The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I live in a very fearful middle class white family, on the edge of the middle of nowhere, in Wales. The chances of seeing any non-whites in my day to day goings is more than slim.
I've always taught myself to keep any open mind, and admitting that I can be wrong and misguided to be a heavy part of that. No matter if I settle on something solidly, I can still change my mind. Maybe I'm fickle, maybe I have a wide range, whatever, what matters is I will face whatever I wish to.
I'm terrified of change, completely and utterly. All the passion I have for wanting to travel, to meet people, to engage in this ridiculous little ride we call life is squashed almost completely by stupid, stupid fear. I'm happy to notice that my fear does fade, eventually, but it takes a long time, and I hate the fact it's been driven so hard into me.
But what can I blame? Should I even blame anything but myself for my own fear? Maybe.. after all, I'm fighting it, and perhaps with that mindset then I can look deeper into why it's even there to begin with.
My family are very simple, racist without realising people. I don't wish to belittle them at all, but they have encouraged a fear in myself of my neighbours, of travelling, and of the world around me. My mother is terrified of even leaving a range of about 30 miles of home, my father who can easily make sweeping comments on people and the world around us. It conflicts all I try to believe, and pushes me down so hard.
I'm thinking of going to University again, I'm finding myself more and more interested in psychology, and I think it'd make a nice scientific balance to the creative side of me, which I think I put under too much pressure. My parents wish me to stay inside Wales, fear of me travelling too far away. I feel like just another desperate child surrounded by more over-bearing-over-protectiveness that I can easily deal with... and as much as I don't want to completely be rid of my parents, I cannot deal with their illogical fear, it drives me mad. It has forever driven me further away from my own family, their fear stopping me from ever telling them the truth about myself, the illness I have been through. I feel like a child again, writing this, but these are simple fears, ones I don't often face.
How can I live so passionately in a world where my every movement is pinned down by fear, fear of myself and the fear projected by others? Why cannot trust exist in where I wish to tread, even if it really is just out of curiosity?
It's a very shallow topic, I know, but it's one that truly bothers me. I just hate the fact that I struggle so hard to fight all the things I've been brought up to believe, to fight the instinct to stay at home, safe little hermits in safe little caves, while all the time being surrounded by fearful clingy people who do it only because they worry about me.
But surely this is the very foundation of freedom, of an open, fearless mind? We are to fear nothing but fear itself, with our greatest enemy we could ever face being ourselves. But in so much confusion, especially trying to juggle a few different personalities in my mind, life is becoming far too difficult in trying to quash the worry, the fear.
Stupid battles of the mind that never cease! Damn it all.
I've always taught myself to keep any open mind, and admitting that I can be wrong and misguided to be a heavy part of that. No matter if I settle on something solidly, I can still change my mind. Maybe I'm fickle, maybe I have a wide range, whatever, what matters is I will face whatever I wish to.
I'm terrified of change, completely and utterly. All the passion I have for wanting to travel, to meet people, to engage in this ridiculous little ride we call life is squashed almost completely by stupid, stupid fear. I'm happy to notice that my fear does fade, eventually, but it takes a long time, and I hate the fact it's been driven so hard into me.
But what can I blame? Should I even blame anything but myself for my own fear? Maybe.. after all, I'm fighting it, and perhaps with that mindset then I can look deeper into why it's even there to begin with.
My family are very simple, racist without realising people. I don't wish to belittle them at all, but they have encouraged a fear in myself of my neighbours, of travelling, and of the world around me. My mother is terrified of even leaving a range of about 30 miles of home, my father who can easily make sweeping comments on people and the world around us. It conflicts all I try to believe, and pushes me down so hard.
I'm thinking of going to University again, I'm finding myself more and more interested in psychology, and I think it'd make a nice scientific balance to the creative side of me, which I think I put under too much pressure. My parents wish me to stay inside Wales, fear of me travelling too far away. I feel like just another desperate child surrounded by more over-bearing-over-protectiveness that I can easily deal with... and as much as I don't want to completely be rid of my parents, I cannot deal with their illogical fear, it drives me mad. It has forever driven me further away from my own family, their fear stopping me from ever telling them the truth about myself, the illness I have been through. I feel like a child again, writing this, but these are simple fears, ones I don't often face.
How can I live so passionately in a world where my every movement is pinned down by fear, fear of myself and the fear projected by others? Why cannot trust exist in where I wish to tread, even if it really is just out of curiosity?
It's a very shallow topic, I know, but it's one that truly bothers me. I just hate the fact that I struggle so hard to fight all the things I've been brought up to believe, to fight the instinct to stay at home, safe little hermits in safe little caves, while all the time being surrounded by fearful clingy people who do it only because they worry about me.
But surely this is the very foundation of freedom, of an open, fearless mind? We are to fear nothing but fear itself, with our greatest enemy we could ever face being ourselves. But in so much confusion, especially trying to juggle a few different personalities in my mind, life is becoming far too difficult in trying to quash the worry, the fear.
Stupid battles of the mind that never cease! Damn it all.
Page:
Grix Thraves wrote:
> That's rather surprising, admittedly... the point I was trying to make
> there however was surrounding my family's kinda natural racism and
> xenophobic attitude to anyone -but- middle class white people,
> because well, that's all there really is around here.
Yeah, that's the problem with the current generation of "oldies". Whenever my mother watches TV, and sees a black person get interviewed for more than half a minute, she subconciously switches channels. I've mentioned this to her, yet she still continues do it like its normal.
It's all to do with the way we're brought up; just a few of decades ago, ideas and morals about those not of the same country of origin/race didn't exist; as a result, parents of 40+ are (in general) naturally racist - it was the way they were brought up, the "pure" world that they lived in.
Of course, as time passes children and their parents first become more "tolerant" of people of different races/religions, and later on accept and integrate them.
However, for the forseeable future, it seems that we're all living in the same country, but divided into different areas; much in the same way as buses were split into two sections - white and black people decades ago.
Hence the reason why some schools are almost entirely Asian, while most entirely white; Britain is at that uncomfortable stage where we've just begun to accept each others' beliefs and values, but not willing to share/explain them to those foreign to them.
Light wrote:
>I guess everyone has to have something they can relate to other people about on at least some level.
Yup, and that something is porn.
> That's rather surprising, admittedly... the point I was trying to make
> there however was surrounding my family's kinda natural racism and
> xenophobic attitude to anyone -but- middle class white people,
> because well, that's all there really is around here.
Yeah, that's the problem with the current generation of "oldies". Whenever my mother watches TV, and sees a black person get interviewed for more than half a minute, she subconciously switches channels. I've mentioned this to her, yet she still continues do it like its normal.
It's all to do with the way we're brought up; just a few of decades ago, ideas and morals about those not of the same country of origin/race didn't exist; as a result, parents of 40+ are (in general) naturally racist - it was the way they were brought up, the "pure" world that they lived in.
Of course, as time passes children and their parents first become more "tolerant" of people of different races/religions, and later on accept and integrate them.
However, for the forseeable future, it seems that we're all living in the same country, but divided into different areas; much in the same way as buses were split into two sections - white and black people decades ago.
Hence the reason why some schools are almost entirely Asian, while most entirely white; Britain is at that uncomfortable stage where we've just begun to accept each others' beliefs and values, but not willing to share/explain them to those foreign to them.
Light wrote:
>I guess everyone has to have something they can relate to other people about on at least some level.
Yup, and that something is porn.
Sometimes I make the joke - my school's in Kashmir, disputed territory between Hindus and Muslims. They both want the power in the place.
Strafio wrote:
> Don't be fooled into thinking that all Asian's naturally are in it
> together.
>
>
> Indians and Pakistani are like English and Irish.
>
Exactly; when India and Pakistan go to the verge of nuking one another, it sorta becomes clear that they're not exactly kissing cousins to one another.
> Don't be fooled into thinking that all Asian's naturally are in it
> together.
>
>
> Indians and Pakistani are like English and Irish.
>
Exactly; when India and Pakistan go to the verge of nuking one another, it sorta becomes clear that they're not exactly kissing cousins to one another.
Don't be fooled into thinking that all Asian's naturally are in it together.
Indians and Pakistani are like English and Irish.
Most are beyond racism but they're not necessarily family either. :-)
Indians and Pakistani are like English and Irish.
Most are beyond racism but they're not necessarily family either. :-)
Light wrote:
> Actually, I've ranted about this before...
>
>
>
>
> Is their much racial tension in where you live? I ask because it is
> something that I am clearly naive about. Allow me to explain
> further...
To be honest where I LIVE there isn't much, but it's growing. Mainly due to a council house down the road being lived in by a large family of Muslims and the former corner shop being neglected and run down by another Islamic family who live there. Aside from that there are vast, vast class differences. To my left here (points to the house) is a very 'lower class' family' compared to the extremely 'upper class' family on my right. The road is completely split between these classes and there are a few alterations from time to time. The real tension is in Ilford though. Picture it - traditionally a Jewish and White area, now mainly Hindu and Muslim and to an extent Black. This creates a 'multi-cultural' society or so they say, but in truth just an Asian one.
> Actually, I've ranted about this before...
>
>
>
>
> Is their much racial tension in where you live? I ask because it is
> something that I am clearly naive about. Allow me to explain
> further...
To be honest where I LIVE there isn't much, but it's growing. Mainly due to a council house down the road being lived in by a large family of Muslims and the former corner shop being neglected and run down by another Islamic family who live there. Aside from that there are vast, vast class differences. To my left here (points to the house) is a very 'lower class' family' compared to the extremely 'upper class' family on my right. The road is completely split between these classes and there are a few alterations from time to time. The real tension is in Ilford though. Picture it - traditionally a Jewish and White area, now mainly Hindu and Muslim and to an extent Black. This creates a 'multi-cultural' society or so they say, but in truth just an Asian one.
Strafio wrote:
> Overcompensating for political guilt.
> That must come across way patronising...
Aye. It's quite humorous when you hear people in power (like teachers) tripping over themselves to please one Asian sect more than another.
> Overcompensating for political guilt.
> That must come across way patronising...
Aye. It's quite humorous when you hear people in power (like teachers) tripping over themselves to please one Asian sect more than another.
Actually, I've ranted about this before...
Is their much racial tension in where you live? I ask because it is something that I am clearly naive about. Allow me to explain further...
In Oldham, it has been today reported that vigilante gangs of Asian youths have declared certain areas of the city "No-Go" for white people. This is in response to an increase in racist attacks on Asians. So they are meeting racism with racism which, in my naiveté, seems like something of a stupid idea.
The whole issue of racism gives me something of a mixed feeling. Not as to whether it is a good or bad thing, for it is beyond the doubt of any reasonable person that is an extraordinarily awful thing. No, what gives me the problem is just how one should apply the criteria to decide just what is racist.
Let us decide on a definition of racism before we proceed further. Racism is the belief that, regardless of whatever evidence to the contrary may exist, people are going to behave in a certain way. I'm quite aware that this is not going to be satisfactory to everyone, but I believe it is broad enough to encompass the ranged arch of racist behaviour.
We are living in a time of "political correctness gone mad" if you believe one point of view, or "building towards a more tolerant and multicultural society" if you believe the other. It should be quite clear that neither of these viewpoints are the whole truth. Whilst the former has all sorts of unsavoury associations with unpleasant bigots ranting away and then justifying themselves by trying to make out that it is we who have the problem, today's news shows that the latter comment is equally as detached from reality.
To me, this begs the following question; are both comments equally as racist? Neither are taking account of the way things actually are, both are ignoring facts that are plainly obvious. The more racist point of view fails to account for the fact that large numbers of people of differing colours and creeds can and do live together in harmony. By the same token, the idealistic point skirts around the reality that an equally large number of people do not.
Racism in both of these forms is equally as destructive. The former generates hatred between man, and the latter allows it to spread unchecked. There is no doubt in my mind that the actions of the youths in Oldham are racist, but what can one expect after the Stephen Lawrence case, or the Conservative party's difficulty in keeping it's foot out of it's mouth, or the murder in Wales of an Asian man at a hospital?
It's time to stop looking for someone to blame (cue Shaggy's "Wasn't me" refrain, as frankly that seems to be the sum total of the various arguments about racism from most race groups) and face up to our collective responsibility to sort the whole dumb mess out and get on with evolving as a race.
Is their much racial tension in where you live? I ask because it is something that I am clearly naive about. Allow me to explain further...
In Oldham, it has been today reported that vigilante gangs of Asian youths have declared certain areas of the city "No-Go" for white people. This is in response to an increase in racist attacks on Asians. So they are meeting racism with racism which, in my naiveté, seems like something of a stupid idea.
The whole issue of racism gives me something of a mixed feeling. Not as to whether it is a good or bad thing, for it is beyond the doubt of any reasonable person that is an extraordinarily awful thing. No, what gives me the problem is just how one should apply the criteria to decide just what is racist.
Let us decide on a definition of racism before we proceed further. Racism is the belief that, regardless of whatever evidence to the contrary may exist, people are going to behave in a certain way. I'm quite aware that this is not going to be satisfactory to everyone, but I believe it is broad enough to encompass the ranged arch of racist behaviour.
We are living in a time of "political correctness gone mad" if you believe one point of view, or "building towards a more tolerant and multicultural society" if you believe the other. It should be quite clear that neither of these viewpoints are the whole truth. Whilst the former has all sorts of unsavoury associations with unpleasant bigots ranting away and then justifying themselves by trying to make out that it is we who have the problem, today's news shows that the latter comment is equally as detached from reality.
To me, this begs the following question; are both comments equally as racist? Neither are taking account of the way things actually are, both are ignoring facts that are plainly obvious. The more racist point of view fails to account for the fact that large numbers of people of differing colours and creeds can and do live together in harmony. By the same token, the idealistic point skirts around the reality that an equally large number of people do not.
Racism in both of these forms is equally as destructive. The former generates hatred between man, and the latter allows it to spread unchecked. There is no doubt in my mind that the actions of the youths in Oldham are racist, but what can one expect after the Stephen Lawrence case, or the Conservative party's difficulty in keeping it's foot out of it's mouth, or the murder in Wales of an Asian man at a hospital?
It's time to stop looking for someone to blame (cue Shaggy's "Wasn't me" refrain, as frankly that seems to be the sum total of the various arguments about racism from most race groups) and face up to our collective responsibility to sort the whole dumb mess out and get on with evolving as a race.
Right...so I can agree with you about racism, and Belldandy about Alan Moore comics.
I guess everyone has to have something they can relate to other people about on at least some level.
I guess everyone has to have something they can relate to other people about on at least some level.
Yeah, infact it almost IS racism...
Overcompensating for political guilt.
That must come across way patronising...
Overcompensating for political guilt.
That must come across way patronising...
Light wrote:
> Not being racist means accepting that other cultures have bad things
> about them too. Otherwise it's just mincing,
> hands-wringing-apologetically, middle class Political Correctness.
> And that's just as ignorant as racism.
Light... I think we agree on something.
> Not being racist means accepting that other cultures have bad things
> about them too. Otherwise it's just mincing,
> hands-wringing-apologetically, middle class Political Correctness.
> And that's just as ignorant as racism.
Light... I think we agree on something.
Page: