Why? Why all these stereotypes? I'm sick of this world. Wearing glasses makes you socially inept, and good in electronics, a bookworm. Fat people are handicapped and like to eat. Muslims are terrorist and strange! Jews are strange! They are stupid for believing in anyone but the christian god? No? AM I not right? Poor people are to be shunned, no? The rich favoured? Famous people are better than us? Being physically disabled makes you a complete idiot, no? Men are better than Women? Am I not right? Am I not right? Let's not forget, black people are always, no exception, violent drunkards. Everyone should hate them. NO? And are overweight people not all lazy? Why do Asians even have driving permits? They'll lose them a fortnight after getting them? Lawyers are greedy, no? Asians are good at math, all Arabs are terrorists, Mexicans are dumb drunkards, Blacks are Ghetto. I'm through with this bullshit country. "France is nice" my arse.
Er...get the point. Fact is that people do stereotype. And they shouldn't. It's wrong and we should shout about it. You've just done a great job on behalf of those who are unfairly judged, but you shouldn't take it all too much to heart, it's not a new phenomenon. Keep shouting, I do. Only problem is nobody's really listening.
I think most people are aware of these stereotypes, and understand that people are individuals, not stereotypes. But there is truth in some stereotypes, whether it's politically correct or not. Nothing is 100%, but you would be hard-pressed to find an economist in a poor neighborhood, or a someone who drinks beer and smokes cigarettes all day in an affluent neighborhood. Rich and poor is a lot different than Asian and white. One can be changed, and the other cannot. Are Asian-american children smarter than white children? Yep. Thats not a stereotype, but you shouldn't assume that every Asian is smart. There are ALWAYS exceptions, so you need to get to know people to find out who they really are.
I have to say it - that rant sounded quite poetic. Have you ever heard of "slam poetry"? Look it up. YouTube is a great place to see it as it's meant to be. I think you may have a new career choice ahead of you. (seriously!) Hope things get better for you.
I've read a few sociology books and papers saying that the children of lower class families tend to remain in the lower class. The same goes for the children of middle and upper class families. Basically, if you're in the lower or middle classes, you're stuck where you are with almost no chance of moving up. Most of the time, it's who you know, and not what you know, that determines how successful you'll become. It's unfair, but from what I've seen, it's accurate.
But the rule is, there are exceptions Social "class" might affect one's succes (what is that anyway?) in life but there are certainly alot of other factors that you do have control over. #1 You have full control over your ambitions and motivation. #2 You have (at least in "developed" countries) access to almost all the information in the world, via the internet. There is alot of superb quality education. Save yourself money and time, go to the Khanacademy or whatever. I guess my point is, you have full control over how much you know. #3 There is no meaning to life except the one you give it. This should be a very empowering thing. As long as you can dream it, you can become it. So I guess I am pretty much disagreeing with the sociology books. I strongly believe that the measure of one's succes in life is tanamount to the passion and drive one has for a certain topic. Of course, given that one has access to the required resources, but that is not a problem with the internet.
Ambition and motivation only get you so far. There's a documentary I saw a few years ago about the admission process in Ivy League colleges. It was surprising to see many of the students from a lower class background getting rejected despite having better grades and SAT scores than students from middle and upper class backgrounds. I'm fairly certain that these kids all had the same amount of drive and motivation. There is a ton of stuff out there on educational inequality that looks at why this happens. Also, knowing something won't guarantee a job. I've heard from a few hiring managers that often times the most qualified candidate is not the one who gets hired. And if you're talking about some of the highest paying jobs out there (doctor, lawyer, etc.), an internet education is definitely not a substitute for a college degree.
You're young. The current situation is far from perfect, but there has been a great deal of progress over the last half century or so (and before that as well). Bigotry has always existed, and to some extent it probably always will (there are two kinds of people in the world: those who place people into categories, and the empty set). I have no use for "political correctness". It's a smarmy and smug way of looking down one's nose at people that tries to masquerade as tolerance. What really matters is a heartfelt respect for people, not despite their differences, but because of them, in full appreciation of diversity and its benefits.
I like stereotypes. Stereotypes lead to young, beautiful women entering the porn industry. I like porn.
Humanity is cruel and kind in equal measure, unfortunately it is the cruelty, not the kindness that is highlighted...
People seemed to point out humanities flaws and mistakes, but what about the good things? Technology, medicine, math... All things humans have improved, if not perfected. Sure, with every good deed comes with some drawbacks... But that doesn't mean there isn't some good in the word!
Humans are not bad I don't think, just really poorly evolved. Dagolas, you'd do well to be a little bit more cynical in the future and not take such brainless things so personally.
Is there any decency left in the world? I think so. But I also believe it has a hard time up against a factor I feel all too much in my life at the moment: that being nice generally doesn't pay the bills. It seems greed and selfish interest is manifest in most walks of life these days, regardless of colour, class, belief, gender, etc. Does that stop me being nice? No. In fact, I think it makes me more belligerent about being nice, though that's probably an oxymoron. If someone comes up to me in the street and asks for directions, I try to help; if (when I'm working) at work I can do something to help improve someone's job then I will help; if someone posts a question on a forum that I can answer, I'll add my answer to the thread. I try not to be negative, and I try to give the benefit of the doubt where possible until proven that someone is only going to abuse it. But I leave myself at least partially exposed to 'abuse' of good elements in my nature by doing so. But, say lavvy, as they don't say in France.
The world is a beautiful place and I thank my parents I had the gift of life. Get off the internet, talk with a friend, eat something nice, kiss those you love. And no, I'm not being flippant and I have known real hardship when we went bankrupt, and I lost two brothers, but I still say be thankful and as happy as you can possibly be. What's the point in moaning? Edit: P.S. to OP--you may or may not realise that different cultures and countries have very different stereotypes, if that's any comfort.
Sorry, Maia, but I will never agree with you on this point. Humans can be cruel, and thoughtless, and reckless. But they are also capable of compassion and acts of beauty. I saw ordinary people, strangers, reach out to help one another in the days after nine-eleven. The same after lesser disasters. It is times of stress we see true nature. For every looter and opportunist, there is a helpful hand held out to a stranger. You can see the worst in people, and that is your choice. I choose to see their best as well, and I believe it to be the stronger side. I also see you reaching out to help new writers,, committing so much of your time to it, so I have to conclude that you see it as well, despite your outward cynicism.
Let me answer that question with a question. Name me a time when there was decency in the world. There has never been a time when there wasn't stereotypes. Stereotypes are fueled by predjudice and again everyone carries some sort of predjudices around with them. They are formed from your culture. your background, your family, everything that has influenced you from the day you were born has predjudiced you in one way or another. How do you combat this? First of all by admitting that you are predjudiced and also stereotype, each and everyone of you who have responded to this question including myself. Be aware of it and realise that everything you do or say has passed through some sort of filter that has influenced your opinion. Some of you may even stereotype people who stereotype.
Thats called looking outside ones self to determine what kind of perosn ones self is. Hords of people do this all the time.
The best way to start loving your country and appreciating its good side is to leave it and become an expat for 30 years. I love and pine for England more with each decade we are apart.
Hi Madhoca, Your mentioning that you have been an expat for 30 years got me doing some math too... it's been .... quite a few years. I've travelled to and lived in over 20 countries and counting. I've even gotten used to not speakng my mother tongue on a regular basis. Now that wreaks havoc on one's ability to write in pristine English. On the other hand, one becomes more determined than ever to cling to one's core identity, despite any add-ons that naturally occur in the expat process.
Here, here, Cogito. I agree wholeheartedly. When travelling abroad, I often hear critcism of Americans. (I probably hear it because I am not an American.) People will say Americans are this, Amercians are that but what I answer is "Which Americans are you talking about?". With a population of over 300 m, you're naturally going to find a huge mixed bag. So I agree with what you and Maia are saying, that anyone generalising about any group in particular will inevitably land one in all sorts of problems, perhaps the saddest being a demonstration of one's own ignorance, reductio ad absurdum. What is heartening is that most people who embrace writing, serious writing, tend to have to purge themselves of stereotypes. They have to because to become a writer is to become an observer of reality; it involves coming to grips with our 'filters', understanding how they work, how they skew our vision and how to work around them so as to diminish their ultimate influence on our observations. It is likely no writer can ever escape his or her own filters - our language itself imposes filters on us- but that particular phenomenon is not in and by itself fatal. For true literature can, I believe, has to transcend culture and express deep human truths about ourselves as a species. Take heart Maia, there are people out there who are empathetic, who believe in our capacity to nurture one another and who do so in their daily lives.
The topic of stereotypes is always an interesting one. It is good to see people for who they are and respect them for that but there will always be somebody who likes to categorise people. But I will say, in some cases, not all, stereotypes would not be created in one form or another if they were not true to begin with. Take this for example, you mentioned in your post fat people are lazy. Fat people may very well be lazy. Then again, they may be suffering some sort of illness which has made them become overweight, and laziness may have absolutely nothing to do with it. At the end of the day stereotypes will always exist, it's human nature. A reasonable person however, would understand that while stereotypes exist they are not necessarily the only truth.
I think that stereotypes do actually exist. I don't think its just a label. Having said that, I also consider it ignorant to judge someone by how you have classified them. I think the most interesting part is that you might classify and judge someone by their behaviour but there are always a thousand reasons as to why someone might act a certain way. Example, recently someone called me out on not approaching them when one of their beloved had just died. But, at the time that we met I did not yet know that, that person had passed. See what I mean? It's easy to classify someone wrongly because you simply do not always know the reasons for one's behaviour. Once again, I do not think that classifying in itself is wrong. It's just a way for us to cope with an otherwise overwhelming amount of unique and different people. Sort of like a mental organizer...
of course i do, cog... and in fact, my whole life for the past couple of decades has been dedicated to being useful to others, and will remain so till i'm allowed to leave this benighted human world... but as a practicing philosopher for many decades, i cannot avoid the conclusions all that study, observation, experience made and continue to make inescapable... i have been studying the entire world of today and its entire history, so can't ignore the fact that humans have wrought many times over more havoc and horror here, than the amount of beauty and love they added and continue to add to their world... i will continue to be helpful to all those i can, while not blinding myself to the futility of it, due to the overriding abundance of humankind's negative aspects... i've never said or even thought that humans aren't capable of 'compassion and acts of beauty'... only that all too few choose to practice same on a regular basis... the sad fact is, when good is in the minority, unlike like that one rotten apple, the whole barrel cannot be turned good... let's just agree to disagree, ok? love and hugs, maia
That's why I say humanity is poorly evolved rather than a waste of space. We have the potential to learn to not be such violent, thuggish morons but just because we can doesn't mean we will, sadly. Consider how long life has been on earth, and then how long homo sapiens are likely to have been around; the 'war in nature' is just what we are used to, and what made us, not civilization. But that's no reason to give up hope on humanity, not yet. If we can go from primitive tribes to putting a man on the moon, in what is in deep time barely a fraction of a second, I'd say we deserve some credit.
