Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!xanth!nic.MR.NET!shamash!nis!ems!srcsip!pneuma!murthy From: murthy@pneuma.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Madhu Murthy) Newsgroups: news.misc Subject: Re: RACIST JOKES Message-ID: <12987@srcsip.UUCP> Date: 6 Dec 88 17:30:48 GMT References: <8030@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <1058@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> <1060@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> <1057@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> <1223@fig.bbn.com> <1076@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu> Sender: news@src.honeywell.COM Lines: 84 In-reply-to: nmg@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu's message of 18 Nov 88 21:05:48 GMT Hi Nancy & the rest: Common politeness and consideration ? In a mental ward may be so. Or in such situations. Not on the bboard meant just for jokes (caesar rotate is bad enough state of affairs - Iron curtains across hearts). Hi all! -------------------------- THERE ARE SOME BASIC POINTS THAT ARE BEING MISSED: "YOU" in the sentences is a generic you (could mean you, anybody, somebody, etc etc. Whatever you think is right in the context). CONSIDER ONLY THOSE STATEMENTS THAT APPLY TO YOU AND YOU ALONE while reading this message. Avoid all other temptations to apply these statements to the rest of the people etc etc. This is the rule of the game. Now for the play. ALL KINDS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HURT IS BOGUS. You rule this out (not living it) and you are leading a miserable existence. There is no point going out looking for people to hurt (psychologically). That you hurt (psychologically) is fundamentally your responsibility. You have a disease. You have not grown up. Helping you is one thing. But to keep taking your hurt seriously, giving you a blank cheque and forgetting that psychological hurt is a disease does not help. YOU CAN LAUGH AT RACIAL JOKES AND NOT FEEL RACIAL TOO. You don't have to feel guilty that you are a racist because you laughed at a racist joke. Humor comes from many dimensions. But if you feel inferior or superior or smug identifying to any stereotype (including a race) then you have a psychological inadequacy. I do not feel racial, even while laughing at racist jokes. I speak for myself and others like me. If you don't see this you have a funda"mental" problem. Obviously if anybody takes the stereotypes (including racial) into play in dealing with an individual he has a serious problem as well. It is not the jokes that are the problem but the attitudes. Jokes cause misery to diseased minds but they are therapeutic to minds (even diseased) minds which are willing to learn. This alone is worth it to have all kinds of jokes in a forum like rec.humor.funny JER: Instead of trying to chop off humor (including racial), if you really care for those people who you have seen suffering go help them feel adequate. Start with feeling adequate yourself. I do not doubt your misplaced sincerity but you remind me of the mob in India which beats up the driver of the bigger vehicle in case of an accident. Taking away the ability to laugh at human condition is one of the stupidest mistakes that you can do. Especially at this phase of evolution. You wil only add to the number of those hurting ones that you feel so "nobly" for. Teach them how to laugh, to live. Start with yourself. Sincere but not serious. As for your example Nancy: That you think somebody looks like a pig and choose not to say it out of consideration have a lot of implications: Wonder how many of them hold in your case (and to what extents): - You do not see the beauty of a pig. - You do not have the guts to say it. - You feel guilty that you feel that somebody looks ugly like a pig. - You "notice" (not see) somebody looks like a pig but it doesn't matter (this doesn't seem to apply to you). - You spend a lot of time thinking of looks in the foreground/background of your mind. - You think that most people give a damn about how you think they look. MADHU PS: Instead of wasting energies feeling offended (if you do or any auch feelings) you can spend those energies in considering how all the statements might apply TO YOU (if at all) and you would have saved some person years of living. What I mean by this is: That is how long it took me to live this out. Before you start accusing me in your head of arrogance, consider your own arrogance to not consider the truth of what you have read. The ones who understand will not have a problem.