h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What???

Gaurav. That was'nt meant for you, check Raceys' entry and home page to see what .

umm... where's these racist attitudes on his homepage? I can't seem to find them...

It dose'nt have to be hatefull, bigotry can be as subtile as "my jewish friend" its a label, the infection can't be cured if you ignore the germ. if your going to refer to an individual as a member of anouther race then your a racist. Do you want to hand that legacy down to your children, it is a deadly poison so the dose dose'nt matter.
My intention was to help, vailed critisisim is not my style but I will consider that I may be wrong.
I appolgizefor being so crude but hey wake up and smell the coffee. P.S. Nice to see your concern for fair play though, keep it up.
The Devils advocate.

so "my filipino wife" is wrong?

bah! if you need to describe someone in one word, you pick the most unusual, yet important, thing about them. So I would rarely call someone a "haired friend", but I would possibly call someone a "bald friend". It's all about passing on maximum information in minimum words. That's not racism.

Don't cry wolf - there's plenty of real evils in the world, without seeing them where they don't exist.

My fat friend agrees with you. I'm sure now that the truth is understood we can all live in harmony.

I'm racist? I'm sorry but I really don't understand, & I'm more than a little offended at being labelled as such. I have *always* spoken out against discrimination on *any* grounds whether it be race,creed,sexual orientation, or which end of your boiled egg you crack open. Is it because I highlight the fact that my wife is filipina? Well, I'm sorry but she is, and very proud of the fact. She rejoices in who & what she is, including her cultural heritage & I rejoice with her.
My friend, I am one who *celebrates* our differences. The human species has such a wonderful variety, I see no cause for promoting one variety over another.
"racey"? That is simply my first name "Ray" & the initial of my surname "C", Ray C = Racey.
My sincere apologies if I have in any way offended your value system, but you're way off base man.

Another pitch in on Racey's side, I can see nothing on his page which is any way out of order.

A lot of people these days are getting themseves hung up on a whole load of percieved "ism's" and are jumping down other peoples throats for no reason.

I'd like to dump the term racism and all the other ism's, the shortening of the phrase has obscured its meaning.

What we are talking about is unwarented Discrimination ie making decisions on the basis of factors which are irrelevant to the decision being made.

And the use of generalised stereotypes (which are invariably incorrect) to make unwarrented assumptions about groups or individuals.


The use of purely descriptive terms, so long as they are correct for that individual, cannot be wrong as without it we would be unable to describe anybody.

That applies whether it on the basis of Race, Sex, Age or any other factor

"if your going to refer to an individual as a member of anouther race then your a racist." so this means that one of "my Jewish friends" can describe another of "my Jewish friends" as "my Jewish friend" and not be acused of being racist but because I'm not Jewish I can't say "my Jewish friend" because I'd be bringing up race as an issue.....

surely that's racist...

Have we eliminated prejudice in some places to the degree that any person can stand up and declare there ethnic back ground, with out the chance that some one could use it against them?
There are places in this world where it would be crule to refer to a person by thier ehtnic background, now and in other times.It isn't always nice to Curd,Black or Jew.
A white klansmen would be pleased as punch to stand up at a clan meeting and declare themseleves white,would they not? Where does that come from and isn't he proud to be-long to such an accepting race? Wasn't a Nazis proud to be German?
If you are thinking thats no the same thing, Explain that to the first too the Nth person who died as a direct result of some one elses pride and paitriotisim.
Cltural differences are wonderfull but dont draw lines or some one will be along to cross them.

In that case, what should the rules be for a global international system like the Internet?

I mean, is it OK to say, "my Jewish friend"? Or do we draw the line before that?

(That sounds like a good idea ... how about a "Declaration of the Rights of People on the Internet? ... naaah)

I think it would be wise to hold off for a second & consider where people are coming from before you tar them as racists or bigots or whatever. I feel that especially in Internet chats it is important to respect what people say and to assume the best. And if you don't understand something, or it makes you uncomfortable, why not just try to phrase it as something you have a problem with, not the other person, like:
"It makes me uncomfortable that you said 'my filipina wife,' but obviously it's important to you or else you wouldn't have said it. Is there something I'm not understanding here?"
A little sensitivity and understanding goes a long way.

It's not always nice to be white - you don't get called a n****r, but you do get called Gai-Jin (sp?). Depends where you are, and all round the world, the word "American" is invariably preceded by "Stupid"...

You are absolutely correct about a pause to consider where people are coming from before we react, I was wrong to accuse and I appoligise for my indiference.
I was very impressed by the response it recieved however.
I will be more thoughtful in the future.

It certainly isn't nice to be white (or a farmer) anywhere near Zimbabwe. Or a opposition supporter. Or....

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS' PLACE http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F72280?thread=311037

Update Slacker or Cows Will Be Dung

"Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."


Now, personally, I am opposed to capital punishment.

However, unless imprisonment is also prohibited (for violating the "right to libery", and the later right to freedom of movement), I don't think capital punishment is prohibited.


I'm a strong believer that everyone is born with certain inate rights, including life, liberty, etc. However, I also believe that these rights can legitimately be curtailed *if* someone has been convicted (in a fair trial) of a specified crime, and the law specifies those restrictions of rights as a punishment.

(E.g. Everyone starts off with a right to move about and not be locked up. But if someone is fairly convicted of (say) burglary, it is right to lock them up for as long as the law says a burglar can be locked up.

It would not, however be right to lock someone up just because you thought they were a burglar, or to convict them and lock them up "until I feel like letting them out").


Further more, I believe legal restrictions of rights are only right as far as they are necessary to prevent the person being punished from violating other peoples' rights. (E.g. I think locking someone up for burglary is acceptable as a means of protecting people from burglary. Locking someone up for glaring at you would not be right, even if the law allowed it).