NOTE: This post will make a lot more sense if you read this first.
When it came to petting cats, as a slow-moving human with a soothing voice, I had no problem getting headbutts from Chicago’s most beautiful cats.
I could have any cat I wanted. I met some nice adult cats, but invariably I went for the fluffiest, most adorable kittens I could find.
My life was pretty much this:
I petted as many as three kittens a week, many of them cute enough to be kitten gif models, but eventually I realized that petting the cutest young things had its drawbacks — I found them flighty, silly and vapid.
I mean, look at these ridiculous creatures.
Adorable kittens who get a fair amount of attention get full of themselves. Eventually, I was dreading booping them on their tiny kitten noses because they were constantly being distracted by whatever shiny thing entered their field of vision. Literally.
Looking for a cat with a greater attention span than a gnat, I started petting a couple of cats who aren’t cat calendar models. The two are now living in my apartment with me and occasionally vomiting on things. I met them at a local cat shelter.
People like me who don’t mind talking in a baby voice and who aren’t given to sudden, startling movements have the pickings when it comes to petting cats but eventually I found that I wanted a cat of substance, not a ball of fluff.
The cats I pet now couldn’t be gif models, but they are still pretty kitties aren’t you yes you are!
When people get to a certain age, they realize that it’s important to pet kitties that don’t spend their entire waking life careening around the apartment knocking things over. Just part of their waking life doing that. All right, 80%. But come on, you’ve got to admit that kittens are kind of exhausting.
So…he had meaningless sex with hot but unworthy partners until that started to pall, and decided he wanted something more substantial?
Alpha fux, beta bux!
I won’t pet cute kittens anymore, because I want to adopt older kitties from now on.
Speaking of terrible articles, here’s David Wong on Cracked.com explaining why we need to be nicer towards racists.
I mean, he does explain why these people are wrong but little comments like this bug the shit out of me…
Other than the fact neither of them were in any way, shape, or form censored – Wong doesn’t even challenge their simplistic, self-serving definition of the word. He just accepts it and treats such a sentiment as valid. That’s just…infuriating.
I find it rather troubling when people think someone losing part of their fanbase or a sponsorship deal is considered “censorship.” Hell, it shows an outright hostility towards others who are practicing their own free expression or freedom of association. It’s like Animal Farm when the pigs declare that all animals are equal, only to add “but some animals are more equal than others” – except instead it’s free speech.
Apparently JonTron and PewDiePie’s free speech is “more free” than anyone who’s in their audience or who’d sponsor them. Thus, they should somehow be immune to criticism and no one else can criticize them negatively (but you can be a sycophant who lathers their feet in sloppy kisses all you want) and obligated to pay them money despite not wanting to. As if that isn’t entirely anathema to free speech as a concept.
Then there’s this…
Um, what? Didn’t he admit they were full of shit at the beginning? Maybe I’m nitpicking but saying “facts” instead of “arguments” and calling the sources “solid” instead of “influential” is basically legitimizing them when there is no legitimacy to be found…as he admitted before this sentence…
Oh, it gets worse.
Like, what ludicrous nonsense is this? “Don’t point out why the sentiments they hold aren’t much different from another group who held similar views, because it will hurt their FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS!”
Fuck their fucking feelings. These are the same people who constantly mock those they disagree with as being overemotional (i.e. “realz over feelz!”), so why should I give one solitary shit about theirs’? Maybe, just maybe, if they were willing to acknowledge and consider the feelings of the people they dehumanize then…well, they actually wouldn’t be racist assholes.
But, no, sorry – I’m not going to walk on eggshells for them. I’m not going to coddle them and leave them unaccountable for being unable to ever compose themselves, while putting all the responsibility on others to do just that to an absurd degree. If they believe in free speech so goddamn much, shouldn’t others be able to speak to them however they want? Hell, they certainly do it and we’re supposed to have some kind of saint-like tolerance towards them ’cause reasons.
Time to face-palm like you never face-palmed before…
Christ Almighty, when is enough enough? Plenty of people in favor of social justice have done nothing but engage with those in the alt-right, time and time again, but it’s never good enough somehow.
Again, I find it amazing David Wong – amongst others like Thom Avella – puts all the responsibility on one group and never once considers that these alt-right types might be the ones unwilling to listen or engage. Sure, they’ll talk and talk and talk and talk but they’ll never listen to a goddamn word you say unless it validates them. Y’know why I say that? Because, despite all the times those left-leaning YouTubers had fairly civil discussions with them, they nonetheless double- and triple-down on their views or revise their views even slightly after thoroughly being proven wrong.
How the hell can you engage with someone in a conversation, when they have no interest in engaging whatsoever? Why waste time and effort when it’s so pointless? Because of some imaginary moral high ground?
If the defenders of racist YouTube stars cared so much about “free speech” you’d think they’d just as ardently defend women who get suspended from Facebook for screen capping harassing messages or posting breast feeding pictures. Or trans people who are only out online but have been disallowed from posting with their chosen name under their true gender because it’s not their government name. Or you’d think they would care about artists who are actually censored by their authoritarian governments. Or activists imprisoned unjustly. Etc, etc.
But no, they only care about internet Nazis. It’s almost like they just want to defend racists and the whole freeze peach thing is a convenient smokescreen meant to disguise the fact that they’re assholes.
@W.W.T.H.:
That’s what makes their claim of “censorship” even worse – they may as well be shitting upon people who actually suffer from those authoritarian regimes.
I’m pretty certain JonTron and PewDiePie haven’t been imprisoned or killed or tortured or coerced by the government over what they said and, in fact, still allowed to say as they wish without having their rights infringed upon. There was a term they used on Peep Show called “grief thievery”, which describes someone who uses the misfortune of others to self-victimize and get more attention. That perfectly explains both of them as well as every other YouTube personality who cries “censorship” upon being criticized or losing a sponsorship deal as a reasonable consequence of something they said.
I don’t have little sympathy for them – I have no sympathy for them.
I’m a former model who has always preferred overweight men. I’d probably blow these people’s minds. Then again, I wasn’t a bikini model, so maybe not.
OT: some good news
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-grassroots-trump-elections_us_58efd21de4b0bb9638e270c1?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
@ Troubelle
Yeah, you are so far ahead of 17 year old me. No one even bothered to talk to me about going to college. I was just barely squeaking through high school, due to no one realizing that girls can have ADD.
@Tosca, I can’t believe he wasted his youth on the Bikini Model Carousel.
Yeah, at 17 I was a super awkward kid who had dropped out of high school, refused to wear glasses despite being half blind and had Nice Guy crushes on every girl I knew. Not sure if kids are just lots smarter and more mature now, or if some were always like that and I never noticed when I was that age. Either way, congratulations, Troubelle.
NickNameNick said
There’s a show on Viceland (https://www.viceland.com/en_us/show/hate-thy-neighbor) called Hate Thy Neighbor that illustrates this. A British comedian, Jamali Maddix who is also a POC goes and basically embeds with different hate groups long enough to do an hour show about them.
It’s a hard show for me to watch, but what really fascinates me about it is that these groups are nice, polite, and respectful* to a person that they claim to hate; I think because he’s listening to them and giving them a platform. Mr. Maddix does get some digs in and tries to make them think about their beliefs, but it’s more about exposing than changing. I don’t know how he does it, frankly.
*generally, but I’ve only been able to watch the first two episodes and there are six in the first season.
@NickNameNick
You’d think after a Chinese guy got beaten up bloody and unconscious for not giving up his seat for United Airline employees he’d reconsider playing uncle chan for these types -_-
Then again David Wong has a history of thinking his perspective is the one that tops all other perspectives so this is kind of expected behavior.
@Makroth – Agent of the Great Degeneracy
That is some good news. This might help get democrats from other states to start voting in democratic representatives in office.
I think this is important, actually. It is something we tell others to do here, when it comes to feminism, f’rex.
Before totally educating them, of course.
And that’s the point of Wong’s article, and that quote in particular, IMHO. To nip this shit in the bud before those 18-24 year olds get too firmly entrenched in their Red Pill mindset that they suddenly become Middle-aged Richard Spencers and Andrew Anglins.
Shrug. YMMV, NickNameNick.
@OoglyBoggles, Wong isn’t Asian; that’s his pen name.
There was also an article on that horrible event with Dr. Dao on Cracked.
@PeeVee the (Noice) Sarcastic
Egg on my face then, still though his tendency to think his point is the most valid stands. Cracked as a whole I do like, their more serious articles like how whistleblowers are treated badly in our society or how actors help train agents by acting like the troubled youth they’re supposed to protect.
@LindsayIrene + IP
Not most kids my age, sadly. I’m an outlier of my age group, and I recall from my days in high school that a lot of students just didn’t give a shit–including some that I was friends with. (And I went to one of the top ten schools in Kentucky. My roommate didn’t, and she said there were common fights in the halls.) Even here where I go, some students in the same program are deliberately skipping class, and while I’ll gladly admit to cutting it close for assignment completion and being a little lax on studying, missing class is something I just don’t do unless I’m dreadfully sick. (And the “normal” [18+] students? Don’t get me fucking started.)
People need to be improved, somehow. But all methods that spring to mind are some combination of impractical and unethical.
@Ooglyboggles, their Personal Experience articles are wonderful! I am so glad they started doing that.
The article about the troubled youth made me cry. There’s a few that jarred me deeply, like the dark net one…
@lea
Its almost as though the two things aren’t linked.
@Ogglyboggles
As far as I’m aware, David Wong (Or rather Jason Pargin, who uses the pen name David Wong ) is white.
EDIT:Ooops, just saw that Peevee already pointed that out
Another funny satire on the Post article
http://jezebel.com/as-a-hot-woman-im-heartbroken-1794300499
@Jedi Mind Tricks of the Bible
Excuse you, all kitties are HB10s. Some are even HB11s
PaganReader said
This is true.
@PeeVee:
My problem isn’t listening or engaging with anyone, my problem – as stated before – is that Wong is putting all the responsibility on one group while leaving the other unaccountable for composing themselves in conversation. The worst part being that responsibility is being put on those arguing in favor of social justice, but not those holding bigoted beliefs who make absurd claims.
It certainly doesn’t help that many within the latter group often don’t argue in good faith and couldn’t give a flying fuck about having any sort of conversation.
That’s another thing: many of those people could do the research themselves, many of them could easily scour the internet for information about topics that interest them – but they don’t. Instead, they demand others do all the leg work of finding evidence to convince them otherwise and (of course) they’ll likely dismiss out of hand because it doesn’t confirm their biases.
It really feels like a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation. You don’t provide them with evidence? They demand it. You provide them with evidence? They flippantly ignore it.
Maybe I’m just a little fucking sick of being finger-wagged, especially by other progressive individuals, for not engaging enough despite doing so many times over and simply find I’m wasting my time and energy on someone who doesn’t give a shit what I have to say.
If it was his point, he made it badly.
Accepting the notion that JonTron and PewDiePie were “censored” without challenging it is troubling, as is constantly portraying one side as claiming all discussion is verboten on the subject without even once providing an example of that happening. Then there’s the goddamn “what about their previous wittle feelings?!” bullshit, which just gets on my nerves.
Like, honestly, hearing someone whine about how someone made them “feel bad” for pointing out something they said was problematic in some way elicits absolutely no empathy in me. Maybe it once did, when I was younger and far more egocentric, but then I grew up and realized I wasn’t so special that it made me the center of the universe.
If I learned anything, it’s that when people are actually suffering due to the ideas you hold – your feelings on the matter don’t mean shit. Y’know whose feelings matter? Those who are suffering – they’re the ones who need consideration. Not some entitled white kid who can’t stand being disagreed with on any level.
NickNameNick, okay.
You got something completely different than I did, and I have zero intention of arguing with you on this blog about it.
Captain Andy recent uploaded a video that does a good job explaining why I kind of take issue with David Wong’s article, albeit in reference to Noel Plum:
https://youtu.be/nBL8gf5O_do
I can kind of see there being a point in saying we shouldn’t call people Nazis. The term is really loaded. It shuts down any possibility they might listen to you, if that possibility ever existed. The “PC” term for it would be “white nationalist.”
The problem is… well… they fucking ARE Nazis, damnit. If they realize being a Nazi is bad, they should stop being a Nazi not get to be protected from the term.