A curiosity about the South, for people who live here

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

My dumb idea, my shame, was attempting to regionalize the rank stupidity and bad behavior of humans.

I was wrong to do so.  All humans are equally vile, all over the world.  End of story.

It could be.

Maybe I need to find some way to go soak up some other flavor of vileness. European, maybe. Until I'm eighty or so.
I've had enough southern vileness to last fifty lifetimes.

[P3nT4gR4m]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

[P3nT4gR4m]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

Good term - "Mutants" made me wonder - what causes them to mutate. Maybe, in some cases, it's genetic - they're born that way? Can't help thinking, in my case, it wasn't genetic. It was a glitch in the system, shook up my brain and, when the dust had settled, I was different. Maybe they're not all lost causes. Statistically, pragmatically, the safe assumption is they are useless but I always keep an open mind. Maybe the spark will ignite. Guilty until proven innocent but innocence is never completely ruled out.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

Good term - "Mutants" made me wonder - what causes them to mutate. Maybe, in some cases, it's genetic - they're born that way? Can't help thinking, in my case, it wasn't genetic. It was a glitch in the system, shook up my brain and, when the dust had settled, I was different. Maybe they're not all lost causes. Statistically, pragmatically, the safe assumption is they are useless but I always keep an open mind. Maybe the spark will ignite. Guilty until proven innocent but innocence is never completely ruled out.

Any number of things could lead to mutation. In my case it was a childhood filled with wonderful stories about impossible places, shattered by the grim reality of the real world, where things are neither wonderful nor impossible. I demand a universe that is decidedly more awe-inspiring than the dump we actually live in.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

Good term - "Mutants" made me wonder - what causes them to mutate. Maybe, in some cases, it's genetic - they're born that way? Can't help thinking, in my case, it wasn't genetic. It was a glitch in the system, shook up my brain and, when the dust had settled, I was different. Maybe they're not all lost causes. Statistically, pragmatically, the safe assumption is they are useless but I always keep an open mind. Maybe the spark will ignite. Guilty until proven innocent but innocence is never completely ruled out.

New thread "What makes a mutant"?

Maybe a combination of genetics and circumstances - people can go through the same traumas and some mutate, some just dig their heels in.

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

Good term - "Mutants" made me wonder - what causes them to mutate. Maybe, in some cases, it's genetic - they're born that way? Can't help thinking, in my case, it wasn't genetic. It was a glitch in the system, shook up my brain and, when the dust had settled, I was different. Maybe they're not all lost causes. Statistically, pragmatically, the safe assumption is they are useless but I always keep an open mind. Maybe the spark will ignite. Guilty until proven innocent but innocence is never completely ruled out.

Any number of things could lead to mutation. In my case it was a childhood filled with wonderful stories about impossible places, shattered by the grim reality of the real world, where things are neither wonderful nor impossible. I demand a universe that is decidedly more awe-inspiring than the dump we actually live in.

Most people have that in their childhood. Kids books and movies have got to be at least 90% fantasy. See what I mean?

[AFK]

All humans are damn dirty apes. A minority accept this as a fact and aspire to become more than that. Regardless of what degree of success they manage to accomplish, as long as they are fixed on this goal, I view them as more than human. I view them as worthwhile and would go out of my way to stop them from dying, as opposed to throwing them razor blades and laughing my fucking head off.

Yeah, what I said.  Mutants.

Good term - "Mutants" made me wonder - what causes them to mutate. Maybe, in some cases, it's genetic - they're born that way? Can't help thinking, in my case, it wasn't genetic. It was a glitch in the system, shook up my brain and, when the dust had settled, I was different. Maybe they're not all lost causes. Statistically, pragmatically, the safe assumption is they are useless but I always keep an open mind. Maybe the spark will ignite. Guilty until proven innocent but innocence is never completely ruled out.

I think some times it is nature, sometimes nurture, sometimes a little of both.  For me I think it is a little of both. I had a crazy-ass grandmother who championed weirdness and the art of playing games.  I think I would probably be a significantly different person if she hadn't been in my life, and also if she didn't leave my life when I was only 13.  I think that death made something snap inside and helped wake up an inner resiliency that motivated constant questioning and discovery.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

New thread "What makes a mutant"?

Easy.  The mere fact that you WANT to be one.

Repost from the Nashville thread:

Here's the thing you should listen to, if you never listen to another thing I say:  We're supposed to be BETTER than that.  Not because we are inherently superior, but because we KNOW better, we have seen the awful shape that humanity has taken and we know that all it takes to maintain our status as bipeds is to MAKE THE EFFORT.

We're not unique in the ability to do so...We ARE unique in our supposed commitment to do so.

And that's the ass-kicker right there, isn't it?  Where has the commitment to be a mutant gone?  Where has the drive to remain as an individual gone?  SINCE WHEN DO WE, AS DISCORDIANS, BUY INTO THEIR GAME?

Does that imply the "Other"?  You're damn right it does.  There are two kinds of people in the world, and WE AREN'T EITHER KIND.

So wake the fuck up.



Phone's ringing.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Incidentally, I hope nobody was too pissed at my behavior earlier.  It's one of the 5 stages of Roger Baboonery.

1.  Boneheaded assertion.
2.  Nigel/LMNO/ECH/whoever proves me wrong.
3.  UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!
4.  Acceptance.
5.  Deep embarassment about dropping on all fours and showing my red, baboon ass.

Also, Nigel is too Nigel, and ECH is more H than his name would lead any reasonable person to believe.

Anyway, this isn't an argument or an excuse.  It's just this thing I do.  So everybody SHUT UP.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

My dumb idea, my shame, was attempting to regionalize the rank stupidity and bad behavior of humans.

I was wrong to do so.  All humans are equally vile, all over the world.  End of story.

I think that about sums it up. I think it's incredibly important to remember that all groups of human beings are capable of the same kinds of atrocities, and that the only thing that can help us to be different is to be aware of it. Imagine what monsters the history books would make the Union out to be if the Confederates had won... and bear in mind that they would, in a sense, be right.

Something I said to E.O.T. the other night, but can't remember if I posted it here, is that I don't believe that wars are ever fought for moral reasons. Wars are fought for resources, and morality is manipulated to justify them.

The flip side is that all groups of humans are equally capable of love, tenderness, intelligence, and goodness. The question really is, how do we, as societies and individuals within societies, ensure that those are the qualities that are acted on?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Incidentally, I hope nobody was too pissed at my behavior earlier.  It's one of the 5 stages of Roger Baboonery.

1.  Boneheaded assertion.
2.  Nigel/LMNO/ECH/whoever proves me wrong.
3.  UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!
4.  Acceptance.
5.  Deep embarassment about dropping on all fours and showing my red, baboon ass.

Also, Nigel is too Nigel, and ECH is more H than his name would lead any reasonable person to believe.

Anyway, this isn't an argument or an excuse.  It's just this thing I do.  So everybody SHUT UP.

We all do it sometimes. You just do it harder than other people.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Incidentally, I hope nobody was too pissed at my behavior earlier.  It's one of the 5 stages of Roger Baboonery.

1.  Boneheaded assertion.
2.  Nigel/LMNO/ECH/whoever proves me wrong.
3.  UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!
4.  Acceptance.
5.  Deep embarassment about dropping on all fours and showing my red, baboon ass.

Also, Nigel is too Nigel, and ECH is more H than his name would lead any reasonable person to believe.

Anyway, this isn't an argument or an excuse.  It's just this thing I do.  So everybody SHUT UP.

We all do it sometimes. You just do it harder than other people.

I have more ass.

Anyway, it plagues my mind that I have to go through all those steps.  I mean, for all the yammering about Truth that I do, I should be more able to see my own mistakes.

But instead, I have to bash my head into the wall for a while before I can get anything to sink in.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And now, apparently, replying to posts as you read them, because you aren't some middle class white collar who sits in front of a computer at work fucking off all day staying immediately up to date on every post on a forum, is "keeping this shitshow dragging even further through the dirt".

Yeah, sorry, some of us aren't so shiny.

-Nigel (waiting for someone to come along and tell me that I'm just stirring up shit and all of this was resolved yesterday, when I wasn't here)

No, it wasn't resolved.  But it seemed that we were comfortable (or at least we had stopped bringing it up) with the non-resolution, and were ready to move on.


But yeah, taking time to read through an entire thread before hitting "reply" is definitely something a middle-class prick would do.


Fuck it, it's one of those days.  I'm out.

Those of us who lack the certainty of leisure time might not know whether we are or are not going to make it to the end of the thread before we run out of time/something calls us away. You seem to be implying that if we don't have the time to do so, we should not participate at all.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

On the other hand, rate the following organizations by how racist they probably are:

National Association for the Advancement of White People
Congressional White Caucus
White American Association
etc.

I have no inclination to argue that the above fictional organizations should exist, but the fact that the actual organizations exist with moral and social impunity speaks volumes. Why do we believe that the best way to resolve deeply ingrained double standards in our culture is to institute new double standards? Why not just eliminate double standards? Why are "Black Pride" and "Hispanic Pride" something to celebrate, and "White Pride" is something to disdain? I understand the history and I'm NOT ADVOCATING WHITE PRIDE. I'm saying if we really want to move past race, we should probably move past all races, even the ones with unfortunate histories.

This is a whole other, complex topic, upon which my thoughts are not always popular. Unfortunately, I'm dead-dog tired, my tendonitis is killing me, and my belly hurts, so I'm going to save it for now, but I will say that

1. White pride makes no sense. German pride, Polish pride, Irish pride, Italian pride, etc. do. Black pride doesn't make much sense either, unless you're talking specifically about the cultural subgroupings of the American negro.

2. The organizations you named primarily exist because there was a need for them due to our society's problems. I think that the missions and names are primitive, but they are reflective of the times they sprang from.