GOP candidates VS entropy

[Janx]

As a nonwhite person*, I pretty much have to consider racists as dicks. This is not to say that they can't be nice- as I have often said, nobody is unalloyed evil or good.

But racism is one of those things that, no matter how charming you are, no matter the contexts & circumstances under which you can be nice to fellow human beings, you're a dick. (Likewise, see Serial Killers.)

I'm a born southerner, myself. Lived in one part or another for 75%+ of my life. I know about southern hospitality and racism. Nice though some of those racists were to my face, they were dicks when I wasn't around. A concealed dick is still a dick.


* not that nonwhites can't be racists. They can be, don't let anyone tell you differently. My beloved paternal aunt is one...but she's a dick.

I see some circles of Venn that you seem to be talking about:

I might imagine that a person may not be a dick in all situations or to all people (aka racist). So a person who is genuinely nice to people of their own kind isn't a dick all the time. Once the race situation comes into play, bang, they enter dick mode.
Would we classify them as a dick then, even though it doesn't cover all situations? What if that person only enters racist mode 3 times in their life (because they live in an all-same town)?

Likewise, how we define racism may or may not include dick-ish behavior.

What if I think black people are better at sports than white people (Not my actual view). Is that racist?
If it is, how does that align with being a dick or exhibiting dickish behavior? So what if I think black people are better at sports? They might mean that I avoid playing basketball with Danny because I know he'll beat me badly every time so it's not fun.

That doesn't mean I've treated him badly, or said anything mean, or even hurt his feelings. It's not necessarily any different than Danny refusing to play WarHammer with me because he hates wargames in terms of how we treat each other or decline the invitation.


Anyway, I see shades of grey. Some people truly are dicks. Some people are dicks sometimes. Some people are racist in a bad way. Some people have racist ideas that don't grossly impact others.
In an ideal world, everybody would be nice, helpful, honest, courteous, respectful to everybody, and wouldn't have preconceived notions about any individual or group of people or treat anybody differently.

 

[Bedrockgames]

That's probably true, though from what I can tell of stereotypes TX and MN are pretty welcoming states normally (check out the How to Speak Minnesotan video if you can find it). Barring racial issues, both MN/TX tend to be "hey, how are you, welcome to XYZ, where ya staying, can I help you find something". Out east tends to be don't talk or look at me until I've known you for at least 10 years (per the stereotype of US-easterners ala Boston, NY, etc).

By old boss was a native Bostonian actually. A very nice person. She found it hard to get into the social groove out there for years, and it was obvious that there were some cultural differences in how they roll out there. I had her performing social science experiments on the folks in her office, just to test this (things like saying hi to people when they passed, etc).

I'm sure it's not an absolute that all of Boston is like that, but over the years, I've seen a few clues that they aren't as friendly out there. Assuming close-off, reserved behavior is a trait more prevalent, that leads to more isolationist, and eventually racist behavior.

I could be way off, it's just an observation that I don't get the sense that Bostonians are all that welcoming. Conversely, in business, I've had pretty warm welcomes from clients in Philadelphia and NJ. Whereas the folks in FL are dicks. I think business relationships color the welcome, so that's not wholly useful a measuring stick as somebody moving into the area and trying to get into the social groove, ala the problem immigrants face on a higher scale.

This reasoning seems pretty speculative to me. I am not saying folks here are bright and welcoming, but I think drawing a line of causation between that and racism, is flawed when you look at where racism has been really strong in the US in its history. How likely people are to say "Howdy" to newcomers, doesn't really seem to be a major factor. Also you are not likely to find as much support in mass for the kinds of policies that are hostile to immigrants as you will in more conservative states. Obviously the recent attack by the guys in Boston on an immigrant means there are people here who are hostile and that troubles me because my wife is an immigrant, but I think this could happen in any number of states and people shouldn't dismiss it as an aberration that just blew up in Boston. There has been simmering hostility in the US against immigrants for many years now. It is the "They take our jobs" mentality that is really rising to the surface and guys like Trump are tapping into. And if racism does exist in mass in greater quantity than elsewhere I'd still be cautious about pinning it on our public manners. The more likely cause is ignorance and people feeling a need to blame someone else for their own problems.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Would we classify them as a dick then, even though it doesn't cover all situations? What if that person only enters racist mode 3 times in their life (because they live in an all-same town)?

Can we agree that all serial killers are dicks? No reservations?

Yet- like racists- they're not acting like dicks 24/7. Serial killers do not kill people all day long. Most have day jobs. Most interact with other people in a chummy way most of the day without...well...turning them into chum.

But once their behavior is known, pretty much, people will call them dicks.

All that, ditto pedos.

Well, I'm really not going to say racists are different from those 2 above, except in the sense that racists can change. But if they don't?

When the Egyptian god Wheaton-Re weighs the Feather of Maat against the unrepentant racist's soul, he will be judged a dick.

IMHOtep, of course.

 

[Janx]

This reasoning seems pretty speculative to me. I am not saying folks here are bright and welcoming, but I think drawing a line of causation between that and racism, is flawed when you look at where racism has been really strong in the US in its history. How likely people are to say "Howdy" to newcomers, doesn't really seem to be a major factor. Also you are not likely to find as much support in mass for the kinds of policies that are hostile to immigrants as you will in more conservative states. Obviously the recent attack by the guys in Boston on an immigrant means there are people here who are hostile and that troubles me because my wife is an immigrant, but I think this could happen in any number of states and people shouldn't dismiss it as an aberration that just blew up in Boston. There has been simmering hostility in the US against immigrants for many years now. It is the "They take our jobs" mentality that is really rising to the surface and guys like Trump are tapping into. And if racism does exist in mass in greater quantity than elsewhere I'd still be cautious about pinning it on our public manners. The more likely cause is ignorance and people feeling a need to blame someone else for their own problems.

Yup, it's just stereotypes and speculation.

On other points, I've always been puzzled to the fear of "they're taking our jobs". It seems like the "outsider" race has always gotten the crappy jobs that nobody else wanted for crappy pay. It just doesn't seem like a huge actual problem. Sure, I imagine at some point, the first black guy to cross the threshold to an upper job technically took a position that a white guy would have gotten. But the usual cries about "losing jobs" is almost always about a bottom rung group/race that the majority of its constituency hasn't made it that far. Mexican migrant fruit pickers are not "taking our jobs"

 

[Bedrockgames]

Can we agree that all serial killers are dicks? No reservations?

Yet- like racists- they're not acting like dicks 24/7. Serial killers do not kill people all day long. Most have day jobs. Most interact with other people in a chummy way most of the day without...well...turning them into chum.

But once their behavior is known, pretty much, people will call them dicks.

All that, ditto pedos.

Well, I'm really not going to say racists are different from those 2 above, except in the sense that racists can change. But if they don't?

When the Egyptian god Wheaton-Re weighs the Feather of Maat against the unrepentant racist's soul, he will be judged a dick.

IMHOtep, of course.

I think we may be operating with slightly definitions of the word Dick. You seem to be using it as a term of moral judgement on a person's overall character (i.e. that person is a dick because he's a bad person). When I encounter it, it usually refers to someone who is being overtly rude and obnoxious. In goodfellas, Joe Pesci was a Dick, but Ray Liotta was not a Dick (even though both are bad people, both were potentially violent sociopaths). We would use the word A hole for someone who is a racist or a serial killer. It is slang though so I am sure there is a lot of variety in usage.

 

[Janx]

Can we agree that all serial killers are dicks? No reservations?

Yet- like racists- they're not acting like dicks 24/7. Serial killers do not kill people all day long. Most have day jobs. Most interact with other people in a chummy way most of the day without...well...turning them into chum.

But once their behavior is known, pretty much, people will call them dicks.

All that, ditto pedos.

Well, I'm really not going to say racists are different from those 2 above, except in the sense that racists can change. But if they don't?

When the Egyptian god Wheaton-Re weighs the Feather of Maat against the unrepentant racist's soul, he will be judged a dick.

IMHOtep, of course.

I like the egyptian motiff..

I might not agree that serial killers are dicks. They are Monsters, criminals.

Pedos are creeps, criminals, monsters.

Dickish behavior is neither creepy, criminal or monsterous. It falls much shorter than that and is different (to me).

Racists (generally) are s. Which includes being a dick, most of the time, but goes a level above that.

Maybe I have too many scales to weigh the matter on.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I like the egyptian motiff..

I might not agree that serial killers are dicks. They are Monsters, criminals.

Pedos are creeps, criminals, monsters.

Dickish behavior is neither creepy, criminal or monsterous. It falls much shorter than that and is different (to me).

Racists (generally) are s. Which includes being a dick, most of the time, but goes a level above that.

Maybe I have too many scales to weigh the matter on.

Yeah, I may even want to peddle back on the part. I think once your talking about stuff like killing people, that is well beyond the word Dick, it just isn't a strong enough term for it. And again to me it really is more about how you interact with people when your out in public or sitting down for a chat. We don't characterize a person's entire demeanor based on their worst act, as terrible as those acts may be.

 

[Bedrockgames]

On other points, I've always been puzzled to the fear of "they're taking our jobs". It seems like the "outsider" race has always gotten the crappy jobs that nobody else wanted for crappy pay. It just doesn't seem like a huge actual problem. Sure, I imagine at some point, the first black guy to cross the threshold to an upper job technically took a position that a white guy would have gotten. But the usual cries about "losing jobs" is almost always about a bottom rung group/race that the majority of its constituency hasn't made it that far. Mexican migrant fruit pickers are not "taking our jobs"

I don't know where it comes from. I worked in restaurants and most of the immigrants I met there were cooks or dish washers. At a Thai restaurant for example, the waitstaff and cooks will usually be Thai, and the dishwashers and prep cooks will often be from south and central america (this all varies of course). I don't think there are too many Americans beating down the door to work at Thai or Chinese restaurants (and the irony is they are often more than happy to hire Americans because it really helps if they have someone who is connected locally or just knows the culture).

 

[Umbran]

So a person who is genuinely nice to people of their own kind isn't a dick all the time.

"Well, I don't know if I believe anyone is 100% a dick..."
-John C. Reilly/Rhomann Dey, Guardians of the Galaxy

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Monsters & criminals are in tiny Venn circles within the Dick Venn circle.