Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id KAA04004 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sat, 21 Jul 2001 10:04:58 +0100 Message-ID: <001701c111c9$b4066060$9d07bed4@default> From: "Kenneth Van Oost" <Kenneth.Van.Oost@village.uunet.be> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745FB7@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Subject: Re: Memetic vulnerability: was: Faking It Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 11:01:28 +0200 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
> If I can link this comment to your response to Chris where you mention
> racism, again whilst there are differences in the details of particular
> racisms, there are surely underlying commonalities to beliefs in order for
> them to be called racist in the first place? These would include the
> discrimination against a particular group of people due to them being of a
> different ethnic or national origin.
Hi Vincent,
Thanks for the responses.
Here are mine to yours,
<< First in addition, what racism stands for nowadays, is more than just
discrimination due to people being of a different ethnic or national origin
!
Also, religion, language, gender, unemployment etc. are " new added
levels " whereby people get discriminated. In a sense, the wide variety of
what was known as features of discrimination has been changed/
empowered/ enforced, amplified into elements of racism. Culture changes..
But back to your comment.
Yes, there are surely underlying commonalities to beliefs in order for them
to be called racist in the first place.
Like I said in my addition- bit, features of discrimination changed into
elements of racism. How come !? Because in the shivered cultural/ social
environment the underlying commonalities has been changed from groups
of people to more ' individualistic ' differencies.
In a sense, we are beyond the period of gang vs gang; group vs group_
now it is individual vs individual and groups of individuals vs groups of
individuals whereby the selection - bits of discrimination against a parti-
cular group changed into discrimination against or a racistist attack on
a particular individual. ( The principle is that many crimes has no face
anymore, so people pick one out, the scape- goat- principle.)
But that is not the full picture_ if you got work, so in a way you got no
trouble if the unemployment rates show that they were on the increase,
due to the high amount of unemployed foreigners. But working people
do throw names at alien- folk !
Why !? The very processes of related memetic- structures will have their
effect. Memeplexes of insecurity, fear, mistrust, faith, politics, ignorance
etc
already infected the system.
And we are not obscuring the underlying pattern, just the opposite is true!
Not all of the reasons why racism occurs are unique. They are in fact
all entangled into the underlying basics of our very own personal and
social life.
By analysing those very underlying basics ( nationalism, faith, culture,
proud, genetics,...) we will be able, not to find the very origin of racism,
but to find ways to fight against it !
And in a way, already new racialist- memes thrives:- genetic defects,
bodyweight, poverty, having no access to information, having no access
to the Net,..are already occupying niches in the future_ and we don 't
know if those memes will eventually and actually will survive.
But the concept of racism will be there in the future created with memes
of the current sets and is already evolving... because nearby concepts are
adding constantly new elements by which people can " attract " racialist
reasons from.
Would knowing that be enough as value !?
Best regards,
Kenneth
( I am, because we are) all the same
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