Rhodes Must Fall - Oxford protesters target statue of colonialist

[Masterton]

On 6/10/2020 at 10:49 AM, tribalfusion001 said:

Power to the people, this is what democracy looks like

 

No, this is what mobocracy / ochlocracy looks like. If there was a democratic referendum on the topic, which side do you think would win and by how much ? I am pretty sure the public would vote overwhelmingly to keep the statues up.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/11/2020 at 6:32 PM, Hanaguma said:

We all have to start from a common point. That common point should be that when someone claims to be offended by something they see, the only proper response is, "go <deleted> yourself". Unless i am mistaken, we are all at least 6 generations removed from Rhodes and his activities.  Nobody's grandparents' grandparents were alive at that time.  In short, get over yourselves, people!  The endless nitpicking and desperation to maintain social status by Olympic level competitive grievance-mongering has to stop. 

 

I wouldn't care if the Germans decided to put up a 100 metre Hitler statue in the middle of Auschwitz.  If you don't like it, don't look at it. Don't go there. Boycott the country.  Just don't be precious, and even worst, don't be boring.

The spoiled generation need something to be offended about because their lives are so ( apparently ) meaningless they need to break things and riot to feel fulfilled.

It's no longer enough to get an education, get a job, find a partner and raise a family. Now it's necessary to find something that happened hundreds of years ago and judge it by today's standards, then try to remove it from history. Seems to me they ain't as intelligent as they think they are, but then they haven't lived long enough to know much anyway.

 

The world they live in has horrible things happening right now, so why don't they do something about that? 

If they are so offended by slavery why don't they go to countries like India and do something about what goes on there with children being forced to do heavy manual work and not go to school?

Edited June 17, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[RuamRudy]

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The spoiled generation need something to be offended about because their lives are so ( apparently ) meaningless they need to break things and riot to feel fulfilled.

It's no longer enough to get an education, get a job, find a partner and raise a family. Now it's necessary to find something that happened hundreds of years ago and judge it by today's standards, then try to remove it from history. Seems to me they ain't as intelligent as they think they are, but then they haven't lived long enough to know much anyway.

 

The world they live in has horrible things happening right now, so why don't they do something about that? 

If they are so offended by slavery why don't they go to countries like India and do something about what goes on there with children being forced to do heavy manual work and not go to school?

You repeat the misconception that is so utterly ludicrous in its logical fallacy that it almost defies comprehension that apparently intelligent people keep repeating it.

 

Nobody is trying to remove any aspect of history - in fact, the very opposite is taking place. Like most people, I had never heard of Colston until recently, but now everyone is aware of the very significant blemishes on his, and many other lauded individuals' characters.

 

It is this very intent that is gaining traction - we have, for far too long, put some very unworthy individuals quite literally on pedestals whilst whitewashing their history. It appears that, for some time, people have tried to have context prominently added to the reverence that was afforded him - but to no avail. The council's continued attempt at maintaining the notion of his magnificence is what appears to have led to his statue's ignominious end. 

 

I don't have a problem with Churchill's statue remaining - but let's dispel with this beatification of his memory and teach our kids about the bad things he did, not only the good. Maybe a statue overlooking his, in memory of the countless thousands of innocents he killed in the pursuit of empire would be a good start?

[evadgib]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

You repeat the misconception that is so utterly ludicrous in its logical fallacy that it almost defies comprehension that apparently intelligent people keep repeating it.

 

Nobody is trying to remove any aspect of history - in fact, the very opposite is taking place. Like most people, I had never heard of Colston until recently, but now everyone is aware of the very significant blemishes on his, and many other lauded individuals' characters.

 

It is this very intent that is gaining traction - we have, for far too long, put some very unworthy individuals quite literally on pedestals whilst whitewashing their history. It appears that, for some time, people have tried to have context prominently added to the reverence that was afforded him - but to no avail. The council's continued attempt at maintaining the notion of his magnificence is what appears to have led to his statue's ignominious end. 

 

I don't have a problem with Churchill's statue remaining - but let's dispel with this beatification of his memory and teach our kids about the bad things he did, not only the good. Maybe a statue overlooking his, in memory of the countless thousands of innocents he killed in the pursuit of empire would be a good start?

What do you propose should become of your beloved Guardian after this little snippet surfaced a few days ago? 

Quote

THE GUARDIAN is facing calls to “shut down” for hypocrisy after backing BLM protests when it branded Abraham Lincoln “abhorrent” in the US Civil War.

Originally called the Manchester Guardian, the paper was founded in 1821 by John Edward Taylor using profits from a cotton plantation that used slaves.

 

[RuamRudy]

2 hours ago, evadgib said:

What do you propose should become of your beloved Guardian after this little snippet surfaced a few days ago? 

 

It's a long time since I bought the Guardian - about the same time they changed to Berliner format and threatened to close the Observer. 

 

But you are missing the point - I am not suggesting we dispatch everything tainted in the past down the memory hole, but that we put those negative aspects more prominently into the narrative as a counterpoint to the cult of adulation we have in the UK to anyone with a title.