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by phillmv 3721 days ago
I suppose I just don't understand why you'd consider proselytizing abhorrent views to be an insufficient cause or behaviour. They occupy space, and are capable of terrorizing others just all the same.

To extend my other comment, which you've read:

Suppose you and I were friends. Suppose further that I discover that you routinely have over Mr Qux, who has an extensive archive of Medium posts suggesting that society would be better off if my ethnic group were to be exterminated.

Mr Qux doesn't say it needs to happen. He spends a lot of time recommending that people not act on his words. But there it is, essay after essay carefully explaining how all of society's ills would be solved if my ethnic group were to just disappear overnight.

Why, you reply, we only ever discuss software architecture. He's charming and effusive, and exceedingly polite whenever in the presence of others of your ethnic group. His medium posts never come up for discussion!

He's a brilliant software engineer, you go on. In fact, I'm sure he'd be a great hire at my company and have forwarded his resume.

It'd be irrelevant to me how pleasant this person is. He considers me unworthy of breathing the same air. Should he ever be in a position of power over me, how could I possibly trust him to be impartial? How am I supposed to believe that his impressively well articulated views on my inferiority would never impinge on his ability to produce an objective assessment of my abilities?

It'd be hard for me not to interpret your behaviour as implicitly condoning that man's views.

--

Nobody's ever threatened to extinguish my ethnic group, tho there are some negative stereotypes. But it's rather easy for me to empathize with the above scenario.

2 comments

I honestly don't think a person like you're describing actually exists (as an otherwise perfectly polite and well-adjusted member of society--including to members of that ethnic group that they interact with personally). But lets suppose for the sake of argument that they did.

I probably wouldn't invite them over to my house, nor champion their job application at my workplace. That goes beyond tolerance. But what I wouldn't do is try to get dropped from giving a convention talk (which they're qualified for), or seek to get them fired from their job or shunned from their peer group.

Preface: people have tried to extinguish my ethnic group. They've even made a good go at it in living memory.

I am uncomfortable with the notion that a person should be shunned professionally because of their views. That's one thing those people did to members of my ethnic group and those who were not in favor of genocide.