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Thread: Racism

  1. Link to Post #501
    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Utter madness, Atman. Wow!

    Trump is on the case though, God bless him:
    https://www.npr.org/2020/09/05/91005...cal-race-theor

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    Scotland Avalon Member Ewan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    I had my eyes opened a sliver more last night in a completely surprising way.

    I've always enjoyed westerns, my Grandfather used to read them and had a load of books on his shelves by authors like Louis L'Amour and James Fenimore Cooper, the former was easy to read, the latter much more challenging, but I loved them both nevertheless.
    I've always considered that period, (reading all those books), as partly responsible for developing my strong commitment to never bowing to authority, (believing it to be invariably corrupt), and standing up for the underdog.

    I watched a movie last night called simply "Posse". The reviews were not favourable.

    Quote The film has a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews.

    Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated, "On the one hand, this obviously talented film maker celebrates all the aggrandizing features of the genre: the laconic tough talk, the manly camaraderie, the proud posturing, the power of walking tall past the awestruck citizenry of a prairie town. On the other hand, "Posse" does its best to reject and avenge what it regards as the flagrant distortions of the past."[4]

    Roger Ebert described it as "an overdirected, overphotographed, overdone movie that is so distracted by its hectic, relentless style that the story line is rendered almost incoherent."[5]

    Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+ and said it was "a glossy, kinetic pastiche of Western conventions."[6]
    I disagree with all of those opinions and can't help but wonder if the reviewers were more uncomfortable that the film exposed the usual rewriting of history.

    So what surprised me so much, though on reflection it shouldn't have?
    The film claims that almost one in three cowboys were black.

    At the end of the film there is some text that I literally type out as I see it on screen.

    "The majority of black towns were destroyed, partly due to laws like the 'Grandfather Clause,' which kept African-Americans from voting on the basis that their Grandfathers as slaves had not voted.
    Ignored by Hollywoood and most history books more than 8,000 Black cowboys roamed the West."




    The 9th and 10th Cavalry were entirely composed of African-Americans, sometimes known as "Buffalo Soldiers"



    I actually feel embarassed that I never knew any of this before yesterday.
    Last edited by Ewan; 7th September 2020 at 19:47. Reason: missed words

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  5. Link to Post #503
    Administrator Mark (Star Mariner)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by TargeT (here)
    White people are the most oppressed currently... prove me wrong...

    BTW, here's proof as of 5 days ago...... hahaha I love how far we've come......



    but then, a racial war is THE BEST and easiest (apparently) way to subjugate a population and bring in the "great reset"..... bizarro world indeed.

    (btw, look at the like to dislike ratio... no one is falling for this **** except the brainwashed MSM watchers...)

    we WILL pull through this, the tactics are stale and easily seen through.
    Re-posting above video here as germane to the issue of this thread.

    *

    In earlier periods of history racism was simply born out of fear, suspicion, and ignorance of people alien/other. Colour of skin was not the only factor of perceived separation, nationality was one also (England/France famously for centuries), caste/class was another, language was another, religion was yet another.

    As time went on and ignorance began to turn to greater awareness the powers that be noted the imperative that one big happy human family was not in their best interests if ever they wanted to stay in control. You see humans have very fragile psyches - it is easy to manipulate, easy to subjugate. Just a bump in the night has the power to override rational thinking and freak us right out. Some of that is naturally primordial, but humans could and should have evolved beyond those instincts by now if only we'd been allowed to claim our individual power. That's been denied us by the weapons of psychological warfare deployed against the social complex and general human relations.

    We've allowed ourselves to be programmed to fear the worst, expect the worst, and see the worst (particularly in others). It is today bred into our system. Control through fear and control through division is the name of the game. Race has always been their trump card.

    I like to feel that perhaps this will work to humanity's benefit in the long run. Because when the illusion does shatter (when people see that they've been manipulated) it will only serve to shatter it more comprehensively.

    At the end of the day this whole black/white (or race in general) dichotomy is pure illusion. At the end of the day we are ALL souls coming together in collective physical experience: its primary objective is to learn love. Racism (hatred) is therefore just a barrier to overcome to arrive at that end (yet it's also a barrier they use to prevent/impede that end).

    Another goal in this grand human experiment is to discover that we are all the same. You can only learn that if, on the surface, we do not look the same, sound the same, think the same, believe the same. The kicker is that across multiple lifetimes we experience ALL the different angles, black/white, man/woman, tall/short, fat/thin, muslim/jew, oppressor/victim, and a million other variations..

    When you see/know the bigger picture, racism, and all other -isms/polarities, vanish.
    "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
    ~ Jimi Hendrix

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  7. Link to Post #504
    Canada Avalon Member Ernie Nemeth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rakyt quit our membership over this thread?

    It has made me rethink much of what I have wrote here.

    And how I have turned to my own experience of this, which is nowhere near the same but my only point of reference.

    When I started grade five I got the mark of our family. A large mole on the corner of my mouth.
    This is hard for me to recount but...for Rakyt...

    I was already a very shy boy, and naive but I had already made a name for myself as the protector of the weak, so I already had enemies.

    When this mark appeared I was ridiculed and for a while I did not want to go to school. But the novelty soon wore off and I was accepted the way I was. Only I retained the stigma. I would suddenly remember my mark and get all embarrassed. No one could understand why I would suddenly get all quiet and unresponsive.

    It would take a force of will to make myself forget the stigma and behave normally. To this day there are times I will remember the mark that sets me apart from others. In my case, however, it seems the stigma was my own doing and was not an act of racism.

    I should say that the rest of my family has the mark removed. I would not do that. So I am the only family member who carries the ancestral mark proudly on their face - even if from time to time it causes me distress.

    Is it clear that this is a form of racism, that the effects are similar, although primarily self-imposed? Like the person who has to wade through a sea of white faces, stigmatized by the constant visual counter-point they represent?

    Institutional racism does exist. It exists as the fluctuating constituency-based majority. Some of the normal institutional racism then might be systemically instituted by unwitting bias.

    When I travel around this neighborhood, my hood, I am the minority, with hardly a white face to be seen. Here I am institutionally biased against. It is kept quiet, it is unspoken, but it is most certainly there.

    If the constituency base continues trending this way in my neighborhood, it will not be long before systemic racism will arise against whites. Any difference can be exploited and can lead to community bias, that if left unchecked can lead to institutional and then systemic racism.

    Here in Canada, as an example, anti-semetic (sorry, anti-semetism does not deserve special treatment as a new un-hyphenated addition to the lexicon) and anti-Islam speech of any kind is considered hate speech and punishable by law.

    But there was never a need for anti-Polish, anti-Jamaican, anti-Hungarian, anti-Chinese, anti-German, anti-Indigenous, anti-Italian, anti-Mormon, or even anti-Christain doctrines...why?
    Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water...Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee

    Free will can only be as free as the mind that conceives it.

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  9. Link to Post #505
    Avalon Member Eva2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    I miss Rakyt's great input on this thread and some others. He was so articulate and able to delve into complicated topics and concepts easily with his unique point of view. He presented his ideas/thoughts in such an understandable way that people (me) could grasp and make sense of. Hope in the near future he'll return here.

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  11. Link to Post #506
    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    Last edited by Bill Ryan; 22nd November 2020 at 20:27.

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    United States Avalon Member Forest Denizen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    This sort of post hoc analysis has always made me uncomfortable. It presents only one side of the story. As Mark/Rahkyt is not here to present his side of the story we are left with what might seem to be a lot of hand waving.
    "Love is the only engine of survival.." Leonard Cohen

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  15. Link to Post #508
    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Ken (here)
    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    This sort of post hoc analysis has always made me uncomfortable. It presents only one side of the story. As Mark/Rahkyt is not here to present his side of the story we are left with what might seem to be a lot of hand waving.
    Well, three things.
    1. I never said a word until Ernie's new post seemed to ask for a response.
    2. Mark is always most welcome to return here to engage in more discussion.
    3. All his posts, in which his views are very articulately stated, can be found and read — many of them on this thread, easy to do.

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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    I always enjoyed reading his posts, he was bright, well written and extremely intelligent. He offered a different point of view on many subjects and explained his thought process thoroughly and clearly. A lot of food for thought. After reading a great deal of his posts I don't believe that he could make the transition away from the left and right political thinking. This is a pitfall for so many, they are tied to party instead of being tied to right and wrong.

    Edit: I hope he returns because when your thinking or beliefs are challenged everyone wins.
    Last edited by rgray222; 22nd November 2020 at 21:42.

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    United States Avalon Member Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    **************************
    Last edited by Mike; 11th February 2021 at 01:44.

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    Avalon Member Eva2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    Oh, I only popped in and out on the racism thread a few times in the past but after reading some comments here, I'll need to go back, start from the beginning and have a good read. I do recall his feedback on other threads and topics (mostly "spiritual"/mystic subjects) and always found his views on these topics interesting.

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  23. Link to Post #512
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Jill (here)
    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    Oh, I only popped in and out on the racism thread a few times in the past but after reading some comments here, I'll need to go back, start from the beginning and have a good read. I do recall his feedback on other threads and topics (mostly "spiritual"/mystic subjects) and always found his views on these topics interesting.
    strongly held beliefs are awesome motivators.. but also awesome blinders...

    it's unfortunate that disagreement causes some people to throw their hands up and leave... but discussion must continue, else we gain nothing from the loss.
    Hard times create strong men, Strong men create good times, Good times create weak men, Weak men create hard times.
    Where are you?

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    Default Re: Racism

    ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
    Last edited by Constance; 14th November 2021 at 19:59.

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    Canada Avalon Member Ernie Nemeth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Embarrassment for me is living in this world, and the shame is how it could actually be. Little personal foibles matter little or not at all, although they may seem like insurmountable challenges.

    The problematic part was not hinting at 'dirty deeds done dirt cheap' or anything to do with mods or Bill. It was referencing the fact that Rahkyt stated that he quit because he could not be a member of a group who would not accept systemic racism as a real dynamic.

    That combined with the fact that he stated he was in some sort of public office hinted that his public reputation could be slandered if he was associated with Avalon. I immediately thought that meant he was involved in SJW stuff or at the very least in some capacity part of the Democratic party. They do not like such forums, where truth is discussed openly, and not just regurgitating talking points about their movement.

    So since he left I have been reexamining my bias and prejudice to see what I may have missed. The last post is all I got and is the farthest I can reach towards Mark/Rahkyt's point of view.

    Not surprised about your revelations, Bill. In many ways I was thinking or suspecting the same. I don't like it when intelligent, thoughtful people decide to leave Avalon. I think of how I might have behaved differently or how I could have intervened to stop it.

    He is not the only one that I have had that sentiment for, he won't be the last. But the topic is a hot button topic right now, and very much worthy of review. The facts in this thread are ammunition against SJWs and others that have removed the facts and left poor logical analysis, or it could be argued left empty platitudes, behind in its stead.
    Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water...Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee

    Free will can only be as free as the mind that conceives it.

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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Quote Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
    Does anyone else find it problematic that Rahkyt quit our membership over this thread?
    No. We didn't want to see him leave, but he was insistent. However, here was the situation.

    If you go back and carefully read through what he wrote, Mark/Rahkyt was a Social Justice Warrior that supported Black Lives Matter and was enthusiastic about their increasing prominence and influence.

    He used many of the SJW/BLM keywords and key phrases in his posts. They can be searched. He was writing racism is prejudice plus power way back in 2012. That's rhetoric copied and pasted straight out of the SJW playbook.

    The All Lives Matter thread offended him. He was intelligent, college-educated (but that, too, can be a dangerous crucible), likeable, and always very courteous. But he was unable to see what was really happening and as early as 2016 was asserting that Avalon members were racist.

    They are not. He would never be able to understand this, but it was actually his own views that were racist, as defined by the stated need to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. That, too, is an inherently racist and divisive SJW ideology.
    Ewwww.

    All Lives matter is offensive because it is a response to a movement that has legit grievances. It is a meme produced by Fox news and other reactionaries and the like to make you not focus on the POLICE STATE and the fact that the police state murders so many innocent people. Takes so many innocent people's property with no recourse for the citizen(regardless of color).

    The same people saying all lives matter probably think Rittenhouse is a hero of some sort. Shows how hollow their words are.

    There are racist people here. They might be low key and not hanging out on Storm Front website but they are racist.

    If you think there is a white genocide happening. You are a racist. If you think white people is anything more than a social construct, then you are racist upholding racist memes.

    Again, I have to stress that people who disagree with this point of view are ignorant of history and specifically the Haitian revolution. I have gone over this, maybe if in this very thread on why the term and concept of "white people" is a vestige of racists system of the past(mainly Bourbon France for the Haitian example).

    Does this mean that people who have the skin tone that is colloquial called "white" are not real people and do not have a culture of their own? Absolutely not. Should these people be hurt or culled in any way? NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Needed to bold that because I promise someone is gonna make a VERY ignorant argument at me because of this previous sentence.

    If you, yes you reading this, can not make this distinction and keep insisting white culture is being destroyed, then congrats you are in the same camp as Neo Nazis. You are using Neo Nazi talking points.

    How does it feel to be making the same arguments as the Storm Front? Does it feel good to be keeping company and making the same rhetorical arguments as the Storm Front?
    So just like you accuse mark of using SJW terms,like it is a bad thing for people to have justice, I will accuse white genocide people of talking like Nazis.

    Which one is worse to mimic? People who want justice for all humans, or the Storm Front?

    The way you speak of social justice warriors is very telling Bill. Look at how easy you otherize people using that term. I wonder could you produce an example of an SJW in your personal life? Like someone you physically have met or come into contact with, Or is this simply something you see online?

    Is identity politics trash and actually hurting our society? YES. VERY FIRM YES. They focus on the wrong thing and use it as a race to victimhood and play victim olympics. Some of them take it to the same extent White nationalist do and I have just as much contempt for White nationalism as I do for ANY ethnonationalism.

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    Default Re: Racism

    Right on, Praxis. You took the words right out of my mouth! Bill, you should be doing some serious thinking about the impact of your words. You are becoming less and less impartial. Mark was a bit of an SJW. The term triggers a lot of people who don't understand all the ins and outs, fabrications , propaganda and manipulations involved around the entire subject.

    Black lives matter. They really do and when you say "all lives matter" it negates the point the expression is trying to make.

    If you were to run across someone in your daily life who had been ill treated, described to you how, and then stated emphatically, "you know. My life matters!" Would you neutralize an expression of pain, by tossing it off with an, "all lives matter."
    Last edited by AutumnW; 24th November 2020 at 08:24.

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  32. Link to Post #517
    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Praxis (here)
    I wonder could you produce an example of an SJW in your personal life? Like someone you physically have met or come into contact with, Or is this simply something you see online?
    Yes, I met a 'real one' locally in July, a very pleasant and intelligent expat American woman who had a mountain dog of her own (we'd met in the vet's waiting room) and we went for a long, full day's hike in the mountains when my own dog, Mara, was laid up.

    Unlike many online SJWs who'd done nothing except post nasty articles on blogs, she'd done the real work in refugee camps (which was impressive), worked with NGOs, and traveled in Africa. I was most interested to listen to her, and over many hours I asked her a whole bunch of questions about her life, travels, views and experience, and she answered them all at length.

    It was very one-sided. She barely asked me anything about myself at all (not a problem for me, but it was an interesting imbalance). Just about the only strong statement I made was in response to her support of Bill Gates, where I shared that I didn't trust him one tiny bit. She was surprised at my view, but I did explain it. (I did also tell her that I'd spent a lot of time in Africa and some time in India, but she didn't seem to want to hear about my own experiences at all.)

    Our hike was on the same day when it was announced that Brazil's president Bolsonaro (whom I do not support at all, btw) had been diagnosed with Covid. "I hope she dies", she said.

    She was a strenuous Biden supporter and her hatred of Trump (for reasons I never found convincing, all mainstream media claims about his personality) was extreme.

    I was very much looking forward to another hike (and to continue our interesting wide-ranging conversation), but soon after that one day we spent together she stopped responding to my emails. I'm pretty sure she'd looked on Avalon, which I'd mentioned to her, and figured that we were all somehow enemies of humanity. It was a shame.

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    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by AutumnW (here)
    Bill, you should be doing some serious thinking about the impact of your words. You are becoming less and less impartial.
    Dear Autumn, I've done a lot of serious thinking about almost everything that's affecting society currently and a whole bunch else, including the impact of my words.

    Believe me, I say far, far less than I might if I wasn't regarded as a potentially influential voice. Those who disagree with my own personal views and those of many others — and there are some — have often been rather uncouth and extreme in their statements. Once or twice, you've fallen into that yourself, but to your credit you've always apologized later.

    I continually do my best to present my views with courtesy and without throwing any mud at any other members (or people). Read my post immediately above as an example of a well-crafted, balanced, fair and detailed reply to a question.

    Walk a mile in my shoes, or that of any active moderator. We even invited you to join us on the mods' team (because we always want to maintain a broad-spectrum balance: the mods' team is hardly an echo chamber!) — and you declined for personal reasons which we fully understand and respect. But we did invite you.

    Yes, I'm becoming less impartial. In fact, I'm not impartial at all. My views about many things are strong, clear and well-thought-out, and I'll explain (or defend) them in detail if I'm asked to.

    But I do muzzle what I say, and sit on my hands a very great deal. Not always but usually (as with this post here), I only speak out clearly when responding to something directly addressed to myself or which seems to require an answer. (As with my reply to Ernie's question above. I never started this particular discussion here.)

    I fully support and encourage open discussion on the forum, which is very very important. I never wanted Mark/Rahkyt to leave, and the other mods will confirm that. (Not one of us wanted him to retire.)

    No Avalon member will ever be unsubscribed or censored for their political views. Only for their behavior or demeanor. It's SJWs who often want to silence or punish voices who disagree. Always bear that in mind.

    Based on his posts (and of course, one's posts are all we have to judge anyone by: this is a very one-dimensional virtual world we inhabit, and we never really know any other member at all in their rich diversity of the human being they are) — I don't like Praxis's demeanor one bit, or the way he often expresses himself. But he's still here. So are others.

    He can post whatever he wants, and so can you and others with similar views, as long as certain lines of courtesy aren't crossed. That's definitive.

    For a lot more on this, see this long statement on my personal Q&A thread, which was in response to a question I never asked anyone to pose.
    In that post, which summarily covered a lot of issues, I included this, shared here as one extract from the whole statement.

    ~~~
    The mods do walk a tricky tightrope. We sincerely want to maintain Avalon as a rare oasis of true freedom of expression (the need for courtesy and civility notwithstanding), but some ideas and threads posted are surely nonsense — in my opinion. Nevertheless, the only topic that's "censored" here is Flat Earthism (for good reason!) — though no Flat Earth threads have been deleted, only closed. They're all still searchable and readable.

    So let's start with politics. (Sigh!) There are occasional accusations that Avalon has become a sanctuary of the "right" (or even the "far right"), but people who say that kind of thing just don't understand what "right" and "left" mean any more.

    Like the traditional red-blue colors of the US political parties (which have flipped: socialist-leaning parties always used to be red), the values of the parties have flipped as well.

    Many mainstream Democratic pundits are now highly authoritarian (pro big tech, pro censorship, pro control, anti-freedom in many ways), while many liberals and libertarians chose to vote for Trump in the current election because he's the most libertarian candidate available.

    I'll say this clearly: (as a repeat of what I posted here on 10 November)

    ~~~

    The "alt-right" label is very misunderstood, misused, and even abused.

    The forum members are almost uniformly libertarian or classic liberal — depending on the definitions.

    They're:
    • Anti censorship
    • Anti authoritarian
    • Pro free speech
    • Anti political correctness and identity politics (such as espoused by SJWs)
    • Anti war
    • Anti NWO
    • Anti vaccines and big pharma (largely)
    • Pro environment
    • Pro All Lives Matter
    • Anti racism and prejudice of any kind
    • Pro personal freedom in almost every way.
    The questions then are ONLY about how this translates into real-life politics. But it may be helpful to realize how fully the membership here is in fundamental agreement about a great many very important things.
    Last edited by Bill Ryan; 24th November 2020 at 13:11.

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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    I'm pretty sure she'd looked on Avalon, which I'd mentioned to her, and figured that we were all somehow enemies of humanity. It was a shame.
    I think this is the part that maybe you should ruminate on.

    I think the question that Ernie asked recently and this part go together.

    Why do you think this place pushes people away?

    Have you seen Dennis Leahy post much recently?

    Ever notice that many people that pushed back on racism on this site or against Qult that they end up leaving?

    It is almost like engaging the Qult and crypto racist pushes people away from this site because those people fail to engage arguments or people do not want to associate with those kind of people.

    My Wife experiences constant racism in the united states. CONSTANT. It is not ignorant people with nooses burning crosses on our lawn, it is talking to her like she is 9 at hospital. It is how she is treated when buying groceries.

    It is small, subtly things that many do not even realize is racist when they are doing it. Many times they flow off her but these things add up little by little. This is what systemic racism is. It is not just laws that are overtly racist like the electoral college and black people being 3/5s of a person, it is also the attitudes and actions of daily people who embody Whiteness, which again does NOT exist and is vestige or racist Monarchical systems and later racist Republican(Republican France, which still held racist policies for much of the republic,) and still later the First Empire which tried to re enslave Haiti.

    My wife gets treated different if I am with her. They suddenly are nicer and dont want to search her bag.

    These things exists for her and for many other people. Yet there are people on this very forum saying systemic racism doesnt exist while filling in the WHITE circle on any form they encounter(without realizing that the category itself is racist; just ask the Irish).

    If Mark was saying that racism only exists when their is prejudice plus power then he was wrong in my opinion. That is a BS talking point and normalizes hatred. Prejudice is prejudice regardless of if you have power or not; having power just makes it worse and often leads to a systemic prejudice.

    If Mark could not admit this, then he is at fault from my point of view.

    I realize that I have worn your patience thin Bill. I apologize for my demeanor but I have to push back on ideas I see on your site. This isnt just a game or a discussion for me and my family. This is my life and we have to live it.

    How long could you live feeling like you are constantly under attack or just noticed? When many walk down the street on this forum, they probably have the luxury of blending in and not being noticed.

    Again, I apologize Bill for the aggressive stance I often take on your site. I used to feel like I was on a site, back in 2010-2014 ish, that I was part of the community of like minded people investigating the unknown and exotic. This was a great place to explore topics that most people would scoff at you for evening brining up. You could tell your extraordinary experiences and feel welcomed.

    Something changed in about 2015. I wonder what it was. . .

    I will stop posting now and simply lurk.

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    Administrator Mark (Star Mariner)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Racism

    Quote Posted by Praxis (here)
    My wife gets treated different if I am with her. They suddenly are nicer and dont want to search her bag.
    I find that very very sad. I truly get weary of this sad, cruel planet I really do. My heart goes out to you and your wife.

    But how does one analyse this? In my area, in the mid-2000s, we experienced a flood of east-European immigration. These newcomers were 'looked upon' let's say, the exact same way as your wife – yet all were as white as a sheet of paper.

    It's a response triggered chiefly by the primordial human instinct that fears or seeks to keep at arm's length: unknown/outside/other. However which way you cut it, when you really break it down, there is a psychological component to racism or 'otherism', and it's purely tribal at it's root.

    It's a throwback in other words, and it still exists in the human mind. But it's not of the human soul. Humanity has the spiritual tools to evolve beyond it, but unless it turns to the spirit these rigid social constructs will continue to dominate the human psyche.

    Because if only these people could see, touch, or communicate with your wife's energy, on a telepathic level, all these physical 'illusions' would simply evaporate. Shooting the breeze perhaps...but if that were the case there would be no racism or 'otherism' anymore. AT ALL. If only we lived on THAT planet!

    Quote Posted by AutumnW (here)
    Black lives matter. They really do and when you say "all lives matter" it negates the point the expression is trying to make.
    The phrase 'All Lives Matter' does not neutralize Black Lives Matter. It encompasses it. It attempts to call to awareness the futility of categories, and thus identity politics. It automatically brings black lives under the umbrella of ALL lives, because for a very long time black people have been deliberately marginalized – by identity politics – placing them into a [victimhood] category of their own.

    If 'All Lives Matter' is offensive, then try to consider it 'all lives matter' (lower case – because case matters) as a proclamation that every life matters.

    Only with complete UNITY will humanity be able to finally overcome the social challenges it faces.
    "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
    ~ Jimi Hendrix

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