Discrimination - the Anglo-Saxon version

As this post contains some references to Romanian culture and people, I will try to explain them as best I can at the bottom of the page through the use of standard book footnotes. For race I use the gypsies, even though they are technically an ethnicity, because they are the local minority here. You may replace them with yours. I hope you find my English understandable. Have fun.

Lately there have been some discussions on the topic of Cheloo (1)  and that fabulous dude (2) and Nelson Mandela has died so I remembered about a subject I wanted to write about but never had a good context.

I assume you know what discrimination is.  It has existed since the dawn of time and has had as reason anything that deviates from the white heterosexual christian short-haired male with no chest hair blueprint. This includes women, black people, asians, arabians, gypsies, homosexuals, muslims, jews, moldavians, hungarians, (3) scots, mexicans, sectants, you get the point.

About the value of truth in all these stereotypes I cannot give an opinion (all I’m saying is that I’ve been playing League of Legends for 3 years now and if you happen to have a raging teammate that keeps swearing and flaming, there’s a great chance they’re Polish).  As I was saying, discrimination has always existed, thought by way of some civil right movements in the USA and probably to prevent the repetition of some really, really bad things a dude named Adolf did in the forties, laws have been given so everybody has equal rights, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity or whatever. Today I think discrimination has attained a new height and is as acceptable as ever. Now the fictional anti-discrimination militant Johnny could ask, „how could that be, oh absurd Captain Mediocrity (4),  when there are special rights for women and homosexuals and gypsies”, to which I would mysteriously answer „exactly”, and I would beg the fictional anti-discrimination militant Johnny to let me explain mathematically.

Let us assume that minority X has had 10 rights and majority Y has 20. Equality in rights also means effective equality between the number of rights, as 10=20 is false, there is discrimination. In the meantime, things have happened and minority X has the same rights and majority Y but, given the fact that minority X is a minority, they receive 5 more rights to a total of 25. As 20=25 is also false, there is discrimination.

Today, discrimination exists but manifests itself in the opposite direction, because minorities have more legal or unofficial rights than „normal” people. Discrimination is now a shield, a martyr generator, it has disappeared in its classical „kill all jews” way but is now invoked very liberally and lets certain irrational and unethic deeds to be done. Let me demonstrate.

Let’s say homosexuals. I have no problems with them whatsoever , I belive it is man’s right to freely insert his schlong wherever his heart desires (with the obvious exception of rape) and to legally be infatuated with whomever he wishes. Also, even though it’s far from my style, I belive that a man (or women, at that) can dress any way he wishes, with the assumed risk of being very awkward and if we stop and think, bands such as Van Halen and Twisted Sister and Kiss could freely exist in the eighties without anyone complaining. It is true that, if right now Earth would be entirely populated with homosexuals, the human race would disappear in a matter of decades but let’s not go there, homosexuality is a little deviant and is not common. There are people who say „I don’t want my children to watch fags on TV, they might want to mimic them”, and this is what i call bullshit.

What rubs me in a wrong way is the fact that homosexuals have the right to be proud of their orientation.  Had you not known, in our picturesque Romania there is an annual Gay Parade. Given that everybody has equal rights regardless of sexual orientation, there can easily be a Straight Parade, right? Of course not, a straight parade would be seen as fascist and homophobic. This is discrimination to the heterosexual people, which there just happens to be a lot more of.

Let’s take gypsies. Ideologically, I have no bad blood with gypsies, if I were the boss of some company and a skilled gypsy would want to be employed, I would gladly take him in. Gypsies are generally a bit medieval in their organisation but they are people too and should have equal rights to everybody and should be treated as such. However, if I rememeber correctly, when I was in middle school there was a certain revenue that pupils of romani descent used to get for free. Why? What did they do to deserve that sum of money? Why didn’t I get any, am I not a human being just like them? Let me give another example which I am 100% sure is true : there are special spots for gypsies in college. Let’s assume there are 50 normal spots and 1 for gypsies.  Now let’s assume that the first 50 average marks that get in college vary between 10 and 9.8, and the 51st has 9.79. The greatest gypsy average is 6. The latter gets into college, the former does not. Now explain to me how exactly is that fair.  Analogue to the homosexual example, Connect-R (5) is allowed to wear a T-shirt which reads „ I AM A GYPSY”, but when Cheloo come with a shirt with „White and proud”, he’s called a nazi.

I give a third example because we humans like working in base 3. Misogyny exists and has existed. Here we could discuss what is considered misogyny and what is not, I belive there is true misogyny only when the misogynistic dude has some sort of authority. If a construction worker says something like „woman has to stay in the home and to make childrens” , that is called stupidity. When the Church says women may not enter the church when they are on their period, this is brute, raw misogyny. The absolute most interesting thing I can find here is misogyny dressed in the form of manners. You open the door for the lady to enter, because the bitch is obviously not strong enough to do that. You bring her flowers, so she doesn’t get all paranoid. You pay at the restaurant, because the bitch can’t work to pay for her own food.

Of course, all these are usually done by nice guys, but the same as swear words, their value of niceness is intrinsical just like swear words are bad because they are bad, nobody stops to think why. Basically, being nice, in a way, is discriminatory.

I don’t want to adhere to Cheloo’s claim that, is some time, people are going to hide their normality but, in a way, it is kind of true and sad for everybody. Typical to us humans, we take values we think of as being good and put them in practice without thinking, and paradox occurs. As such, next time when you’re thinking about dropping the „racist” or „homophobe” or „misogynistic” bombs, think well. Personally I don't hate anybody and I sincerely want people to be happy and to treat each other equally . Equally, not preferencially. 

(1) Romanian rapper, memeber of the band Paraziţii (eng. The Parasites). Known for his socially crticizing but sometimes very politically incorrect lyrics.

    (2)    Basically Cheloo is a judge at the romanian X-Factor, and a few weeks ago there was a homosexual dude with hipstery glasses and purple shorts at the auditions. The rapper made fun of his attire and orientations, causing rage and fury all over the media.

    (3)    Moldavians are corespondent to a Romanian regional stereotype. They are usually regarded as mentally limited and smelly, and are sometimes made fun of for their accent ; Romanian Hungarians are also a stereotype, usually disliked for their wish to be autonomous. Their accent is also made fun of.

    (4)    That would be me.

    (5)    Romanian pop artist who is apparently a gypsy. Has transitioned from underground rapper to not so underground rapper to annoying jamaican accent wannabe rapper to full on pop music standard.

Discriminare

Au fost niste discutii recent in legatura cu Cheloo si baiatul acela extravagant si a murit si Nelson Mandela si mi-am amintit de un subiect despre care aveam de gand sa scriu mai demult dar nu prea am avut context.

Presupun ca stiti si voi ce e discriminarea. Daca nu stiti, in linii mari, discriminarea e atunci cand ai grija mai mare de portofel cand treci pe langa un tiganus. Discriminarea exista de cand lumea si a avut ca motiv orice deviaza de la modelul barbatului alb heterosexual crestin cu parul scurt si fara par pe piept. Asta inseamna femei, negri, asiatici, arabi, tigani, homosexuali, musulmani, evrei, moldoveni, unguri, scotieni, mexicani, sectanti, olteni, you get the point.

Despre veridicitatea tuturor stereotipiilor legate de grupurile acestea nu pot sa ma pronunt ( tot ce vreau sa zic este ca joc League of Legends de vreo 3 ani si daca ai un coechipier foarte prost care injura si se comporta ca un copil, sunt sanse foarte mari sa fie polonez). Dupa cum ziceam, discriminarea a existat dintotdeauna la diverse niveluri , dar in urma unor miscari prin SUA si probabil si pentru evitarea repetarii unor chestii foarte, foarte urate facute prin anii '40 de un baiat pe nume Adolf, au inceput sa apara niste legi care sa atribuie tuturor drepturi egale, indiferent de rasa, sex, etnie sau whatever. In ziua de astazi consider ca discriminarea a atins un nou apogeu si este mai acceptata ca niciodata. Acum fictionalul militant anti-discriminare Ionel m-ar putea intreba "pai cum sa mai fie discriminare, absurdule Capitan Mediocirtate, cand exista drepturi pentru femei si pentru homosexuali si pentru tigani?", la care eu as raspunde misterios "exact", si l-as ruga pe fictionalul militant anti-discriminare Ionel sa ma lase sa ii explic matematic.

Sa zicem ca in trecut minoritatea X a avut 10 drepturi si majoritatea Y a avut 20. Egalitatea in drepturi presupune egalitate efectiva in ceea ce priveste drepturile, de vreme de 10=20 este o afirmatie falsa, avem de a face cu discriminare.  Intre timp s-au intamplat lucruri si minoritatea X are aceleasi drepturi cu majoritatea Y. Dar dat fiind faptul ca minoritatea X este o minoritate, i se vor da drepturi in plus, asadar minoritatea X are acum parte de 25 de drepturi. De vreme ce 20=25 este o afirmatie falsa, avem de a face cu discriminare.

In ziua de azi, discriminarea exista dar se manifesta invers, pentru ca minoritatile au drepturi tacite sau legale in plus fata de oamenii "normali". Discriminarea a devenit un scut, un generator de martiri, ea a cam disparut in sensul clasic dar este inca invocata foarte liberal si permite infaptuirea unor actiuni complet irationale din punct de vedere etic. Sa dau exemple.

Sa zicem homosexualii. Eu nu am absolut nimic cu homosexualii, consider ca oamenii au dreptul innascut de a-si invartosa stromeleagul unde le pofteste inima si sa iubeasca legal orice fel de om vor ei. Deasemenea, desi nu e stilul meu, consider ca un barbat se poate imbraca cat de flamboiant si ciudat vrea el, cu riscul asumat de a se face de ras pentru ca daca stam sa ne gandim putin, formatii ca Van Halen sau Twisted Sister sau Kiss au putut sa existe in anii '80 si nu se plange nimeni de chestia asta. E adevarat ca daca acum toata planeta ar fi compusa din persoane homosexuale, rasa umana ar disparea in cateva zeci de ani in cazul in care nu se recurge la clonare dar sa fim realisti, homosexualitatea este usor devianta si nu e ceva comun. Mai sunt oameni care vin cu chestii de genul "nu vreau ca copii mei sa vada poponari la televizor ca poate o sa vrea sa ii imite", la care ma gandesc ca eu, ca si copil, nu m-am grabit sa fac ca toti oamenii de la televizor si nici nu m-am grabit sa ma pup cu colegii de scoala cand am aflat ca Freddy Mercury era foarte bun si era gay, intelegand ce inseamna asta in termeni largi.
Ceea ce ma gadila pe mine in mod negativ este faptul ca homosexualii au dreptul de a se mandri cu propria orientare. Daca nu stiati, in Romania noastra pitoreasca exista un Gay Parade. Avand in vedere ca toti oamenii au drepturi egale indiferent de orientare sexuala, asta inseamna ca se poate organiza si un Straight Parade, nu? Complet neadevarat, un Straight Parade ar fi vizionat ca o manifestatie homofoba si nazista. Asta inseamna discriminare la adresa oamenilor heterosexuali care, intre noi fie vorba, sunt mult, mult mai multi.

Sa luam tiganii. La nivel ideologic nu am absolut nimic cu tiganii, daca as fi seful unei companii si ar veni sa se angajeze un tigan care se pricepe, as fi foarte fericit sa-l angajez. Tiganii sunt, in majoriateta lor, putin medievali in organizare dar sunt si ei oameni si ar trebui sa aibe drepturi egale cu toata lumea si sa fie tratati ca atare. In schimb, daca memoria nu imi joaca feste, tin minte ca in scoala exista o anumite indemnizatie pentru elevii cu familie de etnie rroma. De ce? Ce anume au facut sa merite banii respectivi? Eu de ce nu am primit, nu sunt si eu om ca tiganii respectivi? Sau alt exemplu, si de asta sunt foarte sigur: in facultati exista locuri rezervate pentru studenti de etnie rroma. E drept, sunt putine si nu la toate facultatile, dar ele exista. Sa presupunem prin absurd ca o facultate are 50 de locuri normale si 1 pentru tigani. Sa zicem ca primii 50 intra cu medii intre 10 si 9.8, al 51-lea are media 9.79. Dintre studentii de etnie rroma, cea mai mare medie e 6. Primul nu intra, al doilea da. Explicati-mi in ce fel e asta corect. Analog situatiei homosexualilor, Connect-R are voie sa poarte un tricou pe care scrie "SUNT ŢIGAN", dar cand vine Cheloo cu un tricou pe care scrie "White and proud", lumea il face nazist.

Dau si un al treilea exemplu pentru ca noua oamenilor ne place baza 3, un exemplu mai controversat si anume femeile. Misoginismul exista si va exista. Aici se poate discuta despre ce se poate considera misoginism si ce nu, eu unul cred ca misoginismul conteaza doar atunci cand misoginul are o oarecare autoritate. De exemplu cand un santierist zice ceva de genul "femeia trebuie sa stau in casa si sa face copi", aia se numeste prostie. In schimb cand vine biserica si zice ca femeia nu are voie sa intre in biserica cand e la ciclu, pe langa clasica propaganda crestina ca diavolul iese din femeie, asta mi se pare misoginism in stare bruta si nefinisata (desi biserica continua sa ramana o influenta foarte puternica asupra societatii, mai mult despre asta cand o sa vreau sa-mi fac ultimul articol). Cea mai interesanta chestie mi se pare insa misoginismul deghizat in politete pe care nimeni nu il observa. Deschizi usa doamnei, ca fufa e prea batuta in cap sa deschida o usa. Lasi femeia sa intre prima, ca poate e asa proasta ca uita unde se duce daca intri tu primul si o opresti din mers. Ii aduci flori, ca poate fiinta e nebuna si incepe sa aibe atacuri pe paranoia. Platesti tu consumatia, ca femeia e prea proasta sa lucreze si sa faca bani.
Bineinteles ca gesturile astea nu au chiar asa o insemnatate si sunt in general facute de baieti draguti, dar la un anumit nivel stabilesc o diferentiere intre barbat si femei.

 Nu vreau sa ajung la afirmatia cinica a lui Cheloo la X-Factor cum ca oamenii vor ajunge sa-si ascunda normalitatea, dar intr-un fel societatea a ajuns sa te defavorizeze putin pentru ca esti nedefavorizat. Tipic noua oamenilor, luam niste valori bune in teorie, in cazul asta egalitatea in drepturi, si le aplicam cu o lipsa de gandire care ajunge sa le denatureze. Asadar, inainte sa aruncati cu "rasist", "homofob", "misogin", analizati bine de tot situatia.