How FUCKED is this

[minsue]

Hm...honestly, I don't know many Aussies, but all the ones I DO know (Hannah and some of her friends) do not seem to like the Aboriginals.

Oh, well in that case.... http://addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/diverse/icon_rolleyes.gif

 

[she_is_my_addiction]

Oh, well in that case.... http://addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/diverse/icon_rolleyes.gif

I don't advocate it. In fact it pisses me off to some whacked out degree, and I've gotten pissed at Hannah about this.

She doesn't have a good explanation for it either. It's just racism.

 

[SeaCat]

Cant,

Unfortunately this problem is spreading quickly. In some places there is not much which can be done about drug dealers who have moved into your neighborhood. You can videotape the house, recording their customers as well as the plates of the customers cars. Unfortunately this opens you and your family up to violent retribution. (I have heard of several cases where neighbors became so upset by the lack of action by City Hall they destroyed the drug houses, sometimes with the dealers still inside. This too is frowned upon.)

What is the answer to this? I don't know. Changing the laws would be a start.

Cat

 

[shereads]

Anyway, Mousie? I'm sympathetic about your depredations at the hands of your unsocialized neighbors. A family of drug dealers has moved in across the street from me.

They're all right, although the clothes are 'way tacky and the kids and dogs are 'way overfed. (Their three-year-old is a little porker.) But the customers drive up all hours of the clock and make car noises. You know, revving and screeching tires. Compensations for small bodily endowments, my daughter says. Whenever someone peels out she always calls loudly after them, "Sorry about your penis!"

And sometimes these customers want more cash than they currently seem to be carrying, so they break in to the houses in the vicinity and ferret about for cash and whatnot. We lock everything and there's nearly always someone home, but it brings down the tone.

Yeah, well I've had my house burglarized TWICE and until there is proof to the contrary, I must assume it was done by neatly attired, white Jehovah's Witnesses with waspy names like Todd and Scott.

 

[Goldie Munro]

disturbing thread

 

[cantdog]

Cant,

Unfortunately this problem is spreading quickly. In some places there is not much which can be done about drug dealers who have moved into your neighborhood. You can videotape the house, recording their customers as well as the plates of the customers cars. Unfortunately this opens you and your family up to violent retribution. (I have heard of several cases where neighbors became so upset by the lack of action by City Hall they destroyed the drug houses, sometimes with the dealers still inside. This too is frowned upon.)

What is the answer to this? I don't know. Changing the laws would be a start.

Cat

Ah, They don't bother me. The other guy, with the fifty thousand watt Christmas lights, he bothers me. Drugs is just drugs. It's no problem except for the breakins and the penis thing. And the breakins have stopped now that we're all on the alert.

It is more fun when it's a hooker who moves in. But we weren't so lucky. These things are ephemeral. Except for the guy with the Christmas fetish, all our neighbors have changed before. It's arrogant to figure you can pick your neighbors to suit.

 

[maggot420]

"Under the sun, the moon, and the stars there is only one family."
- Bruce Lee

 

[shereads]

"Under the sun, the moon, and the stars there is only one family."
- Bruce Lee

Omigod. That's the line in the Seminole Tribe of Florida's new TV commercial. The one that runs during Mega Doppler Weather at Storm Center 6.

I swear.

The Seminoles stole that line from Bruce Lee? Is it National Disillusionment Week?

 

[shereads]

tate laws that prohibit casino gambling don't apply because the reservations are self-governed; a fact that our white forefathers never expected to care about. Some of their descendents are starting to care, but what can they do about it? It just wouldn't look good to openly covet what is owned by the survivors of genocide.

Oops. I stand corrected:

Trump Sues Seminole Casino Partners
13 January 2005

BALTIMORE, Maryland – As reported by the Baltimore Sun: "Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. and its partners in the Seminole Hard Rock Casino project, claiming the developers fraudulently represented themselves as Trump associates to land the lucrative deal with the tribe.

"Trump spent three years and 'great expense' trying to negotiate a casino development deal with the Seminole Tribe but was told by former confidant Richard T. Fields that such a deal 'would not be possible,' according to the lawsuit. Then, the lawsuit alleges, Fields left Trump's organization and formed a partnership with Cordish Co. officials David S. Cordish and Joseph Weinberg, who conspired to mislead the Seminole Tribe by creating the impression that Trump was still behind their efforts.

I guess our collective guilt over the genocide of Native Americans couldn't withstand our casino-envy.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Whenever someone peels out she always calls loudly after them, "Sorry about your penis!"

Lol!

The Aussie version: "Is your dick bigger now?

Quite similar I think

"Abbo" is a strange word. I don't think I have ever seen it written before, or even heard it said since school. It is like the C word for me.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I think this thread is a good illustration of a problem that’s a whole lot bigger than a couple of aborigines breaking into someone’s house and knicking stuff.

Doormouse, you have my sympathy – it must be horrible to come home to all of that and even worse to be demonised as some kind of bigot for venting off.

Like any ethnic minority, the aborigines do have a tough time of things, but I don’t think that Super Political Correctness does them any favours at all. At the end of the day, it just increases resentment towards them. If a group of teenagers broke into my house and stole things, yes, I would be referring to them as adolescent bastards as a result. If a group of Americans did the same, I probably would call them Yankee bastards. The same goes for pensioners, lesbians, menopausal women, people with blonde hair, business men or even the royalty – if they wronged me I’d vent. It’s a natural knee-jerk reaction.

If, on the other hand, you take away that right to vent, those feelings are just going to linger and mutate into something far more sinister.

Over the last 100 years we seemed to have made a swing from giving minorities no rights at all, to pussy-footing around them and offering more and more concessions and exemption until they end up having more protection than any other, giving them more rights and more protection than the majority of people around them.

Oggs made many good points, especially about the traveller situation in the UK.

Picture this – an idyllic village in the middle of the English countryside. Suddenly a convoy of around a hundred trailers descends on it, setting up camp on part of your land. They quickly rig up a makeshift sewage system, with sections of open piping that run adjacent to your back garden, and seep into the ground. They play loud music throughout the day and night, and race their 4x4s and BMWs around your quiet little neighbourhood, terrorising you each time you’re outside your house. All of the house prices in your area plummet and when you receive you’re quarterly water bill, you’re in for a horrible surprise. The cost for three months’ water usage has come to tens of thousands of pounds. It turns out that the travellers have tapped into your water supply. Your home is broken into so many times that you’re forced to build a high wall around your house. Your new neighbours are people who don’t pay taxes of any kind, and have made a fine art of using the Human Rights Act to justify making your life pure hell.

Unfortunately this isn’t a fairytale, neither is it a one-off occurrence. Now if I happened to move to your neighbourhood, and you, in a fit of spite, called me a “taffie bitch” or a “sheepshagger” or any other derogatory anti-Welsh name I’d have every right to take you to court. Similarly, if you finally flipped out at one of the travellers and called her a “pykie bitch”, she would also be entitled to take you to court. The only difference is that the traveller’s case would be taken seriously and mine laughed right out of court.

Let me give you another example – there was a woman who worked for the civil service somewhere in England. When trying to recall a client’s name, she could only remember that it had been an Indian woman, whose name began with P and ended in M. At a loss, she said “Mrs Poppadom – or something like that.” She ended up losing her job for making racist comments. I wonder if it would have been the same if she’d mistaken Mrs Bleasdale for Mrs Beefdale, or a Mr Hicks for Mr Hiccups? You have to wonder.

What I’m trying to say is that the world is never going to be a great place until people are treated fairly – not in any kind of walking-on-eggshells type way, but with proper equality.

I’ve had enough of vague euphemisms of political correctness – black people suddenly becoming ‘coloured’ like Joseph’s coat; midgets mutating into ‘vertically challenged’ people; Pakis becoming ‘people of Asian origin’; and good old-fashioned gypos turning into the more sinister ‘travellers’.

There are rotten eggs in every basket. No race, age group, sexual orientation, level of physical / mental ability or nation is free from people who spoil things for everyone else. But for goodness sake let’s call a spade a spade and start accepting that we’re different, instead of smothering them up and causing the pendulum to swing back towards the other extreme.

 

[Somme]

I sympathise Doormouse
But not with the bigotry

ditto

 

[cloudy]

I think this thread is a good illustration of a problem that’s a whole lot bigger than a couple of aborigines breaking into someone’s house and knicking stuff.

Doormouse, you have my sympathy – it must be horrible to come home to all of that and even worse to be demonised as some kind of bigot for venting off.

I wasn't demonizing her, I promise. I was calling to her attention that what she said was hurtful...and it was.

Let me explain myself.

Many people who are part of a minority group (and I'm certainly not speaking of everybody that does) grow up regarding themselves as less, or not as good as. It's just the way things are. In my personal situation, there are many older people in my family that are ashamed to be indian, or part indian. It's not a nice situation.

I, myself, grew up thinking that there was something wrong with being part native simply because of the reactions of the adults around me. When you are a child, you receive the message loud and clear that you should be ashamed of who you are when the adults that you look up to don't want to talk about that part of your heritage, or tell you to "hush" when you mention that granny smudged the house the other day, or there's certain things they convince you that aren't "discussed in polite company."

I can understand why they felt that way.....they were taught to be ashamed, just like I was taught to be ashamed.

Now, let's jump forward a few years.

I understand what doormouse said was said in anger. I do. However, when small children hear those things from an adult that they trust, it takes on much more significance. Someone older understands that it was said in anger, and wasn't intended to hurt, but someone younger hears implied in something like that, "Aborigines are thieves." You may doubt me, but I'm speaking from personal experience.

I had this same conversation with someone last night. Yes, it's said in anger, and yes, I understand that she didn't really mean any harm. But, what everyone needs to realize is that statements like that, whether they are intended to hurt or not, still hurt. The actual intent doesn't make a bit of difference. I was hurt when I read it. Not angry, but hurt.

Like any ethnic minority, the aborigines do have a tough time of things, but I don’t think that Super Political Correctness does them any favours at all. At the end of the day, it just increases resentment towards them. If a group of teenagers broke into my house and stole things, yes, I would be referring to them as adolescent bastards as a result. If a group of Americans did the same, I probably would call them Yankee bastards. The same goes for pensioners, lesbians, menopausal women, people with blonde hair, business men or even the royalty – if they wronged me I’d vent. It’s a natural knee-jerk reaction.

Yes, it is. And the political correctness police get on my nerves, too. Think about this for just a minute: if a white guy broke into your house, and you knew exactly who it was that had done it, would you say "Those fucking white bastards!"? If you would, you're a rare bird, indeed.

As Sher mentioned earlier, when someone is describing an event, a person's race is only deemed necessary of mention if they're not white. Why is that? My knee-jerk reaction to that is to think that it's only necessary because someone that isn't white is "other."

Being "other" is still seen as being less by a lot of people. It's only by realizing what you are saying is hurtful, and passes the same tradition of thinking that "other" is less down to our children, that we'll stop our long history of racism.

Intent to hurt doesn't have to be there for it to hurt.

Over the last 100 years we seemed to have made a swing from giving minorities no rights at all, to pussy-footing around them and offering more and more concessions and exemption until they end up having more protection than any other, giving them more rights and more protection than the majority of people around them.

In some cases, sure, but by no means in the majority. There are things that native groups are still fighting for that most people take for granted. "We've come a long way, babe" doesn't apply here. I don't want anyone to "pussy foot" around me, but I don't want my children to hear "drunk indian living on welfare" and be ashamed of who they are.

What I’m trying to say is that the world is never going to be a great place until people are treated fairly – not in any kind of walking-on-eggshells type way, but with proper equality.

I agree, but it won't happen until people stop unintentionally passing down the idea that other races, genders, religions, whatever, are a bad thing simply because they're different.

 

[rgraham666]

It's the very difference itself, that makes the difference.

I know. I grew up in one of the whitest places on Earth. And although physically I wasn't different, in behaviour I was.

And every day the message from everyone else was "We have no use for you. There's only space in this world for those like us. If you're not like us, we don't care what else you are."

I still carry the scars, physical, mental and emotional. I'll probably never be free of them.

 

[shereads]

I think this thread is a good illustration of a problem that’s a whole lot bigger than a couple of aborigines breaking into someone’s house and knicking stuff.

Doormouse, you have my sympathy – it must be horrible to come home to all of that and even worse to be demonised as some kind of bigot for venting off.

Sorry, but the use of racial slurs in this context signifies bigotry. I know exactly how awful it feels to come home and find your house trashed, and things stolen that had little value beyond what they meant to me: my grandmother's thin gold wedding band; irreplaceable photos from my parents' wedding, that were taken because the box identified them as a CD burner. I have a burglar alarm; it doesn't matter, because these are smash-and-grab burglaries that are over long before the police arrive. For weeks after the second robbery, I dreaded coming home, convinced that I'd find the same windows kicked in, and that maybe this time they'd have killed the dog.

In all likelihood, the people who do this in my neighborhood are from the neighborhood a few blocks away, where income levels plummet and instead of recreational cocaine use there are crack addictions. The neighborhood is black. Like the Aborigines in Australia, their ancestors were here first - this part of Miami is was settled by Bahamians who were descended from escaped slaves. For decades, it was one of several thriving black communities in this city. One at a time, each one of them was sacrified to a highway project or non-residential development that they lacked the political clout and cash to fight. Property taxes are rising to reflect the value of homes in the whiter, richer neighborhood a few blocks away, making it impossible for people to keep homes that were built by their grandparents.

I'm lucky that the neighborhood is undergoing gentrification. Eventually, the poverty will have to relocate and the crime will go with it.

Did I vent when my house was broken into twice, and my car three times? You bet your $#@#% I did. Did it matter to me that the people who did this were probably black? Actually, no. It mattered that they were probably young jobless hopeless and crack-addicted, and that they had taken it out on me. What keeps me from being a bigot isn't a wish to appear politcally correct. It's knowing that crime and poverty are partners; race is a component by luck of the draw - and because crimes by people of color elicit racial slurs that confirm what the perpetrators already believed - that they are robbing bigots. (If it's any comfort, in the US their crimes typically result in substantially longer jail sentences than the same crimes by white people.)

I raved against crack addicts and bums when I was robbed. Their color was irrelevent. As it is to anyone who's willing, in calmer moments, to ask themselves this question: If you had been born into the most despised part of society and had grown up believing that your prospects were so limited as to appear almost hopeless, would you have grown up drug-free , law-abiding, and respectful of other people's property? Would your whiteness have given you the character to overcome your circumstances?

Edited to add: Please don't accuse me of condoning what was done to me. What you may call "making excuses" can also be called "understanding the reasons." If they come back and I'm here and have a crowbar in my hand, I'll bash heads first and be understanding later. I won't use a racial slur, though. Not because I'm unwilling to hurt the feelings of the person who just kicked in my patio door, but because their color has nothing to do with how much I hate being their victim.

You were eloquent in expressing your belief that political correctness only aggravates the problem of crime. In my view, political correctness is much less likely to touch the lives of young non-white criminals than racial slurs. Blaming their race only fuels their belief that they were damned before they broke the windshield. Maybe they were.

 

[LadyJeanne]

When living in Chicago, my place was broken into, and they found my spare car keys and stole my car. The boys in blue actually found the car, while the thieves were driving it the next day, so I got it back, full of ashes and broken crack pipes and rap music. When I went down to the station to pick up the car, the guys were there. I honestly cannot even remember what race they were - black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, some mixture of all of the above...I really couldn't tell you. I felt violated and it made no difference to me who did the violating, or even why they did it.

I don't have much patience for people who can't get a grip on their lives, no matter who they are.

As it is to anyone who's willing, in calmer moments, to ask themselves this question: If you had been born into the most despised part of society and had grown up believing that your prospects were so limited as to appear almost hopeless, would you have grown up drug-free , law-abiding, and respectful of other people's property? Would your whiteness have given you the character to overcome your circumstances?

I grew up in the bowels of South Chicago as an immigrant with a steel worker and a meat packer as parents. We were white in a sea of black and Hispanic; we were poor, and lived in hell where only the rats and cockroaches roamed freely, and with some of the worst public schools in the nation. Not so much to hope for, especially when the schools sucked, no one around me was getting ahead fast, and options were limited. And we were despised and ridiculed for being immigrants, for not knowing English so well, and having a different culture. And for being white.

Yeah, I grew up drug-free (for the most part - there are legal drugs like alcohol), law-abiding, respectful of others' property. Not because my whiteness gave me the character to overcome it, but because my parents did. They pushed and struggled and worked incredible hours and scrimped and saved every penny because they refused to be dragged down by our circumstances.

I have compassion for people who live in the worst circumstances, but nothing, nothing can explain or excuse the behavior of people who don't take responsibility for their own behavior and how they treat others.

 

[shereads]

It's the very difference itself, that makes the difference.

I know. I grew up in one of the whitest places on Earth. And although physically I wasn't different, in behaviour I was.

And every day the message from everyone else was "We have no use for you. There's only space in this world for those like us. If you're not like us, we don't care what else you are."

I still carry the scars, physical, mental and emotional. I'll probably never be free of them.

Maybe not, Rob. But you help diffuse bigotry whether you see the result in your lifetime or not. Your dignity and tolerance present racists with a challenge to their beliefs. You might never benefit directly, but someone will.

 

[shereads]

Not because my whiteness gave me the character to overcome it, but because my parents did. They pushed and struggled and worked incredible hours and scrimped and saved every penny because they refused to be dragged down by our circumstances.

Exactly my point. Your parents saved you, not your whiteness. With all due respect for your parents' struggle, the one advantage they had was their knowledge that if they could raise their children with the right values, your race wouldn't hold you back. There are black and hispanic kids whose parents or mentors arm them with the same weapons you were given. Like you, hopelessness is not one of the disadvantages they have to overcome.

Like I said, I'm not excusing. I'm understanding. Remember after 9/11 when the news showed Palestinian kids celebrating in the street, and Americans were so shocked by the degree of hatred? Those of us who said we knew we were hated and could list some of the reasons for the hatred were accused of condoning terrorism.

This is the same situation. To understand the reasons for people's behavior is the first step toward protecting ourselves.

Poverty doesn't always lead to hopelessness. Poverty aggravated by racial and ethnic discrimination doesn't necessarily lead to hopelessness either. But hopelessness always leads to something ugly. It can't lead to anything else. Doing something positive to provide a little hope would serve our own interests more effectively than congratulating ourselves for not having succumbed.

 

[LadyJeanne]

Exactly my point. Your parents saved you, not your whiteness. With all due respect for your parents' struggle, the one advantage they had was their knowledge that if they could raise their children with the right values, your race wouldn't hold you back. There are black and hispanic kids whose parents or mentors arm them with the same weapons you were given. Like you, hopelessness is not one of the disadvantages they have to overcome.

Like I said, I'm not excusing. I'm understanding. Remember after 9/11 when the news showed Palestinian kids celebrating in the street, and Americans were so shocked by the degree of hatred? Those of us who said we knew we were hated and could list some of the reasons for the hatred were accused of condoning terrorism.

This is the same situation. To understand the reasons for people's behavior is the first step toward protecting ourselves.

Poverty doesn't always lead to hopelessness. Poverty aggravated by racial and ethnic discrimination doesn't necessarily lead to hopelessness either. But hopelessness always leads to something ugly. It can't lead to anything else. Doing something positive to provide a little hope would serve our own interests more effectively than congratulating ourselves for not having succumbed.

Point taken, sweets. I'm not able to understand why the hopelessness takes over for some and not others.

I believe we, as a society, do provide a little hope and a little help - unemployment insurance, welfare, emergency health care, education, and jobs (even if they are behind the counter at McDonald's). We also have tons of volunteer and religious organizations that work in those communities to clean up parks and plant trees, tutor kids, Big Sister/Big Brother programs, Read to Me, etc. Then there are scholarships and grants and loans for school, as well as payment plans. There are inner city community colleges that accept even marginal students; lots of them work their way through school.

I think there is enough help and hope there; I think some refuse to work toward it.

 

[rgraham666]

So what's my excuse?

I worked, hard, for 20 years. At least three times I pulled a company I worked for's fat out of the fire.

What do I get for it? 'Doesn't get along well with fellow employees', 'Not properly respectful to those in authourity', 'unable to properly process paper work'.

No wonder I went insane. It became too obvious that no one gave a shit about my work, or my ability to get to the heart of the problem, or my adeptness at seeing a solution, or my willingness to work until the job was done.

It's been over ten years now. I've become inured to the fact that I'm never going to have a decent job again. The lack of letters after my name plus my long bout of mental illness guarantees that. Hell I don't even have clothes that I can wear to an interview and can't afford to anymore.

You look at life through the lens I described above and you might start to understand why some people stop caring about right and wrong.

 

[mlady_france]

So what's my excuse?

I worked, hard, for 20 years. At least three times I pulled a company I worked for's fat out of the fire.

What do I get for it? 'Doesn't get along well with fellow employees', 'Not properly respectful to those in authourity', 'unable to properly process paper work'.

No wonder I went insane. It became too obvious that no one gave a shit about my work, or my ability to get to the heart of the problem, or my adeptness at seeing a solution, or my willingness to work until the job was done.

It's been over ten years now. I've become inured to the fact that I'm never going to have a decent job again. The lack of letters after my name plus my long bout of mental illness guarantees that. Hell I don't even have clothes that I can wear to an interview and can't afford to anymore.

You look at life through the lens I described above and you might start to understand why some people stop caring about right and wrong.

Wow! Would you like a back rub Rob? Sounds like you need one.

 

[rgraham666]

Wow! Would you like a back rub Rob? Sounds like you need one.

I could use more than that mlady. But a back rub will do.

 

[mlady_france]

I could use more than that mlady. But a back rub will do.

The back rub I can do, anything else I need permisson for. And a good word or two.

 

[matriarch]

I wasn't demonizing her, I promise. I was calling to her attention that what she said was hurtful...and it was.

Let me explain myself.

Many people who are part of a minority group (and I'm certainly not speaking of everybody that does) grow up regarding themselves as less, or not as good as. It's just the way things are. In my personal situation, there are many older people in my family that are ashamed to be indian, or part indian. It's not a nice situation.

I, myself, grew up thinking that there was something wrong with being part native simply because of the reactions of the adults around me. When you are a child, you receive the message loud and clear that you should be ashamed of who you are when the adults that you look up to don't want to talk about that part of your heritage, or tell you to "hush" when you mention that granny smudged the house the other day, or there's certain things they convince you that aren't "discussed in polite company."

I can understand why they felt that way.....they were taught to be ashamed, just like I was taught to be ashamed.

Now, let's jump forward a few years.

I understand what doormouse said was said in anger. I do. However, when small children hear those things from an adult that they trust, it takes on much more significance. Someone older understands that it was said in anger, and wasn't intended to hurt, but someone younger hears implied in something like that, "Aborigines are thieves." You may doubt me, but I'm speaking from personal experience.

I had this same conversation with someone last night. Yes, it's said in anger, and yes, I understand that she didn't really mean any harm. But, what everyone needs to realize is that statements like that, whether they are intended to hurt or not, still hurt. The actual intent doesn't make a bit of difference. I was hurt when I read it. Not angry, but hurt.



Yes, it is. And the political correctness police get on my nerves, too. Think about this for just a minute: if a white guy broke into your house, and you knew exactly who it was that had done it, would you say "Those fucking white bastards!"? If you would, you're a rare bird, indeed.

As Sher mentioned earlier, when someone is describing an event, a person's race is only deemed necessary of mention if they're not white. Why is that? My knee-jerk reaction to that is to think that it's only necessary because someone that isn't white is "other."

Being "other" is still seen as being less by a lot of people. It's only by realizing what you are saying is hurtful, and passes the same tradition of thinking that "other" is less down to our children, that we'll stop our long history of racism.

Intent to hurt doesn't have to be there for it to hurt.



In some cases, sure, but by no means in the majority. There are things that native groups are still fighting for that most people take for granted. "We've come a long way, babe" doesn't apply here. I don't want anyone to "pussy foot" around me, but I don't want my children to hear "drunk indian living on welfare" and be ashamed of who they are.



I agree, but it won't happen until people stop unintentionally passing down the idea that other races, genders, religions, whatever, are a bad thing simply because they're different.

*applauding gently* Eloquent. Thank you.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I'm holding up the white peace flag, but I still don't understand the way the world works.


From what I can see, this thread has three 'actions' that are open to judgement:

1. Breaking into someone's house, causing damage and stealing things.

2. Calling a group of people "abbo little bastards" in the heat of the moment

3. Calling someone a bigot without truly knowing the exact emotional circumstances of the moment.

Looking at each action, stripped down to its bear bones, it's difficult to understand how number 2 gets singled out as the main 'sin', while the other two are largely ignored.

We're all different. It's what makes the world such a wonderful, vibrant place. Sweeping words that express those differences under the carpet amounts to censoring out language and ultimately the way we're able to respond to the world around us.

I've often heard adults lecture kids on how the word "fuck" is unacceptable under any circumstances. Bullshit. There'll be times when "fuck" will be the most suitable word in the English language to use. And here I move back to Doormouse's circumstances. It was the third time. The culprits were known.

Now let's take things to their logical conclusion. "Abbo bastards" was wrong because it was a term of hatred. What if all the hate words, insults, expletives and rude names were also banned? How would people express their frustration with things if the words for them were taken away. Would it be a 1984 scenario, where the feelings of annoyance, of anger, and even of hatred would just cease to exist? Or would people find more dangerous ways of expressing their displeasure?

As humans, when we are given cause to dislike a person, it's an inherent part of our nature to seize on something that's different about them. Maybe they have a big nose or an unusual haircut, maybe they pronounce their words with an unusual accent, or maybe they just shop at a different supermarket. We're all different, and those differences will always hold the potential to be used against us. But again, when there's a clear cause for annoyance, how is "abbo bastards" any different from "blue-eyed bastards", "freckled bastards", or "ring-fingered bastards". The villains in question were aboriginal and they really had been bastards. But whereas the other descriptions might have raised a giggle, "abbo bastards" somehow had dark undertones of something altogether more sinister.

This seems to have become a situation where the words and the actions don't match. We're trying to construct a language that says "these differences don't exist" and at the same time composing an elaborate set of clauses about who this does or doesn't apply to.


I hope this hasn't caused offence to anyone, because that wasn't my intention at all.


Edited to add: I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's a distinct difference between someone who spends their life chanting terms of abuse, and someone who uses one in the heat of the moment - just like the kids who are told never ever to say "fuck".