Racism and the Coronavirus

[Renato1]

What do you all think of having yearly AFF awards - just for a bit of fun?

If it goes ahead I would like to nominate this thread in the “Most Pointless” category.

Perhaps you missed the point - the automatic impulse to accuse or insinuate that Aussies are racist, when simple observation of who is avoiding the Chinese areas demonstrates that it is a nonsense.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Moody]

Perhaps you missed the point - the automatic impulse to accuse or insinuate that Aussies are racist, when simple observation of who is avoiding the Chinese areas demonstrates that it is a nonsense.
Regards,
Renato

No I didn't .... but you did.

 

[Renato1]

Personally, I think it is quite ironic, China pulling out the "racism" card..... please, gimme a break. This kind of language is so tiring and unproductive.

Virus comes from China. Chinese people congregate in Chinatown. Chinatown is pretty dirty (lefties please scream all you like but it is true) - people spitting everywhere. Spit is a big transmitter of the virus.... just seems like common sense based on current info. Plus, don't forget that biggest bunch avoiding Chinatown are Chinese themselves.... as someone pointed out earlier, the only reason the media is playing this card is because they want to be at odds with the Government. If the Government had a reverse stand, the media would be calling for a China travel ban....

There is a famous lefty example that is always hotly debated as to whether or not it is "racist" or not. I am paraphrasing here but was something like this...

Imagine you are walking down a street alone, and coming towards you was a group of 4 black men - would you cross the street?

The results were interesting because almost everyone (a mix of races, ages and genders) said "yes - they would cross the street".

Then they did the same test but swapped "black" for "white", and then again swapped "men" for "women"... and it turns out that everybody pretty much crossed the street to avoid "men" - race was not relevant.

So, in this case we are talking about, I think people are avoiding the VIRUS, and would do so just as much if they thought it was in Ivanhoe, Toorak or Waspywhitetown....

And for the record I went to Chinatown the other night..

The narrative of the leftist media is that Aussies are racist.

Remember a few years back when both the international and the local media were shaming Australians for their racism - for the spate of bashings of Indian students?

Hardly anyone was mentioning that those doing the actual bashings were mainly Africans or Pacific Islanders. That would have ruined a good narrative.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

No I didn't .... but you did.

If - as you now assert - you didn't miss the point I raised......then exactly how could I have missed it..... since I raised it in the first place?

Your assertion is nonsensical.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Moody]

If - as you now assert - you didn't miss the point I raised......then exactly how could I have missed it..... since I raised it in the first place?

Your assertion is nonsensical.
Regards,
Renato

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

 

[33kft]

We are essentially a high functioning banana republic who get by in the world by digging red and black rocks out of the ground and endlessly importing immigrants to prop up GDP.

As opposed to those who get by on exploitation of cheaper foreign labour, cartel oil supply, hiding money from overseas tax regimes, exploiting children to make shoes, trading strategic ports for money and infrastructure, making dodgy loans to foreign countries to advance foreign policy, authoritarian enslavement of their people, squandering and embezzlement of aid money, etc etc etc

Who is it exactly we should be modelling ourselves on?

 

[JennyMG]

At Sydney University my student son said there was an email going around yesterday declaring that Chinese students shall not be hereafter called 'chinese students' but "distant learners" in lieu of the fact that they're apparently linked to the Covid19 virus, being that they're stuck in china and not allowed in to Australia.
Are you kidding me???
Seriously. Everyone has gone bonkers.
If you're not allowed to called Chinese people "Chinese" what exactly ARE we allowed to call them? That goes a LONG way to insinuate that 'Chinese' is a 'bad thing'. It's these radical do-gooders that perpetuate the rumours and nonsense that is making some poor Chinese people...oh sorry, "inhabitants of the large round land above Myanmar" suffer, and MAKE us sound racist.
Unbelievable.

 

[juddles]

I read the thread title and thought, due to a recent experience, that it was worthy of engaging in. But am not so sure now as most of the replies have been acid, demonstrating just usual views rather than how the current situation is unfolding and shaping our views.

Yesterday I had to go to a chemist on the Sunshine Coast in Qld for a trivial thing. It was one of those Chemist Warehouse things - quite big. There were quite a few customers - milling in the aisles and waiting at the prescriptions desk. As I walked down one aisle there were a group of Chinese (not Koreans/Japanese etc - I know the difference) I suddenly felt distinctly uncomfortable and retreated and used another aisle.

I can justify this reaction as I know that there are not many Chinese inhabitants here. So they were most likely tourists. Hence most likely having been in China in the past few days. And the fact that they were in a chemist during wet weather suggested to me that they were possibly more likely to be ill than just looking for bargain sunscreen...

Was my reaction racist? I do not think so, as I am a profoundly non-racist person. But in that millisecond my brain weighed up the situation and I chose to avoid them due to simple "odds".

 

[Renato1]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

There is a fifth dimension in string theory.
Seems like you are hanging on that string.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[juddles]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

Seeing this thread is clearly a ship without a destination, I will indulge as you have with content that will inevitably be wiped.

If your twilight zone lies between the pit of your fears and the summit of your knowledge, then I would hazard a guess that I have never seen it because I am a tall person that struggles to see things on the floor....

 

[Renato1]

I read the thread title and thought, due to a recent experience, that it was worthy of engaging in. But am not so sure now as most of the replies have been acid, demonstrating just usual views rather than how the current situation is unfolding and shaping our views.

Yesterday I had to go to a chemist on the Sunshine Coast in Qld for a trivial thing. It was one of those Chemist Warehouse things - quite big. There were quite a few customers - milling in the aisles and waiting at the prescriptions desk. As I walked down one aisle there were a group of Chinese (not Koreans/Japanese etc - I know the difference) I suddenly felt distinctly uncomfortable and retreated and used another aisle.

I can justify this reaction as I know that there are not many Chinese inhabitants here. So they were most likely tourists. Hence most likely having been in China in the past few days. And the fact that they were in a chemist during wet weather suggested to me that they were possibly more likely to be ill than just looking for bargain sunscreen...

Was my reaction racist? I do not think so, as I am a profoundly non-racist person. But in that millisecond my brain weighed up the situation and I chose to avoid them due to simple "odds".

I've been monitoring the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy. Two big outbreaks in Padova and Treviso - each 50 kilometers from where we regularly stay over there.

Put it this way - if I saw a bunch of Italian tourists over here in the same situation as you saw the Chinese tourists, I'd most likely give the Italian tourists a wide berth as well. And any notion of racism would be silly.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[boomy]

Not much racism in Australia, especially when compared to other continents like Europe which is very much racist towards anyone who’s not white.
Even when the virus was still limited to China back in January many avoided Asian restaurants (not just Chinese places). Will Europeans give up on Italian food now...

 

[Jenya]

Was my reaction racist?

Sure not. This is not racism. Its just biased lefty media trying to portray it as 'racism'. They would use any point out there relevant or completely bizarre to fight "discrimination" effectively putting one of our biggest assets - free speech at a brink of extinction.
Racism is when you hate someone just based on their nationality.
All recent cases with COVID based on real threat particular group of people most likely represent.
Totally fair to not letting your kid to school as good portion of it Chinese.
If this would have happened in say Brasil or Russia - reaction this people would be exactly the same.

 

[Sabot]

As opposed to those who get by on exploitation of cheaper foreign labour, cartel oil supply, hiding money from overseas tax regimes, exploiting children to make shoes, trading strategic ports for money and infrastructure, making dodgy loans to foreign countries to advance foreign policy, authoritarian enslavement of their people, squandering and embezzlement of aid money, etc etc etc

Who is it exactly we should be modelling ourselves on?

Countries with a high level of civil liberty and technologically advanced industry?

Seeing this thread is clearly a ship without a destination, I will indulge as you have with content that will inevitably be wiped.

If your twilight zone lies between the pit of your fears and the summit of your knowledge, then I would hazard a guess that I have never seen it because I am a tall person that struggles to see things on the floor....

I mean, if we're going to go in this direction, have you ever been really drunk in the shower and looked down to realise your peeny looked like a bearded elephant?



Yeah nah, me neither.

 

[Jenya]

Chinese students shall not be hereafter called 'chinese students' but "distant learners"
Are you kidding me???
Seriously. Everyone has gone bonkers.

wait until your workplace would not allow to call Christmas Christmas.
Just "happy holidays" would be more appropriate in this nondiscriminatory lunacy.

 

[dajop]

We are all something-ist* deep down. We are hard wired to be, it’s part of our tribal ancestry to be suspicious of other “tribes”. Does it hurt, in the modern era to question this though? Whilst I don’t like how some want to alter language and wording ( ie I think we should call a spade a spade) does it hurt to be a little reflective on these matters?

If people are avoiding Chinese restaurants in Chinatown in Sydney, there’s probably an element of this natural wariness kicking in. If people are as a result of the coronavirus avoiding a Chinese restaurant in some country town, run by fourth generation Chinese Australians, that sees a handful of Chinese tourists a year (at most) yeh
I’d say that’s racism.

(nb: I say “something-ist” to account for quite a number of people who also are biased against other “tribes” of their own race, for example some Singaporean Chinese who appear to be quite “racist” towards China Chinese - even though the same race, or even those who hold more extreme left or right wing views who completely disrespect those with opposite views even though of same race).

 

[boomy]

Racism is when you hate someone just based on their nationality.

Not quite. Racism is when you hate someone based on their race, often has nothing to do with their nationality.

 

[Jenya]

whatever you call it, idea of my post doesn't change.
In cases above nobody hate Chinese based on their race nor nationality. Just cautious based on risk factor connected to this group.

 

[Moody]

I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

 

[33kft]

Countries with a high level of civil liberty and technologically advanced industry?

I was hoping you'd name a few