Do people here seriously not understand the concepts of bigotry & collective punishment?

Does this also mean that Democrats need to stop labeling an entire set of people who happen to be white , (may or may not be) Republican , happen to be Christian and live in the South as redneck , homophobic , bigoted , racists ?

I mean , and do not take me wrong I do agree with your OP , but I see it all the time either on here , elsewhere on the web , on TV , in print . I am from KY (place Southern/red state here) and I am white , I am a "bigoted gay hating no good racist redneck" !!! The sins of few white racists does not make us all racists does it ? And most definitely , the sins of white people in the past does not make us racists in the present correct ?

a reply to: DAZ21

Agreed. One only has to look at India to see that discrimination based on color exists elsewhere. It is not unique to the US.

I agree that holding people individually responsible for their actions and not indicting their families or groups for the actions of one or several members is very important to a free society. It is actually a relatively new concept in human history and the U.S. is more adamant about putting it into practice than probably any other nation. However, when problems (violent crime, corruption, drug use, etc.) become out of control and systemic within a group, do the other members of that group bear no responsibility for putting pressure on the group as a whole to ferret out the problem actors and fix the situation, especially since they have the most to lose? And is it unreasonable for the other outside groups that are negatively affected by these problems to ask the leaders of said group to act, and offer assistance where needed?

Alright Op fair enough. Now if we could expand that to include the anti Jew, America, cop and religion stances it would be a start.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

I've ranted about this a few times on threads myself.

This also extends to associating all police with police brutality, or all Conservatives with crap FoxNews says, or all Progressives with the crap MSNBC says. The list can go on and on, but there are way too many out there who only see the extremes of all topics and are far too ready to lump half of humanity into one of the two extremes.

I think people quit living in reality when the pet rock made a million dollars.

ETA: Also, we can't overlook the fact that a blanket of apathy has comforted many people in modern society, and these people are all to willing to allow themselves to fall into these divisive and extreme catagories because they're unwilling to do the hard work to research and think for themselves.

This is a double-edged sword--the apathetics, and those who exploit them to create even more division.

originally posted by: Kandinsky
a reply to: enlightenedservant

All racist bigots should be rounded up and punished!

But but but!!! Isn't your comment exactly what this thread is all about?

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Righto. Just because people have been attacked and killed by SOME grizzly bears is no reason to be afraid of ALL grizzly bears. And everyone knows only the OCCASIONAL rattlesnake is poisonous. Extreme examples of stereotyping, but do we HAVE to pretend that NO stereotypes are true? Are we allowed NO precautions or to learn NO lessons from prior experience with people?

a reply to: Stonecutter45

Of course it includes EVERYONE. the OP said, "Blaming an entire group for the actions of a few is a sign of bigotry & ignorance." She/he didn't give examples of EVERY group. That would take all day. But the above sentence covers them ALL. So, the idea includes, but is not limited to, Christians, Republicans, gay people, women, cops, college professors, Muslims, white men, the younger generation, Jews, the elderly, atheists, truck drivers, housewives, the transgendered, liberals, Hollywood elite, and ALL other "groups" of people.

Urantia1111, we ARE talking about people, not grizzly bears. Of course, there are stereotypes and they're there because they're true to an extent. The problem comes when we USE that stereotype as a means of judging someone, instead of finding out the truth about the individual. Here's a good example.

Stereotyping is necessary to a certain degree. As said before, it helps us remember terms for quick recall. However, stereotypes can become dangerous when they are inflexible and relied solely upon for information processing. When this happens, stereotypes lead to prejudice, discrimination, and social-isms.
...
In other words, people often take their own mental picture of a type of person, and generalize it to all people in that group, without taking into account individuality or even the errors that may exist in the original mental picture. For example, a person doing the hiring for a company may have the stereotype that elderly people are feeble, absentminded, and unable to keep up in the workplace. Upon receiving an application from a formerly retired person, it is dismissed, because she is relying solely on her negative stereotype of elderly people. In this case, the stereotype is that elderly people are less qualified, the prejudice is against all elderly people in general, the discrimination is failure to hire the person, based on their age, and this is called ageism.

Source

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
And why not? Because it's common sense that people are only accountable for their own actions. Blaming an entire group for the actions of a few is a sign of bigotry & ignorance. It's just plain stupid! Yet there are people on ATS who keep openly blaming all Muslims and all “black” people for the crimes of individuals.

Our entire system of laws is built on the concept of personal responsibility.

I agree with everything you've said here, but I have to add that this is a two way street. There is a form of racism, especially seen in America, which attempts to excuse bad behavior by drawing race and social status into the argument. Blaming others for your own actions is a sign of ignorance and a sign of helpless immaturity.

And, just to stir the pot, I'll add that the American welfare system is one of the major contributors to the destruction of personal responsibility in America. In a perfect world, every individual would be exactly that, an individual, fully responsible for their own actions and fully in control of whether they live, die, eat, starve, succeed, or fail. It seems just wrong to only use personal responsibility when it is convenient to a cause and abdicate it the moment it becomes uncomfortable.

Why did I just KNOW that someone was going to bring up "welfare". SIGH.

IF YOU HAD FIRST SAID THAT INDIVIDUALS SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH STEALING LIKE CORPORATIONS DO, I WOULD HAVE HAD MORE RESPECT FOR YOU AND WOULD NOT BE SO MAD I'M SHOUTING NOW.

but it's still all about proving your side more than about acknowledging injustice, even on a thread calling an attitude like yours out, you still have to flaunt it, and I have no qualms about calling it like I see it either, since this is the rant thread. I am not insulting you, but I am saying I am mad and calling you a hypocrite. That's not an insult really, it's an acknowledgement of what your statement really is.

originally posted by: Obsrvr
a reply to: Kandinsky

Punishing all the kids in the room for the actions of one seems unfair, but it is definitely effective.

bull#. It's effective at ONE THING. TEACHING INJUSTICE. PERIOD.

originally posted by: jessme2

originally posted by: Obsrvr
a reply to: Kandinsky

Punishing all the kids in the room for the actions of one seems unfair, but it is definitely effective.

bull#. It's effective at ONE THING. TEACHING INJUSTICE. PERIOD.

In the eyes a of liberal, perhaps.

originally posted by: Obsrvr

originally posted by: jessme2

originally posted by: Obsrvr
a reply to: Kandinsky

Punishing all the kids in the room for the actions of one seems unfair, but it is definitely effective.

bull#. It's effective at ONE THING. TEACHING INJUSTICE. PERIOD.

In the eyes a of liberal, perhaps.

Once again, the irony of being bigoted and spouting stereotypes on a thread ranting about just that escapes someone.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

It was a rhetorical question . I already knew the answer , was just pointing out the hypocrisy of Democrats who love to point out the racism , bigotry and hate of others while hating on an entire group of people themselves .

Just once, just one single time I would love to see a single statement against bigotry and judgement and stereotype be able to stand alone on its own merit without someone resorting to the tired old.."'but what about.."

it's just wrong, mmmkay? I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't even be posting this, since I have nothing further to add.

a reply to: jessme2

do you agree that both parties are misbehaving? and that both parties fund corporations ? but only one of those parties blames race for the whole thing? whereas the other party, instead of blaming race, blames it on the other party. it's like a perfectly made catch 22 - damned if you do, damned if you don't.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Mods - give this enlightened servant an applause.......nay give multiple, what a bloody awesome post. You get my special thumbs-up gif...

Personal accountability is paramount and fundamental - most folks get it........it's all about treating others with dignity and respect.

I am however a self confessed bigot towards Nazi's, politicians, THUG leos, banksters and military-industrial complex members that desires collective punishment to rain down upon them all - my bad, I know.........but I am a mere man and cannot help myself in this regard - it's like a natural instinct.

originally posted by: Obsrvr
a reply to: Kandinsky

Punishing all the kids in the room for the actions of one seems unfair, but it is definitely effective.

results in

originally posted by: Kandinsky

All racist bigots should be rounded up and punished!

Won't you have to round yourself up first?

Since some races undoubtedly contain disproportionally more racist bigots than others, your rounding up scheme is inherently racist. Bigot.

This is why there will always be racism & hatred in this world. Because there will always be some knuckleheads ready to blame & attack entire ethnic groups & religions because of the supposed transgressions of a few.


That last statement sums it up and I think is a real tragedy... In light of recent events I would have to disagree. In fact I would say its the knucklehead that believes this last statement or the premise of the OP that has the real problem.

Transgressions of the few but the majority refuses to stop it? Its either the majority that condones recent evens like Baltimore or it was the majority perpetrating the madness. Where was the majority if that wasn't it in the streets?

We saw the majority in Baltimore & Ferguson but the OP refuses to see it.

This OP is more of the coddle the animals and blame the civilized. Nothing new, just regurgitated liberal speak.

originally posted by: supermouse

originally posted by: Kandinsky

All racist bigots should be rounded up and punished!

Won't you have to round yourself up first?

Since some races undoubtedly contain disproportionally more racist bigots than others, your rounding up scheme is inherently racist. Bigot.

It was intended as a very obvious joke.

Next time I'll add some and maybe a couple of lols to signpost the irony.