Statement on George Floyd

I just went and made a donation to the SPLC because of this thread. 

steronz said:

Of course, the problem with Antifa, as awful and scary as you make them sound, is this -- who do I go to to demand that they change their tactics?  Where do I go to find a list of their members?  Their weekly/monthly/annual publications?  Where do they hold their annual meetings where they discuss their official platform?  What support do they have from any mainstream political parties?  What candidates have run under an Antifa banner?

Antifa barely exists.  For all I know it's 20 people who have shown up at a few protests and hit somebody with a rock once.  I could print out all of the reporting that conservative media has done on Antifa, stack it up, and it would probably be taller than if I took all the self-professed Antifa members and stood them on top of each other.

Antifa is a boogeyman.  They exist more in the fears and the concerns of conservatives than they do in actual life.  On the other hand, white nationalists have organizations, with elected leaders.  They have publications, websites, and organization.  They have politicians who run for office as self-avowed white nationalists.  A lot of times two people can get together and agree -- Antifa is bad, and white nationalists are bad.  But then go their separate ways and lose sleep over differnet ones.  Why is that?  Why lose sleep over Antifa when white nationalists seem to be a much bigger problem?

I was listening to a podcast recently that had a couple of people who claimed to participate in anti fascist activities and for the most part it's a lot of online work doxing bad people who are doing bad things. On top of that, categorizing different hate groups and documenting their activities.

"So who wants to take bets on how many of the first-time posters in this thread are actually subscribers vs. bad actors on behalf of an adversary?

I suspect almost all of them are long-time subscribers/forum users that created a new account, so they could voice their dissent without it being tied to the persona we "know."

I think so too. Cowards."

Or maybe they are a first time commentor but a long time subscriber, event participant and organizer, with the shirts and GRM stickers on their cars  and a pissed off attitude about everything becoming about about race and politics.

(about "race". Get it? Ha!)

In reply to L5wolvesf :

You're right, I hate bigots.

I hate entitled "adults" that think because they grew up in a certain environment they can act with impunity.

I hate people who look down on those less fortunate.

I hate people that pick and choose to use religion as a crutch only when it suits them.

I hate people that lie to your face about their feelings toward you.

I hate anyone that believes they are better than someone else for reasons they cannot control.

Most importantly, I hate cowards. We all know how you really feel, what you really want to say. The things I'm 100% positive you "joke" about with your buddies over some beers. Stop hiding behind veiled statements and washed rhetoric. 

Why is wanting the world to be a better place such a problem?

Being empathetic is the most human thing we can do, you look into your neighbor's bowl to see if they have some, not to see if they have more than you.

LarsBrunkhorst said:

In reply to L5wolvesf :

You're right, I hate bigots.

I hate entitled "adults" that think because they grew up in a certain environment they can act with impunity.

I hate people who look down on those less fortunate.

I hate people that pick and choose to use religion as a crutch only when it suits them.

I hate people that lie to your face about their feelings toward you.

I hate anyone that believes they are better than someone else for reasons they cannot control.

Most importantly, I hate cowards. We all know how you really feel, what you really want to say. The things I'm 100% positive you "joke" about with your buddies over some beers. Stop hiding behind veiled statements and washed rhetoric. 

Why is wanting the world to be a better place such a problem?

Being empathetic is the most human thing we can do, you look into your neighbor's bowl to see if they have some, not to see if they have more than you.

 

 

 

You put that one on a tee.

The reason people are against the betterment of others is because they view it as money/property/resources they aren't getting for themselves.

It's really that simple.

ALAN HENDERSON said:

"So who wants to take bets on how many of the first-time posters in this thread are actually subscribers vs. bad actors on behalf of an adversary?

I suspect almost all of them are long-time subscribers/forum users that created a new account, so they could voice their dissent without it being tied to the persona we "know."

I think so too. Cowards."

 

 

 

Or maybe they are a first time commentor but a long time subscriber, event participant and organizer, with the shirts and GRM stickers on their cars  and a pissed off attitude about everything becoming about about race and politics.

 

(about "race". Get it? Ha!)

I like to piss on sockpuppets. It's about as pissed as I get. It's better to piss on than get pissed off. 

Okay. I can't keep up with this thread and my day job so I skipped to the end.

By now we should be through venting,  bickering, and arguing about our disagreements.

I have not seen a single post that leads me to believe that any of us condone hatred, violence, and racism, but we have some very strong opinions about how we should or shouldn't use our resources to help improve the situation and bring respect and fair treatment to all regardless of color, creed, race, religion, age, sex, economic status, etc.

Can we now put these arguments aside and instead focus on our common ground? We are a community and should appreciate each other's diversity not be offended by it. 

It's time to shift gears in this discussion and move it towards what we can do together to promote peace in our communities, to change the attitudes and misconceptions that lead to racism, demeaning speech, and hatred for our fellows. 

What will we do together (besides type a bunch of words in a crazy long thread)?

Will we use our passion as gearheads to teach valuable skills to under priveledged youth?

Will we go volunteer our time to rebuild areas of cities that have been destroyed by rioting?

Will we go out and get to know our neighbors and associate with people who are different from us?

What will our action be?

We rallied to put an add in the magazine, surely we can rally together to do something of greater worth!

Im do dismayed by this thread. I've seen this forum do such wonderful things for each other. To see it devolve into this is heartbreaking. I thought the point of all of this was to decrease hate, that is not what is happening to us. This is not in my opinion an accident, I think that there are people who benefit from division, from angst, and fear.

They are winning. 

In reply to Snowdoggie :

One day long ago, something moved you to make your first post here.  Eventually, you quit posting. Now you're back.

Since you've been back, you've done a lot of name-calling.

I will repeat a quote I heard a long time ago. " If you are not working on the solution, you are a part of the problem".

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

One day long ago, something moved you to make your first post here.  Eventually, you quit posting. Now you're back.

Since you've been back, you've done a lot of name-calling.

Pissing isn't name calling. 

z31maniac said:

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

So who wants to take bets on how many of the first-time posters in this thread are actually subscribers vs. bad actors on behalf of an adversary?

I suspect almost all of them are long-time subscribers/forum users that created a new account, so they could voice their dissent without it being tied to the persona we "know."

I have an opinion on that. I'll never use a throw-away account, and I post under my real name so that anything I say is tied to my person. It helps me not to post dumb crap most of the time. If I say something on this forum, I'll say it in person, too. If I say some dumb crap, it's probably because I didn't realize how dumb it was going to sound or (and this still happens from time to time) I was just ignorant or misinformed about something.

In reply to LarsBrunkhorst :

Here is what little you and I have in common. I hate bigotry, entitled people, and people who look down on others.

To your question: Why is wanting the world to be a better place such a problem?

It is your assumption that I don’t want the world to be a better place or that I haven’t done anything to help others. It is your assumption, and ignorance, that people of just one generation created the problems of racism, sexism, religious intolerance, economic inequities, and many other forms of discrimination. Those things have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. You in your entitled ignorance chose just one generation. Those things make you part of continuing the problem.

Look into a mirror; you will find a hateful person, who knows little if anything about me. You feel entitled to make ignorant assumptions because your generation thinks they are better and looks down on boomers etc and has proclaimed themselves to be better than everyone else.

People who proclaimed themselves to be better than everyone else form the basis of; racism, sexism, religious intolerance, economic inequities, etc.

You have answered something I had wondered about – why people disparage the post-boomer generation(s).

You are what you hate and a pompus ass.

In reply to Snowdoggie :

Oh so your nic is not a sock? Why don't you use your real name puppet?

ALAN HENDERSON said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

Oh so your nic is not a sock? Why don't you use your real name puppet?

Right after you post your address and phone number. 

But if you really want to stalk me, I have raced in the Challenge before and a picture of my car has been in the magazine. 

RALLYRS said:

MrFancypants said:

RALLYRS said:

So Antifa is just "people standing up to white supremacist wackos, are they?

Tell that to Journalist Andy Ngo. Some of your nice "Anti Facist"(yeah right!)buddies put him in the hospital for the crime of being a conservative and filming them with a go pro. And he is obviously not even White.

 

If you are speaking out against ANTIFA, then you are FA.

Andy Ngo isn't a journalist.  He's a fascist who makes a living out of twisting reality and posting lies on the internet.  He's constantly posting pictures and videos of violence on Twitter and labelling it "ANTIFA" even when it clearly is not that.

 

 

Well,I don't know what "FA" is,but I'll go out on a limb and guess it's a facist American.

Right,speaking out against people who dress up in black, load up their backpack with weapons, and go out to physically attack people who disagree with them,especially white people..well that's a bad thing.

Just let them bust heads! Just like the Nazi's on the other side do!  Logic Fail.  Violence on either side is bad and Antifa are thugs who deserve what they get coming back to them period.

And if you are one of them you deserve what you get too. Again I condemn the violence on both sides. The leftist side DOES NOT get a pass here-PERIOD.

FA = fascist

Would you kindly link me to this confirmed ANTIFA violence you hate so much?  How many murders or even assault convictions do people hailing as ANTIFA have to their name?

You're angry at something that doesn't exist.

Mods I think now is the time to close the thread.   Egos are now involved and people are getting festy.   

I could really go for a Boston creme pie.

I'm copying and pasting my post from a different thread. Call me whatever you want at this point I don't care. 
 

Well I took my cool off period for the day but berkeley it here we go.

I don't mean that one cop is or isn't a racist. And that cops don't abuse their power towards people because they're racist. I'm stating the fact there is a over all major narrative going on feeding our country bullE36 M3 to outrage us and divide our country .

https://intelligence.house.gov/social-media-content/

Secondly have you sat down and talked with any black people? I've had a lot this past week. 90% of them admitted any interactions they've had with authorities they didn't feel discriminated against. The others felt like they were, but were not dragged from vehicles and beat. Maybe Texas really is just friendlier.

When I ask the question on where does racism come into play. It's 50/50. Several people admitted well that's what I saw on FB or the news. Others from hearing about racist acts and that's just how they feel. 
One thing every black person I talk to about this issue hates what's going on now. They see a bunch of pissed off white people trying to stand up for them but are doing the opposite and bringing them down. 

Most of my black relatives/friend I've shown these threads to think it's humorous all these white people know whats best for them. "They're all against racism and lives matter and all of y'all are still fighting!?!?

Except for the part I should die in a fire, they questioned the hate behind that one coming from a person against hate. But hey we're here to stand against violence. 
 

What no one talking about is how to make black lives better. Racism is one thing, but there's still other underling problems. You think the term "made it out the hood" is just something some people say? 
Who's standing up to correct the horrible inner city issues we have in this country? We're people are born into E36 M3 poverty and no way out. E36 M3ty education, E36 M3ty jobs, just unfortunately born into repeated cycle. 
Did you know Kevin Hart is starting a program to teaching financials and how to get ahead in life  to black people in these areas? 

E36 M3, Dr Rhonda Patrick released a study about why black people were more likely to catch the virus, and tips for prevention. But  was automatically called racist instead of actually listening to her data. Why, she's trying to help, but it retained to black people so it's racist right??

And we can go on with horrible things others go thru that no one talks about. 
Do you know how bad Jewish people are still treated to this day? Why don't we all hold every German person accountable for what their "race" has done. How about the other countries that treated them the same?

Our military and others  for ages have done some horrific acts. You think that rape scene from platoon is made up? How many civilians are caught up in atrocities of bombings. E36 M3s unfortunate, But that's not what the fb,news, twitter whatever fills your phone with so you don't care about those people. 

I did not come here pointing fingers, insulting and trying to start a fight. But it's what us people do. 

So what can we do? 
Anyone out there going to their local council meetings? Anyone actually paying attention to elections? Not presidential, but truly local. Do you know who's on your city board and whats their intentions? I am because that's where change can happen. 

We're all people, and are entitled to our own opinion.  But I'm berkeleying sick and tired of a narrative being pushed, people rallying behind it, and thinking screaming and yelling is going to fix a problem. 
Be active, get to know people, and actually find a way to make real changes. 

In reply to MrFancypants :

https://www.kvue.com/mobile/article/news/local/antifa-austin-target-looting-protests-dps/269-547a9c6a-9fe7-4ec7-9cee-0b986a76c43f

Anybody opposed to locking this thread at 10pm ET? We opened the floor, people had their say, and now it might be time to refocus the discussion. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Once again, kudos to you for being complete adults here. Frankly, the padded room of this thread wasn't too bad!

Everyone seems to have put there opinion out here.  And you guys let the it go on plenty.  Props for staying and answering all the comments.