Day 6 : Is it ever a good idea to argue with a stupid person?

NO. duh.

Some famous guy in a famous black 'n white picture famously said - 
"Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come."

I think nothing is as tiresome as an idea for which there never is a right time.

Everyone has obviously must have had their share of lousy ideas and ideals in their youth that the wisdom of age and experience has taught to be complete folly. But there are yet a bunch of raging buffoons out there that not only still hold onto these notions but over time have grown to take these buffoonery as decree. There are time when you would give anything to grab their heads and yank it about in hope of help some sense seep into it. But there is never really much hope of that either. You are a usually sensible person. And you generally like to talk sense. These stupid people would have nothing to do with sense. They cannot stand the idea of having to fight on the rational thought. Why fight fair and lose when you can be a bigot and win?

An idea is like a fart. Everyone thinks there's smell of roses. And when accused of a bad rip people would just as likely, blame on anybody else in their vicinity. That is the easiest way of an unpleasant situation. Just relieve yourself of any responsibility of any outcome of your bigotry and put the blame on anyone vulnerable to it.

People love to hate. People love differences within themselves. Anything that would enable them to stand above other people in stature. On would enable them to be able to deem them queer and rally other like minded zealots against them. We love to hate on anyone who is not like us. We love to think of them as inferior or vile. We like to think what they do or wear or love or pray to are against the rules of Nature and religion. They would regret their choices in this life or the next. And we would get the chance to point at their torment and say smugly. "Told you so."

The idea that we are any superior or blameless just by virtue of our ideals and belief is stupid
The idea that people who don't look or talk or mate or pray like are evil is stupid.
The idea that people different from us are out to takeover the world and recruit our children to their schemes is stupid.
The idea that we are only can keep the world pure and devoid of their evil is stupid.
The idea that we are any better than anyone else in any way is STUPID.

We are equally weak and delinquent. Each with their own measure of guilt in them. We are equally victims. equally culprit. Our strengths comes from our uniqueness and the differences that we bring to the table.

If we were all the same and why would <Whoever You Pray To> make us so different?
Even <He/She/It> celebrated our uniqueness and shades of humanity and beliefs.

Why hate? Why discriminate? Why so stupid?

Day 78 : Between the World and Me - Book Review

Almost done with this book now. This is a new writer to me, and I don't really jump for new writers that often. The only reason I know of his existence even is from his appearance on Daily Show. (P.S. Jon Stewart, you're missed!). On this episode, the current host of Trevor Noah and Coates were discussing the mass incarceration situation and the sort of new-age slavery this thing is turning out to be. I had just come from seeing the Vice documentary on the same topic. So I thought this guy seems to know a lot about this topic, why don't I pick up this book he's spouting on the show about. Bad idea.

Don't get me wrong, this guy seems to be a well-respected knowledgeable person of the things he is talking about. But the book was so tough to complete. That is not necessarily due to uncomfortable topic of racial discrimination it is talking about. The difficulty is more to do with the writing itself. This topic provides so much material and there are so many ways the writer can choose to present it to the reader. But Coates just seems to go on and in an angry rant about color and of the people who think they are "white". He fashions it as a long letter to his fifteen-year-old son to educate him about the atrocities his community still faces in this day and age. And how everyone not them, is out to murder their "black body".

I am from India. We don't have this variety of discrimination in our country. There are way too many shades of colored people here to keep track of whom to hate on. We just make do with typical the class or religious or sexual discrimination that is common to most cultures. I also won't say people here don't hold prejudice against any dark skinned people. But I think that is just an extension of the class discrimination we have. Here the dark skin indicates you are a member of the poorer peasant-class of people and the lighter skinned people are superior/wealthier to you. (People who think that are essentially orthodox and stupid though. Yeah tradition, bitch!)

In reality there are moments in this book were Coates himself comes as a bit of a racist. He clearly has enough reason to hold a grudge against a lot people. He says much about a young man he knew personally that got shot down by a cop. Also a bit about the way he gets stopped without just cause by a cop while he was en-route to meet his girlfriend. All this anger does have its justifications. There are always catalysts to initiate this sort of  white rage in any person. But such carpet hatred and anger towards one specific group, is exactly what you are going through as well. Why would you want others to go through the same thing as well? I am sure a few people from Big Six would agree to this. While I concede, I might not have seen or experienced this sort of life. I wouldn't know what you go through on a daily basis. But - Discrimination and prejudice, is never an answer to discrimination and prejudice. It is just leads to another 'snake eats its own tail' situation.

The book did have a few good moments. Especially when he talks about grown-ass men abandoning their children, putting on loose shirts and bling to going out on the street corners and play gangsta. The book also is deeply rooted in black-subculture and talks a lot about its big names. I've even got to introduced to a lot of new personalities here that I would definitely google more about. (Otis Redding!)

And that's about it. This book is one long essay by a guy, ranting about how his people are pressed to ground for centuries and how angry he feels when another cop puts down a colored person without anyone else batting an eye about it. That very might be the case but this guy just didn't word his argument too well.

Heeding to various suggestions my next read -  "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin