• Current Events & Politics
    Welcome Guest
    Please read before posting:
    Forum Guidelines Bluelight Rules
  • Current Events & Politics Moderators: deficiT | tryptakid | Foreigner

In Other News... CEPS meme thread v 2020 - new year, new memes

Status
Not open for further replies.
1nbuv7gaez551.png
 
@TLB: What's wrong with boycotting everything that has to do with slavery? Do you think people go too far when they want to change that slaveowners etc. are the face of your money, have monuments devoted to them, etc?
The US have a fucked up history, it started with genocide against natives and proceeded with slavery. You can't recognize your history without acknowledging that some parts just can't be something to be proud of and so a slaveowner can't just be the face of something seen in day-to-day-life.
 
Neopunk said:
@TLB: What's wrong with boycotting everything that has to do with slavery? Do you think people go too far when they want to change that slaveowners etc. are the face of your money, have monuments devoted to them, etc?
The US have a fucked up history, it started with genocide against natives and proceeded with slavery. You can't recognize your history without acknowledging that some parts just can't be something to be proud of and so a slaveowner can't just be the face of something seen in day-to-day-life.
Click to expand...

Abolishing slavery is extremely commendable and worthy to be proud of.
You could celebrate white man for finally being the race to officially outlaw slavery.
Or you could say that slavery is exclusively a white man thing and they should be forever punished.
Power of perception.

BTW there are 9.2 million black slaves in Africa including sex slavery and child soldiers. What % of your virtue-signalling do you spend discussing abolished slavery from centuries ago versus actual slavery of black people today?
 
I don't give a fuck about your opinon anymore. Take your strawmanning and other strategies of deception as well as your racism and shove them deep up your arse.
 
Neopunk said:
@TLB: What's wrong with boycotting everything that has to do with slavery? Do you think people go too far when they want to change that slaveowners etc. are the face of your money, have monuments devoted to them, etc?
The US have a fucked up history, it started with genocide against natives and proceeded with slavery. You can't recognize your history without acknowledging that some parts just can't be something to be proud of and so a slaveowner can't just be the face of something seen in day-to-day-life.
Click to expand...

Have you made mistakes in your life? Do you regret them? Do you spend your days flogging yourself over them or do you own them, accept that they are part of what made you who you are today, so that you can go forward being and doing better?

Now ask the same thing about your father's mistakes. And his father, and his father, on back. How far do YOU carry their sins? That's one point I have, though it is individualistic and not addressing the society as a whole.

What is happening today isn't boycotting - it is erasing. To point a finger at today's society and say it was built upon slavery (as if that were the only factor) and everything must be destroyed which comes from that poisonous fruit? To me, that is as bad as the history we have today that has ignored such wrongdoings. Perhaps even worse, because it is rewriting history with knowledge of doing so intentionally (meaning, I believe the history we know today that pretends certain things didn't happen was done from ignorance, not malice; and today's actions scream of anger and malice). I'd rather keep statues as a reminder that yes, our country did some f'd up things, lets not forget so we never repeat them. The money, I'm ambivalent about.

To the point of erasing history, removing statues, changing currency, rewriting history books....I'm all on board for bringing the truth to light, to owning it, and using it to make us better. However, that means the WHOLE history, including the great things these historical persons did for us as a country. Keep in mind, not all were slave owners, and of those who were it is not the sole defining aspect of their name in the history books despite the current cultural outcry. Recognize them up for what they did wrong AND right. However, I would do so knowing that cultural acceptance is transient = for their time, they were not in the wrong according to their limited beliefs and understanding. They shouldn't be judged so much by today's standards, but by the standards of their time, lest we see a different culture or mindset come to power and rewrite history yet again someday in the future.

For me, history and it's figures are fixed. The reality happened, the people were who they were. How we view them today will change each generation, as our societal standards have evolved, and as more facts are brought to light. We can't change history, by ignoring the gaps they didn't talk about nor by tearing down who we are today. However, we can learn from history, though that's harder to do if we choose to erase it and rewrite it through today's eyes. In which case, we will set ourselves up yet again to function from a partial view, leaving ourselves open to repeating past mistakes.
 
@TLB it was known back then that owning slaves is inhumane, those owning the slaves or profiting off of them in other ways simply didn't care. There were people who spoke up against slavery and the inherent racism though, so the myth that people just didn't know any better is plain wrong and manufactured to whitewash those horrendous crimes.
 
Neopunk said:
so the myth that people just didn't know any better is plain wrong and manufactured to whitewash those horrendous crimes.
Click to expand...

You may have misunderstood my words. I didn't say they didn't know better, but maybe you got that from my 'limited beliefs'. My point was that slavery was acceptable, until it wasn't. And the change wasn't a snap of Thanos' fingers. Social perception, and acceptance of norms, evolves.

Founding of the colonies = many came as indentured servants. Native Americans made slaves of other tribes, and the settlers dealt with the concept of slaves brought from Africa as slavery was common in the world. Slavery continues today in some regions of the world, I kid you not. And they don't seem bothered by it. There were likely persons going back centuries that abhorred it, but it existed and was generally accepted. Those same black slaves of the 1700s would have been amazed at the freedom of blacks in the 1900's following the emancipation proclamation, despite the Black Codes. Blacks today, well ANYONE today, would be outraged to see citizens in slavery, or even how the blacks were treated in America following the emancipation. It took a change of social mindset on what is acceptable for women to get the right to vote in our country, and until the 1960's for blacks to achieve a lot of the civil rights they should have been granted. Do you think black from the 50s-60s would love the freedom they would have today? And yet, nearly all Americans today would be loathe to see any citizen treated the way blacks were up to that point. The slaves from the 1700's couldn't imagine having it as good as the blacks of the 50s-60s, as shitty as it was. All along throughout history, there has been a gradual shift of enlightenment occurring, a change of what is acceptable. It is my belief one must judge things in their environment, not by a parallel standard that shifts with time.

You say "it was known back then that owning slaves is inhumane" and I'll agree. But such a belief was held by only half the country, whilst the other half accepted the concept of slavery. You can't present it as slave owners were wrong in their minds, in their era. You can only make that judgement from the view of a non-slave owner of the time, or by today's standards.

Shall we look down upon the Egyptians for their pyramids, being they were made with slaves? Or do we continue to look upon the ingenuity and advanced science with admiration for what they accomplished? In my book, one must accept that both existed together, the good and the bad. What about the Roman Empire? Or the Greeks? Both had slaves, and I don't recall how tolerant Greeks were but Rome fed Christians to the lions - not real politically correct in today's light, but allowable at the time. And yet, despite both having slaves and doing some pretty bad things, they are looked upon as pillars of modern culture and society for their work with science, language, trade, the arts, and much more. Every society has an ugly history, and we are taught the good parts whilst the bad aspects tend to be whitewashed. I'm not saying this is proper, but it is reality. I'd agree with putting ALL of it in the spotlight, teaching future generation both the good AND the bad. History is a whole, not selected bits. And they need to be viewed within context of when they occurred.



What's happening now reminds me of the 1984 quote

Every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered...History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top