We are heading towards an Idiocracy!

[Kim]

i dont think i could use a gun but i am planning on getting like at least mace or something. maybe a knife too. we gotta arm ourselves against a world that wants us dead

[Token]

my wife has decided that if we do get a gun i'm not allowed to buy it on account of the whole not white thing.

i honestly can't say i fault her reasoning there.

[Kim]

oh yeah just a heads up trump folks are citing the japanese internment camps as precedent to justify having a registry of muslims so like... yeah

---------- Post added at 10:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Solid Snek

We've entered into a strange new parallel universe where when I'll find news articles about Glenn Beck I'll read most of them, somberly nod and say, "Help us, save us from the alt-right Glenn Beck."
What the fuck have we done

just dont somberly nod to this

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Kim

just dont somberly nod to this

...You'd think I'd have learned to never give Glenn Beck any benefit of the doubt by now

[Kim]

What Was The Nerd

This article very clearly and smartly draws a connection from white male nerd narratives to the new surge of fascism in America today. It's a very important read.

Though sports culture continues to be a domain of intense patriarchal production and violence — rape jokes are just locker room talk, after all — these days jocks in the news are just as likely to be taking a knee against American racism in the image of Colin Kaepernick. The nerds, on the other hand, are shit-posting for a new American Reich. The nerd/jock distinction has always been a myth designed to hide social conflict and culturally re-center white male subjectivity. Now that the nerds have fully arrived, their revenge looks uglier than anything the jocks ever dreamed.

[Solid Snake]

That article hits very close to home for Conservative Snek, I'm pretty sure I nearly fell into the Ayn Rand libertarian depression death thrall at least once while I was active posting here.

I think it's simultaneously worth noting that social isolation and depression are often precursors to that awful behavior, and that said circumstances do not excuse the stereotypical white male nerd's descent into that behavior. I'm convinced that part of the solution -- ironically, a solution that would benefit these 'nerds' that can only happen in a progressive socialist state -- is a much stronger mental health safety net. For everyone, including these jerks, as well as oppressed minorities.

One of my concerns regarding modern society is that we're moving away from any tangible sense of physical community, and I worry what that means for people who isolate themselves on computer screens and don't have healthy social outlets with friends and acquaintances to experience life with. Often I think privileged white guys are beneficiaries of great institutional advantages by virtue of their skin color, gender and orientation, but they (like myself, in some respects) still lack a place in society among peers, which drives the fatally flawed narrative among the privileged nerds that they are being oppressed, an argument that I think stems from feeling utterly alone.

There are times where I even envy some of my friends who are minorities because, in spite of the persecutions they face as a result of the way society lines the odds against them, often the oppressed form communities to protect each other. I have two close friends who both have very strong ethnic communities that have supported them through common bonds that I feel I lack with others. Fortunately, I'm not an asshole, but I can see why some Caucasian nerd dipshits might actually view their white power identity as less an opportunity to spew hatred and more an opportunity to finally have an excuse to bond with someone by virtue of a shared identity that presumably gives their sorry lives 'meaning' and 'purpose.'

I'm not trying to provide those idiots any excuses, though. In the end, all the nerds who support causes like Gamergate and Drumpf have uplifted toxic ideologies, and they should all pay for the gravity of their sins. I just wonder how we move forward to create a society where so many people on all sides of the equation aren't so disconnected from humanity. Even the most introverted among us need to occasionally feel a part of a greater whole.

It's good to be reminded that Revenge of the Nerds was always an awful movie, though.

[pochercoaster]

I haven't read the article because I don't have time, but I think white men feeling like they lack a place or whatever is more due to being coddled and not having to deal with rejection? So instead forming their own sense of security and coping mechanisms they just buy into the myth that they were raised with, that they are superior. Like there is a lot of infighting and selling out inside groups for supporting minorities too. Though I'm just one chromosome away from being Prince of the Universe, I certainly rarely feel any support or kinship from other women because more often than not they got internalized sexism too. Like whatever. I wish I were a man so that all the times people didn't take me seriously because I'm a woman wouldn't happen. I wish I were a man so that I didn't have to deal with the deluge of sexual harassment that awaited me upon hitting puberty. It's fucking stressful to be a woman and there is no "sisterhood" there helping me, just a burning anger and cynicism that I try not to let eat away at me.

I don't really wish I were a man but that's because I can't imagine not being myself. But I wish I didn't put up with so much bullshit.

Edit: there is also something to be said about how fragile masculinity as is commonly conceived too. But white men generally don't have to deal with basically everybody in the world rejecting some aspect of you that wasn't your choice. Whatever community you get from that isn't freaking worth it because you still have to fight being screwed over in jobs, in intimate relationships, and in your own fucking family.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by pochercoaster

I haven't read the article because I don't have time, but I think white men feeling like they lack a place or whatever is more due to being coddled and not having to deal with rejection and forming their own sense of security and coping mechanisms as a result?

That's pretty likely; though I think to expand on your point, it's less that white men don't get rejected in the 'real world' and more that white men are often told by privileged fathers and grandfathers and other male role models that they will face no resistance on their path to success, and therefore are confronted with the illusion of having failed when they can't replicate their privileged ancestors' paths to conventional 'success' because we now live in a world where we're slowly, gradually, so very slowly opening up opportunities to women and minorities and white men aren't just competing against only themselves anymore.
(Though yes, it's going to take a lot more for the playing field to truly be equal -- and it's disconcerting that so many white men can't even handle this marginal shift towards equality.)

Personally, I'm not at all interested in the idea of a strong social support network and mental health options for just white men, I'm kind of hoping we can ultimately create a society where safety nets exist for everyone and everyone can pursue opportunities to feel more deeply connected with their peers and develop lasting, nurturing friendships.

A big part of that is lifting up women and challenging misogyny, but I also think a big part of it is challenging assumptions of masculinity in a patriarchal society, as our stereotypes with gender roles also prevent men from being more authentic with one another.

[Aerozord]

Been gone due to getting my computer upgrades up and running so abit late but I just have to say, CALLED IT. Called it in freakin 2014. I mention this not to be petty but to also remind people I also predicted he will serve two terms. So be ready for that.

[Token]

These people are depressed and lonely because they're terrible. It's not a precursor to anything, it's the direct result. It's hard to make friends when you think the world owes you. It's hard to have a relationship when you only care about your own gratification. If people feel isolated for being selfish pricks, they damn well deserve it.