Politics Retribution is not Equality

[Sonofjafar]

There have been several moments in my life where I’ve heard people talk about equality. Last I checked, that word meant everyone is equal and nobody is the better person. However, from what I’ve gathered from my own experiences as well as throughout the history of humanity, what people are really asking for is for the people that used to oppress them to be oppressed themselves. That is not equality. I get it. It’s fun to see the oppressed get the upper hand on the oppressors. But it’s not equal and it’s probably not fair to average people who simply want to live their lives without having somebody else’s problems shoved in their face and being told that they should feel bad for that person’s problems

 

[Ðari]

Equality as a concept is often basically echoed throughout communists and socialist forms of government. The typical narrative (of political magnitude) pushes us away from what that could potentially look like in a capitalist/meritocracy based structure.

There have been one-off scenarios of people that acquired fortunes based on discoveries, winning the powerball, inventing some ground-breaking tech that destroys lucrative industries, emulating a "gold-rush" for whatever length of time. We often seem to tunnel-vision on this idea that "working hard" alone guarantees us long-term success to the level beyond 6-figures, often forgetting that sometimes we do infact "get a lucky break" or come into something we didn't expect and it elevates us financially as well as socially (depending on what that entails).

Now that i've gotten that out of the way, let me address what you're specifically talking about.


So jafar, what I'm taking away from your post is this.

• We want to be equal, we want to see each other as equal.
• We should not be thrusting this concept of equality for the oppressed to become the oppressor.
• We want to see those that are losing start winning eventually to balance it out.

Things I want you to understand that exist that layer these concepts

• We created a system of classification based on ethnicity, race, creed and nationality.
• These form of classifications are so heavily ingrained into our system as identifiers they are extremely difficult to "walk back"
• The very same classification is often used to create a superiority and inferiority complex against any one said group that falls under said classification system.
• We've on record experienced forms of discrimination due to said classification post-slavery, well into Jim Crow, and the sentiments from feeling that sense of discrimination based on classification and identification is what resulted in these ideologies of "retribution" being paraded as equality.

Look, im not saying everyone has to be diplomatic. I'm also not saying common sense is the answer to this kind of discourse either. I suppose to understand what equality looks like, you need to consider the system you're currently operating under primarily and compare it to see how it holds up against a completely different system.

 

[Sonofjafar]

I’m not even talking about money. What I am talking about is being racially insulted and threatened right to my face and being considered the bad guy because I tried to call the cops before things could get violent, getting my wallet stolen by a bunch of minority teenagers at a crowded bus stop and nobody bothering to help stop them, and having to just sit there and take it like a good little white boy. Nobody ever thinks about what it’s like to be the other guy. It’s always white people have it coming, everyone else doesn’t.

 

[Launchpad]

It’s always white people have it coming, everyone else doesn’t.

"i can't believe my son just said that..."

 

[Sonofjafar]

i specifically put that part at the end of the post so that you would at least notice the two examples of stuff that actually happened to me beforehand. But nope. The minute I bring the harsh reality of why this stuff happened into it, all sympathy just goes right out the window

 

[Launchpad]

I feel genuinely sorry that you got jumped but that's still a crazy thing to say brother

 

[BufferAqua]

I'm sorry that you have experienced some sort of discrimination for being white. No one should have their possessions stolen or experience violent encounters.

But that is a quarter of what happens to minorities on the daily. Racism is a complex issue. Systemic racism exists where minorities may get less opportunities than the majority. White privilege absolutely exists as a result of this too, knowing the history. It isn't always "let's kill all white people" when it comes to activism and seeing that way is an oversimplification. You have to understand why activism for minorities is more important than ever. Police brutality and the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans are very high right now.

With all due respect, you come off as someone who is oversimplifying the issue with a biased viewpoint. White people have more privilege than you could possibly realize. I do not see anything good coming from a thread like this. It just seems like you are looking for validation on a controversial topic instead of actually trying to debate it. I honestly expect this to be closed soon.

 

[Ðari]

I’m not even talking about money. What I am talking about is being racially insulted and threatened right to my face and being considered the bad guy because I tried to call the cops before things could get violent, getting my wallet stolen by a bunch of minority teenagers at a crowded bus stop and nobody bothering to help stop them, and having to just sit there and take it like a good little white boy. Nobody ever thinks about what it’s like to be the other guy. It’s always white people have it coming, everyone else doesn’t.

I see you conveniently left that part out. You gave some pretty strong generalizations in the OP and this reply is an actual example, but i'm trying to correlate what your saying here to "equality" and forgive me for being critical, but I just don't see the correlation. It sounds like you're genuinely upset by an injustice you suffered and without trying to be specific for fear of how you would be perceived, but I can at least say that I understand that you were expressing that you were frustrated by said injustice.

I express and extend my empathy for what ails you and how that can very well be a frustrating dilemma.

Honestly, despite confirming that last bit as "bait" to gauge reaction...it kind of ends up hurting your credibility a bit. Genuinely, how do you expect myself and others to respond to that? I'm asking a direct question because objectivity even when some pretty charged words are being thrown around is important.

i specifically put that part at the end of the post so that you would at least notice the two examples of stuff that actually happened to me beforehand. But nope. The minute I bring the harsh reality of why this stuff happened into it, all sympathy just goes right out the window

Did you seriously just gaslight the thread?
Thats a no no playboy.

You can be wronged as well as feel wronged, but lets not turn on each other and perpetuate a competition of who's suffering more. Dub it right there. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, etc. Because that is NOT a healthy conversation, it's one laced with malice and vitriol and i'll be damned if we go that route, not here.

/closed