West Burro Baptist Church, KKK, and Communism as a whole. With communism, I’ve known ton’s of people who think it’s a good idea. Do I think they’re are retards? Yes. Would I want to have the belief banned? Absolutely not. To be honest, my argument for defending the speech of these groups may not be sufficient enough for y’all but I’ll try to explain the best I can. Government is a necessary evil. Taxes suck, but they are important for the foundation and stability of a country. While government is needed for many reasons, we as human beings are not owned by anyone but ourselves. While we do sacrifice many things to be a part of a society, I want to keep as much of that as possible. I think that people should be free to make their own decisions as far as the law allows and the law wants to take more and more away from people. By the people letting the government regulate what you say, the more they will try to take. Some may call that paranoia, but in 2017, I think its justified.

What about words? What about individual words that trigger people? Words like “retard,” “faggot,” “t******,” and so on? While these words may be offensive to some, I don’t think they should be banned. All these terms are derogatory in nature but do they actually hurt people? Possibly. Let me explain; I use the word retarded about every day. Despite this, I feel no remorse over the use of this word. Not because of its origins, but because I have no intensions to hurt anyone. I would never call a mentally handicapped person retarded. People that make fun of people who can’t control themselves are just garbage people. Words change meaning overtime. At some point, most just lose all meaning and any weight behind them. A friend of mine in college uses F-word about once or twice per sentence. There is no reason for it to be there, but it is there regardless. It has so meaning; it’s a filler. When I call something retarded, I’m not calling out a handicapped person, I’m expressing my thoughts through a word that is synonymous with dumb and stupid. A few people I knew in highschool would always tell me not to say “retarded” because its offensive. Why? Have I hurt anyone by saying it? Sure someone walking by me might hear it and get sad because maybe they were called that growing up, but even then, I wouldn’t stop saying it. People that know me very well understand that I’m not a mean person; I’m shy and respectful. People know that when I say that, it’s not directed at anyone. It’s a word, nothing else. I’m going to be honest, I hate swear words. I don’t think its language of a leader. Despite me feeling this way, if I would have had those feelings walking in to college, I would not have any friends. Words do not dictate people, their actions do. If someone says something that offends you, understand that that person comes from a different walk of life and maybe what you heard is not who that person actually is.


[3] Privilege

Gather around Tempers and let a cis, heterosexual, white, decent looking, Christian, middle class, American, Male talk to everyone about privilege. This is something I hate hearing. The whole concept of privilege seems based on the idea of shaming people over things they had or have no control over. I really don’t understand why people get up in arms about this stuff. The truth about privilege is that there will ALWAYS be someone better off than you are. That is just a fact. People feel like because of ‘x’ factor or ‘y’ reason, they feel they are oppressed by other people and they criticize entire groups of people based entirely off traits like the ones listed above. Some of this I understand, but not all of it. I understand that black people in America or statistically poorer than other groups of people. I understand why people hate Christians because of what they have seen from other “Christians.” I understand why people hate the middle and upper class because of their wealth. However, there are many reasons why these people are the way they are. “Someone is privileged because they are wealthy!!!” There are people who work their entire lives to accumulate wealth so that they can enjoy their life. Why should they be ashamed of working hard? “Someone is privileged because they are straight!!!” While we can disagree on whether being gay is a choice or not, being gay should not define someone. “Someone is privileged because they are American!!!” While America is the best place in the world to live, I did not choose to live here. Why should I be persecuted over something I had nothing to do with? The point I’m trying to get across is don’t hate people based on their life situation. We are all jealous of people better off than us. I would love to be a millionaire, who wouldn’t want to be? While some things like my skin color or where I was born can’t change, I have full control over my future. To nail my point in the coffin, let me share the story of the friend I mentioned above. ‘J’ was born in the slums of West-Memphis. Its one of the most dangerous places to live in the United states. He was raised without a father, grew up around gangs, and didn’t have a mom for a good portion of his younger life. He lived on is own for years without the help of parents. He had no one and nothing for a long time. He worked full time while still in highschool, not having a proper home to go to. He was blessed enough to have a older friend who he worked on cars with stay with him. As of today, he is attending with me a College University and seeking a degree in Electrical Engineering. ‘J’ had a horrible younger life. Despite this however, he was able to achieve great things because he did not let the environment he was in define who he is. He is a person wanting to live better, just like the rest of us.

[4]?

I have more I would like to talk about, but I think I’ll stop it here for now and see what people think of this. It took me over an hour to write all of that and I’m getting kind of tired. Haha

Please tell me what you think about the things I talked about above. I would love to discuss these things with people. I value discussion more than most things.


Thanks for Reading!
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Comments

I want to expand on your 3rd one.
(How I feel about it imo)

I feel like that people will Stereotype ppl because of this "privilege".
Don't get me wrong, I subconsciously do this to people, Not on purpose, but it still happens. It's hard not to believe a stereotype, So its crazy every time I talk to someone they are not what I expect, even though I knew that they wouldn't. It's confusing.

And Also, no matter what "privilege" this person has, I still treat them as equal as I do myself, even if I don't support their belief, and YOU should too. It's sad that black people are stereotyped to bad people, and that white are supreme, people subconsciously do this, I subconsciously do this.
Even though I do this, I try to not let it affect my judgement towards people.
Also, since this is happening subconsciously, we are all Biased.
 
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Morning, Stephano! Guess I'm gettin' in my daily dose of politics a bit early today, haha.

[1] Liberalism and Conservatism
Stupid terms are stupid, heh. "Liberal" or "conservative" doesn't mean diddly-squat to me, because there's sooo many shades of gray and complexity in everyone's opinions, those words are horrible indicators of the way anyone thinks. My parents and I come from India, and I've always lived with this ideology: "Don't be stupid, stupid."
That said, I waver in the middle, and I lean most heavily towards Libertarianism. I believe in maintaining as many rights as possible and dislike government overreach into citizens' private lives. I'm also for a mostly open marketplace. I do agree that at least some regulation is a necessity to ensure a fair playing field for all competitors, and to protect workers and customers. I believe government should adapt as needed. During wartime, a big government would be an incredible boon for the country like it was during the Great Depression and World War 2. During peacetime, a dialed-back government might be best for a booming economy. I don't like to be rigid on any one issue because needs change over time.

[2] Words and Speech
Anyone can say anything, period. There should be no restrictions whatsoever on speech. That said, no one is free from the consequences. In the legal world, threats of imminent violence or endangering the public (i.e. yelling fire in a movie theater) should absolutely get you investigated as a potential loon. In the private world, offensive language can absolutely get you kicked from a company or group.
Now, as for "trigger" words or offensive words, context is key. Look at comedians -- you'll have Jim Jefferies do a rant on female stereotypes or make jokes about rape, but he does it in such a way and such a context that if you're watching his show from beginning to end, it's blatantly clear he means no offense or harm, and his tone of voice conveys that he's just being extremely edgy for the gag reaction. But then, if you read a transcript of his show without any context, tone of voice, or otherwise, it reads like something out of the Daily Stormer and it sounds horrible. But it was never meant to be taken in that context! Jim even did a bit on this exact issue in a recent stand-up gig. CONTEXT IS KING.

[3] Privilege
Is bullshit. Social equality is key, economic equality is not. Some people work harder than others, some people find better opportunities than others, some people are born into families that have accumulated a lot of wealth over many generations. That's how the world works. "Privilege" is about money, not social issues. A person's immutable characteristics -- their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, etc. -- mean absolute jack. It's all about how much money a person or family has. The "privilege" everyone talks about is almost entirely because of money, not characteristics. I believe the entire conversation around "privilege" is a false attribution. I hold this view, because of my family. Both of my grandfathers were piss poor, living in dirt cottages on dirty streets in a random part of India. Both of them worked their asses off to provide for their families. On my dad's side, my grandpa became a very successful banker (I believe), and even dabbled in real estate. He went from literally living on scraps to owning a small apartment complex and retiring to a relaxing life and a comfy sum of rupees. On my mom's side, my other grandpa put himself through college and earned a PhD in engineering, and invented rocked ignition starter for India that drastically cut costs and production time for military rockets. He died of a heart attack when I was 3, but from what my mom says, he was an amazing person. His two daughters, my mom and my aunt, became the first women in their village to go to college, and both earned Masters. My father grew up in extreme poverty like I mentioned, went to a no-name college in his home town, and had everything going against him. BUT, he worked his way up in the IT/Consulting world, promotion after promotion, he worked his ASS off to provide for us. Eventually, he was promoted to higher management roles and we moved from India to the United States. My father became the top performer at every company he worked at, scoring deal after deal, award after award, and is now an executive for a Fortune 500 company, and my family and I are upper middle class in a very nice neighborhood in Seattle. From extreme poverty, to moving to a foreign country with literally nothing, to this. So that's why I say privilege is absolutely bullshit. My entire family worked very hard and did well for themselves, against all the odds. My dad thrived in the US, despite being a poor immigrant from Nowhereville, India. So privilege? Stupid thought for stupid people. If you work hard and you play your cards right, you can absolutely fucking thrive, and seeing people act as perpetual life-long victims of some shadowy figure they created for themselves PISSES ME OFF.


And there you have it! Thank you for reading all that, because this took me an hour to write as well xD
Hope you got a good look into the way I think and where I'm coming from.
 
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@HaloEliteLegend
You just proved my point 10 times over! Haha I love stories like these because it shows no matter who you are or where you are from, regardless of previous conditions, you can be successful. Thank you for sharing halo. I'm glad you are here in the good 'ol US of A

@DeoNaught
I agree with you 100%
We may be different but we are all human.
 
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"Liberalism and Conservatism"
Trouble is I find it varies so much around the world what one will tend to find among users of said labels. Like no UK politician at all would even jest about getting rid of the NHS in earshot of a UK voter. Or put it another way the whole UK exit from Europe lark had funding the NHS (a completely nonsensical position and most knew it) be a key phrase bandied about by politicians about as far right as you get in mainstream UK politics -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...million-pledge-to-fund-the-nhs-was-a-mistake/

"shaming people just for thinking a different way than them"
Ignoring that free speech is a governmental thing and purposely ignoring what I imagine you are referring too (that being the sort of thing we see coming out of US colleges a lot) I still value the option to call someone a dumb cunt if they do/say something dumb. If you put an idea out there in the world (be it in general or by copping to believing in it) you have absolutely no expectation of not being called upon it.

"communism"
From where I sit that is really quite an American position (starting from around the late 30s and early 40s you almost have the just say no approach popularised there, outside it less so). Like do I think the USSR was even a vaguely positive influencer of history? Nope, some good certainly happened as a result of it but the negatives were horrible and outweigh things. Did Karl Marx have some ideas I could stand to see implemented, even ones that fly in the face of pure capitalism, yeah absolutely. Matter and energy probably want to be a bit cheaper to obtain before many of them get implemented wholesale but yeah. Or if you prefer I could agree to a statement of there has never been a communist state (North Korea calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and we all seem to agree to roll our eyes and ignore the claim).

"Privilege"
I once heard it termed that privilege is a points scoring game. I like that phrase. My usual test for things is if I met someone with said trait on the street would it change how I deal with them? To that end gender/sex, preference in genital fumbling, hair colour (except ginger of course), eye colour, skin colour... mean so very little and I don't actually see it beyond the obvious visual tells if there are any.
This is not the same as statistical things of interest, something that many that whine we should all be like me seem to have a problem with acknowledging, but most of those seem to be fairly minor other than to those which experience them at their worst and certainly no use for the just meeting someone test.

"While America is the best place in the world to live"
I once read a book called American Ways (there appear to be a few similarly titled and themed ones these days but the general idea was to explain contemporary US culture to the readers) and it took some time to explain the apparently popular belief there that everybody else in the world would jump at the opportunity to live there.
Personally I have spent serious time in most of the western states (Washington to New Mexico) over the decades. Fun to visit and do the odd project/job in, though most places where I don't need a bullet proof vest are, but I can't see myself making a life there. Any of the other English speaking countries, save perhaps South Africa, might not be my first choices but I could make it happen and happen well, much of Europe the same and there are others too.
 
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Point 1 - I'm not to familiar with any of that sadly. :unsure:
Point 2 - I mean, ya i agree with you, but the first line here confused me. Why would be ignore the fact that its a government given thing? Can you elaborate?
Point 3 - I aint gonna deny that Communism looks good on paper, because it does. The reason i don't think it can work is because we are human.
Point 4 - It really is a points scoring game isn't it? haha
Point 5 - I think you read a little bit to deep in to that comment. Haha! What's wrong with showing a bit of patriotism for you country? :creep: It was meant to be taken sarcastically. I don't think it would be odd to start a life here. Its just like any other English speaking country. Then again, i'm speaking as someone who has lived in a bubble called North Arkansas their entire life. Things are quite nice here. Nothing to bad, and a lot of opportunities. Of course i'm biased, but i do love my small home that i call North-west Arkansas. I never want to leave.
 
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It was more that the talking points are often different.
For instance
Outside of the Republic of Ireland, some parts of the Eastern Europe and obviously Vatican city no politician cares about abortion. They may or may not agree (though you are unlikely to know their position) but generally "if you don't like them then don't get one". The ban them by otherwise making their life hard thing various politicos in the US seem very proud of doing would be detested here by all concerned.
I mentioned the NHS thing (the government funded healthcare in the UK). I conflated right leaning politics and conservatism though which I am told can be wrong but hopefully the meaning carried.
Gun control? Never heard a politician speak on the matter here, other than after someone shoots up somewhere.

Such things are the bread and butter of the American right/conservative movements and complete non issues here and have not been for decades.
To that end the labels come with massive qualifiers as it depends what baseline we are using in conversation, and to that end I view it as a non term and then have to figure out what is actually being discussed.

The first amendment/free speech is solely so the government can't stop your speech. It says nothing about private parties. If you want to extend such concepts to your personal philosophy then so it goes, that is however a step beyond.

It is probably more that I have a problem with "OMG that's communism" being used as a debate ender/kneejerk response that I really have a problem with.

Patriotism is for sports games and national holidays if you have one. Having a flag outside your house/in a window is so uncommon it is useful as a navigation tool here -- "there is a guy with a flag outside his house, go two past there and I am that one" sort of thing.
Anyway relevant comedy sketch
 
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I've always been a rather Leftist Liberal. Some of that is my upbringing and the other is because I go with what I consider logical politics. I do agree with Universal Health Care as I believe health care shouldn't be withheld from anyone due to money. I believe in freedom of marriage as I believe consenting adults should be free to marry any other consenting adult(s.) Other people's relationships have no effect on me, I only care if they are legal and consenting. I believe in other Liberal ideas, but those just seem to be the big ones. I am no going to judge other people, so long as they are respectful others.

Freedom of speech is a right that can never be removed. At the same time as HaloEliteLegend put it, "That said, no one is free from the consequences. In the legal world, threats of imminent violence or endangering the public (i.e. yelling fire in a movie theater) should absolutely get you investigated as a potential loon. In the private world, offensive language can absolutely get you kicked from a company or group."
You are free to say whatever you want, but do have to face the actions of those words.
When it comes to "trigger words," I used to get pretty upset when people called me a "t******." It used to happen pretty regularly and people noticed that was upsetting me. As time went on I realized that it was me giving that word power and it was me letting it upset me. I slowly stopped letting the word get under my skin and eventually it stopped bothering. Once people realized it was no longer bothering me, they stopped referring to me by that word. I know some still do, but now they are just too cowardly to say it to my face. Basically words only have power if you give them power.
A side note, there is a difference between social commentary and being offensive. If someone referred to a random guy on the street as a, "faggot," for no reason, then that's just being offensive. It's attacking that guy for their sexuality or perceived sexuality. Now if that same guy was dressed a huge bundle of sticks, then it's social commentary. It mocks both the original meaning of the word and the homophobic idea by turning it into a pun.

When it comes to privilege, I don't look down on anyone for how they turn out. At the same time it's hard being on the side of the where your rights and person is regularly attacked. I've never really wronged anyone, I pay taxes, I have a job, I am contributing member of society, and I shouldn't be treated differently from anyone else. I don't want to be all, "My life is so hard because I am trans," but it sucks when you just want to mind your own life and apparently others want do mind it as well.
Although my religious believes are rarely cared about, the most I get a few Christians upset and a few Atheists thinking they are better than me. Nothing really worth paying much mind to.
I am I guess lower middle class. but I worked hard to get where I am. I started from the bottom and I worked to get to where I am now. I stood strong through some of the worst until I found a spot that made me happy and with a decent enough pay to get by.
I am not sure I understand the idea of privilege, but I am taking the approach everyone seems to go with.
 
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We're Americans! We're grandiose for no reason! We love our flag! Hah xD

Sure, you can do a reality check on all the ideals we always espouse, but that's what the American Dream is -- an ideal, one which might not always be possible, but something which is very much alive in the hearts of everyone who lives here. A land free from the tyranny and turmoil that stained every other nation and empire on the planet. That was our dream. And all our big talk, our braggadociousness, it's all to affirm that those are the values we still hold dear, to this day. So I'm fine with it, and I'll belt out our anthem anywhere, anyday. I love being an American.
 
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Yeah but asside from political issues
i think most humans are pure sac of shit
search misanthropy and y'll understand
 
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I despise liberals with a passion but conservatives get on my nerves often too. That's why I consider myself to be a moderate independent not associated with any political party.
 
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Whoa, my head hurts. :blink:

I know i write a lot in my blogs but is another thing when I struggle to understand all of it, not to offend anyone, just lost here. So do we all have problems with social and political things? I usually avoid political things. Is probably important to know but I mean is stressing and changing a lot and rapidly. I just need to know things i can follow and remember as based fundamentals.

I guess i have problems that are just as common but not sure if is political or more personal, to me is more personal.:unsure:
 
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Sorry if I confused you at @Sonic Angel Knight
My goal with this post was to not focus on the political aspect of these issues, but try to rather focus on the people themselves. I wanted to dive deeper into not the roles of government, but the actions of the individual. I could not do this 100% however.
 
M
@Stephano I support you 100% but about 90% of GBAtemp is liberal and we have a bit of SJW going on here too.
 
I agree with you MOSTLY, but I kind of oppose what you're saying about the whole "privilege" thing, and the funny thing is that you actually addressed it directly anyway; the reason people get so up in arms about privilege is that it IS something you don't control. Privilege is something that you are born into, and the people it favors in society differ depending on time and location. I'm a heterosexual white male. I have never had to deal with hateful actions or prejudice based on my skin color, gender, or sexual orientation, simply because of the family I was born into, while that would statistically not be the case for, say, a Black woman, or a gay man, or a poor/disabled person, etc. It is possible for both me and them to be wildly successful, but that doesn't change the fact that in the current era, I've been born with a head start.

And we're not even going to talk about people who fly out the vagina into a pile of Benjamins, because "privileged" doesn't even BEGIN to describe them
 

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