Sterotypes came into being for a reason. Sho ’nuff, they ain’t always right–matter of fact I suspect they are wrong more than they are right.

“Tell it to the marines.” came about during WW II when the navy was transporting the marines. The marines kept asking questions about ship operations. The navy folks kept telling them outlandish stories which SOME of the marines believed. It became a common saying whenever someone caught on that he was being lied to, to say, “Tell it to the marines.” The saying exists to this day.

Here’s a question for you–you’ve got ten seconds to answer. Who is taller–Sally or George? Obviously, you’re gonna guess “George”. If you have time, you’ll look at both Sally and George and THEN make your guess. If it’s close, you may even get out a tape measure and measure both of them. Good luck in doing it in ten seconds.

(If you refuse to judge, saying that SOME girls are taller than SOME men, I wish you luck in this world–you’re gonna need it. Wot’s the old saying?? ANY fool can make the right decision when he has all the information.)

When you have time, you can afford to wait for further information. When you DON’T have time, you make your decision quickly, based upon whatever information you have–be that sterotypes, mean/average characteristics of group membership, past experiences with such folk, whether or not they have tatoos, hair color, etc.

If you think about it, the same “procedure” applies to darn near everything–cars, furniture, tools, etc. Most folks think in terms of concepts–as in “chair”. If necessary, they refine it to “leather chair” or “kitchen chair”; then perhaps to “wooden kitchen chair”; and then to “walnut kitchen chair with padded seat”. The amount of “refinement” depends upon the perceived (future/type of?) interaction between the person and the “object/person” and the amount of time/resources available to gather information. (Can you imagine the resources required to interview everyone that applied to a popular university without the benefit of screening most out through an inexpensive test? How much “effort” do you put into judging whether or not someone would make a good date vs make a good wife?)

always,
tony

Once upon a time, I was managing a unit at Calif DMV. I needed to fill a position, and went to get approval from the Affirmative Action coordinator.

He stated to me quite confidently that my boss was a racist because he had hired no Mexicans. I told him, “Please don’t tell my boss’s wife that he’s a racist.” The guy looked puzzled, then asked, “Why not?” I replied, “Because she is Mexican. Her maiden name was Enriquez.”

The surprising thing was it didn’t faze him at all.

We then went on to talk about the gal I wanted to hire. He said, “Shouldn’t you get someone bi-lingual?” (code, of course). I protested strongly, saying, “Hell, man, the position is in research. Why would I need someone bi-lingual.” He said, “Well, I don’t think I’ll approve this, I think you need someone bi-lingual.” I said, “O.K., I’ll get someone bilingual–will that satisfy you?” He said, “Sure.” To which I replied, “This gal IS bilingual–she has an MA in Spanish.” That didn’t faze him either–he just said, “You know what I mean.”

Such are the people that are “leading us” and have the power. Much like the Ag gal that didn’t want to help the white folk, they abuse their power greatly.

Gawd help us if we don’t get Obamacare repealed.

always,
tony
We

I’ve seen this “definition” before. HOWEVER, look at it from a scientific point of view.

Take a group of people. Isolate them for a few thousand or million years. Allow mutations for “survival”. Take another group of people. Isolate THEM for a few thousand years. Allow mutations for “survival”, but require DIFFERENT skills for survival.

Do you or anyone believe that these groups will be “equal” in any sense of the word? The “problem” is the left tends to place an evaluative dimension (good/bad) on damn near every statement. Those two groups WILL be different. Whether one group is “superior” or “inferior” to the other will depend upon what criterion is used. I suggest to you that “skin color” is only one criterion upon which the groups differ. Go to any track meet and try to make the argument that blacks and whites are “equal”.

rebel without a job,
tony

Dictionaries aren’t used very much, these days…

Steve, the amount of “reverse racism” by our governments at all levels and by the PC crowd get me to spluttering in frustration. So I ain’t goin’ there!

I ran into the term “racist” and “bigot” for the first time in a college class. I asked a simple question:

“What’s ‘wrong’ with defacto segregation?”

There were no rational answers. I answered all the objections with factual evidence. After a half hour of rather heated debate, there was silence for about 30 seconds, then one guy said, “I don’t care how much education you have, a bigot is still a bigot.”

I didn’t understand the logic of that, so I went home and looked in the dictionary for the definition of “bigot”. It said,

a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.

At the time, I thought, “Hell, it ain’t ME that’s closing my eyes to evidence.”

Much like the line, “Half the kids are below average in intelligence.”, we take perfectly reasonable statements, dress them up so they look stupid, then market them to the population.

To this day, I don’t quite know what “racism” is. It must have many meanings, because everyone seems to think it is something different.

Same with “prejudice”. I don’t know what it means to “prejudge”. Does it mean you have to have ALL the facts before making a decision? That’s a recipe for paralysis.

Let me ask this one question. Who is taller, Sally or Tom. If that’s all the information you have, you probably would guess “Tom”, since it is presumed Tom is male and Sally is female, and ON THE AVERAGE males are taller than females.

To those that would say, “You can’t tell, since some females are taller than some males.” I say, “You are correct. However, if you must have all the facts before making decisions, you’re not going to be able to make many decisions. Good luck making it in this world–you’re gonna need it.”

rebel without a job,
tony

I’m reminded of the old Red Skelton joke. He said he only bought stocks that went up. If they didn’t go up, he didn’t buy them.

I need to devise an “index” for government stupidity, so I can sell covered calls and retire a rich man. No one could ever short it, since that would automatically be a losing bet.

Thanks for a great article!
james

Careful there our leader Linda would never stup to voodoo. LOL, well maybe!

I have also been thinking about the term Racist lately, I think in many ways people have racism vs. prejudice mixed up. They are two different things.