Why is Misanthropy ok but racism taboo?

[Dexiro]

I think a better question would be why aren't all prejudices treated equally.

It's not ok to be sexist or racist but it is ok to be homophobic? Not cool brah.

Well, prejudice is about being unequal, you'd nto expect it to be be doled out into equal shares.

Mind you, it's not so much that it's not ok to to be sexist or racist, it's not ok to admit to it. People say "I'm not racist, but..." for a reason, for some reason many people think it erases any possible racism, for example.

I think it's acceptable for people to be treated in-equally, because we are all different!, but prejudice and discrimination is about treating people differently unjustly and at it's core it's all exactly the same.

Racism, homophobia and sexism (to name a few) are all pretty much parallel. They're all based off of misinformation and logical fallacy. For example; "black/gay people are assholes because all the ones that I've seen are assholes" may be an example of confirmation bias. Despite them all being extremely similar they're all treated differently; racism and sexism may be treated as more severe than homophobia at present, but racism and sexism have also proven to be rather one-sided.

I think a better question would be why aren't all prejudices treated equally.

It's not ok to be sexist or racist but it is ok to be homophobic? Not cool brah.

These days - sexism is fine as long as you're a women. I don't think I've ever heard of a women being put down for being sexist, yet I hear it plenty of times....

Although really surely if you hate all humanity equally - you're not doing anything wrong really, it means they hate themselves too IF they actually mean it (which is rather rare). In which case they'll probably end up becoming Emo anyway, not my problem eh?

Oh and to get back to homophobia - I've not seen much in the part of Britain I live in, you get the occasional quote or person mentioning something a bit low, but not outright homophobia. Hell, by today's standards, liking twilight makes you more gay than being bisexual.
Apparently. I don't really have much of an opinion on it, so there we go!


By god I got off topic.... point is really though - there's no reason to lose faith in a specific group of people based on ethical origin. Although there's plenty of reason to lose faith in all of humanity in general - i.e finding that more people are stupid than not, so there's no reason to really meet someone and think differently. Seems logical enough to me, it's just the assumption you'll hate anyone before you meet them - it's no worse than a pessimistic attitude.

I'm a Brit and this place seems to have a really good attitude towards homosexuality for the most-part :3 It's more of an issue in America though where religion has a say in the law.

I agree that's it's wrong for certain prejudices to be one-sided, that's another issue that needs to be tackled. These days female>male and black>white prejudice is more common than male>female and white>black, almost like we're trying too hard to appease people who were discriminated against in the past.

 

[xdiesp]

You can't really compare a suffering disbelief in humanity's good will to an ignorant prejudice held by anglosaxons toward blacks.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

probably because people are socially conditioned to not like racism, but the media doesn't tell you how to feel about Misanthropy

?

actually I wouls say racism comes from social conditiong..not the other way around, people dislike racsim because (in the society we live in now) they can see how stupid and pointless it really is

sure distrusting others of a different race is natural to an extent (natural, not right) but beliving yourself to be superior based on somthing as silly as the amount of melanin in your skin...is stupidm, but then again I think racism is more of cultral thing

Ok I'm confused, if racism is hating somebody and thinking you better than them because of race, what would you call it if I hated another race because of their race, but I just thought I was about average? Example, lets say I hate all Jews/Middle Eastern people because I thought they where theives, but at the same time I didn't think much of myself? I never said that they are subhuman, just that I hate their race. What would I be called then?

all I ment was the term "social conditioning" has slighty negative conotations, you are probably correct, thats just how I was reading into it

well I used social conditioning on purpose because, (imo) telling me from a young age that I MUST hold an specific opinion on a certain topic (in this case, I MUST oppose the idea of racism) is social conditioning/indoctrination. Now you can argue that it is positive or good intended social conditioning, however it is social conditioning all the same. I question anybody who tells me what "my" opinion on a subject should be before I'm even given the chance to think about it on my own.

but seriously, what would you call those kinds of people? Prejudice, bigots?

that is correct...HOWEVER

I think the conclusion "rasicm is wrong" doesnt only have to come from social conditioning

I mean somone can grow up in a prejudiced environment..but mabye they can leave and learn thatthose certain veiws are perhaps a little ignorant (mabye by getting to know others of a differet ethnicity)..not saying it happens allt he time but it can happen

very true, but as I stated before I'm suspicious of accepting any opinion as my own because I'm told it's the "right" opinion to have on a given subject.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

Because people are more concerned about equality than they are with... well most anything else, actually. At least that's the way it is in America.

na, we Americans just pretend that "we don't see color", I think America is probably just secretly racist now.

It's not really that secret, it's just that everyone's distracted by the rampant islamophobia and heterosexism.

Well the Islam reaction comes with war, just like anti-German/Japanese feelings back in the 1940's. Heterosexism? wtf? Last I checked, most people tell me I'm not supposed to say, "that's so gay".

Bullshit. We're not "at war" with Islam or the majority of Islamic culture. We're not even in a state of war with a tiny fraction of Muslims, as opposed to being at war with the entire country of Germany, that is, most of German culture, and Japan, or all of Japanese culture.

False equivalency is false.

(I do believe that that poster was referring to the pro-hetereosexual/anti-homosexual attitude in much of the US today, regarding the second part. Not everywhere in the US is as civilized as, say, a college campus; there's still tons of people that think that gay people should have fewer rights than straights by virtue of having an uncontrollable personality trait alone).

ok I'm going to take the bait and state that homosexuality is not a "personality trait". Its either a choice or a genetic trait.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

Racism is discriminating against a particular group only for the reasons of "they're different than me". No matter how you slice it, that's a dick move.

Misanthropy is just disliking and distrusting people in general. It knows no discrimination.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Racism is associated with violence whereas misanthropy isn't.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

(...) Even at his worst, the general misanthrope is received better than a racist.

Why is this? Shouldn't it logically follow that misanthropes are worse people than racists if they do the racist's job and then some?

I've been delivering my fair share of loathing and hatred and racism wrapped in misanthropy for at least twenty years and counting now. It works like a charm. If you find yourself being openly racist, it's just no fun most of the time. Due to media attention and the doctored spin of post-WWII Stalin good, Hitler bad (even though they were both genocidal maniacs and then some), people are quite unreasonable and randomly selective in their perceptions.

If, however, you go full misanthrope, people are much less likely to feel offended, maybe because they've been conditioned by cartoons and comedians. If I openly vomit my misanthropy out in very clear words, I don't get sued or threatened or beaten up, people cheer and want to help me by calming me down with free sex and wine-infused discussions on Nietzsche.

Become a misanthrope, it makes life amongst humans so much more rewarding. Plus, you can call them sheep and ride them, too. If you meet a wolf, call him wolf and maybe you can ride him, too.

Why is that, you ask? Well, the misanthrope does not discriminate. The concept of misanthropy is easy to grasp and hard to master. Of course, it should only serve as a front because open philantropy will get you mugged and raped in the eye-socket in no time.

 

[ToMegaTherion]

Misanthropy is the general hatred a person has for humanity in general. That person is, more or less, human. Therefore, the hatred they feel is in some way a form of self-loathing.

The instinctive reaction for such a person tends more towards pity rather than reactionary scorn.

As a misanthrope myself I concur.

 

[Haratu]

Misanthropes are generally permitted becasue all the major religions believe humans are imperfect and need to strive for better. Basically religions say humans are cursed and pathetic. How they get out of this pathetic existence and make the world better is up to the religion.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

As a misanthrope, I find this thread quite racist against my people. Not that I give a fuck about other misanthopes of course.

What'cha gona do now eh?

 

[Samuel Goodall]

Alright nothing that hasn't been said at least twelve times but eloquence is always the issue. Racists are picking on a specific group which is a bigger no-no then being a general mongrel. All proper misanthropes aren't as likely to do some drastic like murder someone because we place others on the same level as us and don't want to sink down to the level of the humanity we hate.

Misanthropy can be hipster and fake at times. Proper misanthropy is not caused by self failure, but by seeing people everywhere make the same stupid mistakes again and again. People on the whole are idiots, rarely showing forethought or thinking the entire thing through in 99% of situations if that. When the first thing I see every morning is war, destruction and pop culture I have at least some reason to despise the species that creates it.

Pop culture bores me for reasons that it gets stuck ahead of new such as 1000 killed in an earthquake because some celebrities baby looks like it has put on a kilo.

 

[AT God]

As a misanthrope, I think about this a lot, and my conclusion is that misanthropy is not as irrational. Racism is more irrational because despite having a different culture or appearance, any differences between races is so negligible that it is absurd to hate one race and not all of them. Misanthropy is more logical in that it is a hate/disdain for humans in general, which can be considered rational from a human psychological standpoint.

 

[zombieshark6666]

Everybody knows that humans are disgusting crass, it's just that the misanthropes suffer more from it because they care more. Might just be general empathy towards them.

Racists are lazy, hating just one group and all. They're just bums.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Misanthropes don't discriminate. Also, it's usually a psychological condition arising from not getting laid.

 

[RobCoxxy]

Because hating everyone/everything isn't racist.

 

[RagTagBand]

Misanthropy is an equal opportunities system of loathing.

Also, Sarcastic-tard high 5 for everyone in this thread confusing "Misanthropes" for "Socio/psychopaths" and thinking any true misanthrope must either be suicidal or a murderer. Hats off, seriously, it takes effort to be that stupid.

 

[chadachada123]

Because people are more concerned about equality than they are with... well most anything else, actually. At least that's the way it is in America.

na, we Americans just pretend that "we don't see color", I think America is probably just secretly racist now.

It's not really that secret, it's just that everyone's distracted by the rampant islamophobia and heterosexism.

Well the Islam reaction comes with war, just like anti-German/Japanese feelings back in the 1940's. Heterosexism? wtf? Last I checked, most people tell me I'm not supposed to say, "that's so gay".

Bullshit. We're not "at war" with Islam or the majority of Islamic culture. We're not even in a state of war with a tiny fraction of Muslims, as opposed to being at war with the entire country of Germany, that is, most of German culture, and Japan, or all of Japanese culture.

False equivalency is false.

(I do believe that that poster was referring to the pro-hetereosexual/anti-homosexual attitude in much of the US today, regarding the second part. Not everywhere in the US is as civilized as, say, a college campus; there's still tons of people that think that gay people should have fewer rights than straights by virtue of having an uncontrollable personality trait alone).

ok I'm going to take the bait and state that homosexuality is not a "personality trait". Its either a choice or a genetic trait.

I would say that it is most certainly not a choice, and can be shown as such with a simple "could you choose to be attracted to someone?" Among other arguments, it's not something that someone decides, like not deciding that you're interested in redheads or shy girls or what-have-you.

Regarding the second, though, I must also disagree. [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_birth_order_and_male_sexual_orientation[/link] There is a correlation between a person's sexuality and how many older brothers they have. Genetics *alone* could not explain this, though the mother's hormones could. The thought being that, from a evolutionary standpoint, having many straight sons has diminishing returns, whereas having some gay sons increases the survivability of the daughters' children [link]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691850/[/link]. That is, women with gay brothers are more likely to have children and for those children to be better-raised, etc. So, while we have a biological reason for homosexual inclination in terms of genetics, it simply cannot be genes alone, but a combination of genetic predisposition (presumably to a varying degree in ALL humans) AND both early upbringing and hormonal changes from the mother during pregnancy. A good way to look at it is a set of twin, with one twin liking shy girls but the other outgoing girls, despite having the same genes, or, really, a set of twins with one being gay but the other straight.

Were it purely genetic, we'd see the children of lesbian/gay couples (with at least one biological parent being gay) statistically far more likely to be gay, when that isn't the case. This kind of explanation also excludes bisexual people (for the sake of simplicity, I'll leave out gender identity, a very separate issue).

 

[ramboondiea]

pretty much everyone goes through a stage or two of misanthropy. where as people dont generally slip in and out of racism. atleast thats my reasoning

 

[Substitute Troll]

Because we don't like stupid people, and anyone who is a racist is stupid. No matter their IQ level or how well they did in math.

Misanthropes on the other hand, don't have to be stupid to hate everyone.