Racism

submitted by Death_By_Democracy from self.AskSaidIt

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[–]passionflounder 12 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 2 fun -  (7 children)

Why do people insist on granting unwarranted power of mere words to cause injury? Some slopes are more slippery than others.

[–]Death_By_Democracy[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Here are some words:

"With satanic joy in his face, the black-haired Jewish youth lurks in wait for the unsuspecting girl whom he defiles with his blood, thus stealing her from her people. With every means he tries to destroy the racial foundations of the people he has set out to subjugate. Just as he himself systematically ruins women and girls, he does not shrink back from pulling down the blood barriers for others, even on a large scale. It was and it is Jews who bring the Negroes into the Rhineland, always with the same secret thought and clear aim of ruining the hated white race by the necessarily resulting bastardization, throwing it down from its cultural and political height, and himself rising to be its master."

https://www.yadvashem.org/docs/extracts-from-mein-kampf.html

These words did harm in the 1940s and no matter how much you try to pretend that words have no power, history shows without a doubt that you are wrong.

[–]passionflounder 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

Please accept my apologies but I still cannot agree.

Mein Kampf was available in 1925 for the world at large to read and figure out the true nature of this Hitler fellow. Its availability gave the world a chance to head off the ugliness of Nazi Germany and the holocaust. Without those admittedly evil thoughts, Hitler may likely have still risen to power because the presence of his manifesto did not have a bearing on the global economic and political situation post WWI that was his opportunity.

The words were the product of a troubled and evil mind. They did not cause the evil. It was evil that created them. Those words did not kill six million jews, their author did- and it's likely that history would have unfolded the same whether or not the words had been written and published.

To me, one's words offer a convenient window into their character- allowing me to make assessments at a safe distance. Deprive idiots of their opportunity to show their true colors and they'll necessarily be much closer to innocent people when their true selves come out.

It is absolutely your right to see words as injurious and I encourage you to find platforms that will indulge that premise.

[–]Death_By_Democracy[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

The point is that Hitler was a nasty piece of work who made it very clear what he believed. And it turns out that what he believed was also believed by thousands, if not millions or even billions of other people. Hitler didn't kill the Jews - he wouldn't have had the time to manage the war if he spent his time killing millions of Jews, Roma, Poles, black people and socialists. And sure, the book he wrote didn't kill the Jews either - it's a book and doesn't have that capacity. But to pretend that his words had no part in the systematic murder of millions of people carried out by thousands of Germans and Ukrainians is, in my opinion, just missing the point.

Words have power. The words here on Saidit have little power because no-one is reading them. But the rot spreads, and pretending there is no problem is foolish.

[–]passionflounder 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Words may have power but in my view, that power is heavily vested in an audience's willingness to give it. I'm afraid that we're going to have to agree to disagree here. I beg your forgiveness if I'm mistaken but i see a number of tells suggesting this entire discussion may not have been posted in good faith.

[–]Death_By_Democracy[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

"this entire discussion may not have been posted in good faith" sounds a bit whiny, to be honest. If you think I am playing some sort of game, let's hear it, rather than you making shallow insinuations. BTW - your faux politeness is irritating.

[–]passionflounder 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I couldn't care less about your irritation. I'm positing a point contrary to yours and your responses have included thinly veiled swipes at my intelligence which strikes me as an attempt to provoke a flame war.

Your initial post evokes a straw argument which in my estimation weakens your point and with this response it's beyond clear that you are not here for a fair discussion.

My original point stands. Words alone do not in and of themselves possess the power to injure. The inability or unwillingness of individuals such as yourself to civilly and respectfully engage in discourse that airs differing views is a far bigger threat to free speech than anything Hitler, Stalin, or other despot wrote... let alone anything racist and antisemitic posted here.

If your feelings are so readily bruised by words, Reddit offers a most protective environment that indulges censorship enthusiasts such as yourself. Respond if you must but I am through dealing with you. Have a smashing day.

[–]Death_By_Democracy[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This was you just a few minutes ago -

I beg your forgiveness if I'm mistaken but i see a number of tells suggesting this entire discussion may not have been posted in good faith.

I called you out on it and said this -

If you think I am playing some sort of game, let's hear it

This is you now -

I'm positing a point contrary to your and your responses have included thinly veiled swipes at my intelligence which strikes me as an attempt to provoke a flame war.

I don't know what I have done to upset you, but really, you need to calm down.