futurebird, chessdev, and Their Stupid Little Witch Hunt

[kardashev]

For those of you not in talk_politics, I've inadvertantly created something of a controversy about a week ago. It all started over my nickname "Irresponsible Niggerbot 9001". Seems a couple of wingnuts with too much time on their hands found my tag line to be deliberately offensive. Or ill-informed. Or insensitive. To be honest, they don't seem to be sure.

Comments

[mahnmut]

"stand for self-effacement and anti-vanity"

"my nickname now stands for defiance against oppression"

"Individualists and non-joiners, that's who. And that's me."

"I've had to fight for everything I have and will continue to do so even harder now that I have a wife and a daughter."

Dude...

Here's a friendly question: are you 12?
And a friendly observation. Words are worth far less than actions, you know.
Particularly when uttered in the comfortable anonimity of the internet.

[kardashev]

Here's a friendly question: are you 12?

No. But apparently the 12-year olds insist that I define a silly username...and then rejecting any definition I offer up. As I said, being offended is a major pasttime for some of us Americans.

Seriously, these people most likely won't even accept me saying "It's a silly username and it doesn't mean shit. Get over it."

Words are worth far less than actions, you know.

I started out saying that same thing myself. But then those 12-year olds I mentioned disagreed vehemently and attached all kinds of weight to a username that wasn't directed at them and that nobody paid any attention to for months until a bandwagon was created around it.

[mahnmut]

I asked about 12 yo (hope you're not offended) because I've heard the above quotations in the mouth of angry deluded 12 yo's who show a worrying tendency to cut their veins and smear their faces with emo dyes.

I understand your definition 3 but, understand too, that you're using it on a public forum, where nearly 99.9% of all people don't know and don't care about that definition. You should've known what reactions it'd call.

[kardashev]

I asked about 12 yo (hope you're not offended) because I've heard the above quotations in the mouth of angry deluded 12 yo's who show a worrying tendency to cut their veins and smear their faces with emo dyes.

I'm not offended. But when you're dealing with people who get offended over a name that wasn't directed at them, the only way to communicate with them is to talk to them on their level.

Actually, that's an insult to 12-year olds. When I was 12, my friends and I at least knew what a dictionary was for. ;)

I understand your definition 3 but, understand too, that you're using it on a public forum, where nearly 99.9% of all people don't know and don't care about that definition.

And since they don't care enough to acknowledge a dictionary then why should I care about their delicate sensibilities?

It's like I said, one of the favorite pasttimes of my countrymen these days is to get offended by trivial shit. No wonder our position in th world is much weaker than say 20 years ago.

[mahnmut]

Let me tell you something. I made a small poll in the place where I work (the Alexandra township in east Jo'burg, populated by blacks). I asked them: "What do you think: is it OK that this white guy calls himself Niggerbot"?

13 people said No, 2 said I don't know and 1 said I like pie. Number of those who said Yes: zero.

And because I guessed you'd say those are uneducated people who can't afford to buy a dictionary, I went a bit further and I did the same at my working place (the municipality office at Sandton, where social workers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are employed).

4 people said it's offensive. Number of people who were OK with it: zero. When asked "But what about definition 3?" They said: "It's still offensive. Nobody uses that definition".

Yeah.

[kardashev]

I've heard the "numbers make right or wrong argument" before. Just because a lot of people share the same opinion doesn't make it correct in any sense of the word. At one time, a lot of people thought it was cool to burn witches at the stake. In my wife's country, a lot of people supported the Cultural Revolution.

I've also heard the "nobody uses definition 3" argument too. hctpl used that one on me. When I asked him if he was willing to email Patti Smith(she's still selling copies of "Easter" and quite active)and tell her that she should voluntarily never perform that song again and pull all copies of the album. I also asked him about George Carlin, who did a comedy piece on the word "nigger" while he was still alive. i also asked him about pulling The Committments from bookstors and libraries.

He never answered my questions.

So yeah, it does get used. Not a lot but it does get used. That's why it has three definitions and possibly more when artisitc license is added into the equation.

[mahnmut]

Numbers constitute the membership in a community. I'm sure 1 or 2 members of said community would giggle at your definition 3 because they've heard of the comedians you're referring to.

I understand your 'non-conformism' obsession. I do.

I'm sure the word Kaffir does have a definition 5 up there somewhere in the dictionary, and some comedian somewhere made a series of sketches on it calling himself Kaffir, but if you pronounce this word here, you'd get frowns at best or a knife in your chest at worst. Check it out.

You got my drift. You're in a COMMUNITY, you know, a place with actual PEOPLE, even though they might appear like funny little icons on your screen - not in a cave where you're telling jokes to the bats hanging from the ceiling and taking their squeaks for laughter.

[kardashev]

You're in a COMMUNITY, you know, a place with actual PEOPLE

Yes, actual people.

Many of who will be faking their gender.

Faking their income.

Faking their level of education.

Faking their profession.

Faking their knowledge on a certain subject.

And many more who will be telling the truth about themselves...just not telling you everything and leaving out many items they'd rather not discuss. Even I fit into this last category. What do you imagine I look like? What do you think I sound like? Why haven't I posted pics of myself and my wife and kid? Why do i post more often in this journal about things that have no bearing on my real life? Why have I not told many stories about my Uncle Vittorio? Or my Russian-American dad and Sicilian-American mother?

And these are the sort of people who will get upset over something trivial like a nickname. I'm supposed to take all of their feelings into consideration...on the internet? Especially since nobody even cared until about a week ago? lol!

[mahnmut]

I assume you have a funny thin mustache, that's all I know about you.

[kardashev]

A funny thin mustache? lol! Sir, I have a goatee.

On a face that vaguely resembles an elbow with eyes. The Russian and Sicilian genetics did me dirt and all the fistfights didn't help either.

[mahnmut]

Oh! So the guy on the pic is you at an earlier age.

[kardashev]

It's pretty close to me at age 21.

I was a copper top only by virtue of a dye job though. My natural color is black.

I've since lost my goggles though. I miss them. :(