Thursday, July 08, 2004

I know that we have to be sympathetic to people and see their point of view. But there are some people I have a hard time feeling sympathy for.

1) Whites (males especially) who complain a lot about how hard they have it: You were supposed to not call people names and try to understand that there were other valid people on this planet sort of as a basis for human existence, not as some sort of special punishment. Also, so things don't always benefit you anymore. So? That's the way it's supposed to be. Not everything is supposed to benefit you.

2)People who don't read books: Unless you have a severe reading disability or are just plain illiterate, this is your own damn fault. So, you don't read fast. Read a page at a time. With this method even the slowest reader would have gotten at least one book read. And yes, you have time. Aren't you up here reading this website? If you have a spare ten minutes a day, you can read a page a day.

Why do I stress books so highly? It's the only way you can get deep information. A TV show can be informative, but only on a surface level. On a complex subject, it's difficult to have enough time to put everything in, and still make it a time length that someone will watch. However, in books, information can be more dense. There is a space limit, but you can still get more information in 300-500 pages than you can get in 30 minutes of TV.

Also, books are cheaper to produce, so more of them can be made in a niche. Even in a niche channel on TV, there's only so much space. So books are more diverse. I note this because even the trashiest black novel has more defined and developed characters than every one but the best black TV shows. Of course, it's easier to depict internal life on paper, as writing he thought that maybe his weak attempt at humor would get him some play doesn't sound as awkward as inserting a running monologue.

If you're broke, library cards don't cost much and you get as many free books as you want. Also, there are used books.

3)People who don't vote: You can't take a few minutes of your time to say who you want to rule the country? People vote on American Idol, so why can't they vote on something important? Some may say, well, republicans and Democrats are all the same. On one hand, maybe you'd feel more comfortable voting for someone else. On the other, maybe they aren't really the same. I mean, one wants women to be able to control their bodies and lives, one doesn't. One would like it to be easier to be a gun owner, one doesn't. One likes a foreign policy of having a lot of wars all the time, one doesn't. One likes a tax policy that gives a lot of money to the military, another would like more social services,etc,etc. Of course both are beholden to corporate interests.

4) People who are just plain apathetic about everything: Why are you even existing on this planet?

5)People who think that parroting political philosophies without knowing what they are for is a good thing: Right wing ones annoy me most, mentally put in left wing ones if you prefer. Like you can't go around accepting blindly the existence of feminazis, ridicule the real concerns of blacks while whining that they don't get enough privilege, and complain about 'gays taking over', and then try to say you're not trying to put anyone in their place. No, the Nazis that started that crap wanted you to repeat it so that they could put people in their place. Why are they Nazis? Well, they are proto fascists in my view. To me, fascism actually involves real risk, which is why someone giving you the hairy eye when you reveal that you're a douche is not fascism.

6)People who complain about people not wanting to see that they are douches: Yes, it's a free country, but people are going to give you the hairy eyeball if you reveal that you are a douche. Here's how to avoid this: Never use racial slurs in formal places or with people you do not know. Don't throw a white boy pity party- it only shows that you're ignorant and has a warped sense of entitlement. Never compliment a native speaker on their English. Never touch a person's head for no reason. Never yell rude things at a woman in public. There are many other ways to show your ass, but these are just a few.


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