Wednesday 23 May 2012

And the judges said

You're black and you're shite at football. Give up life.

Now that gets you 100 hours up Scotland, prison Wales. The person in question was black, and shite at football. These we may loosely term facts. The author and the 'recipient' were both men. But you didn't ask for that did you? Your prejudice was sufficient.

Unless it was Stevie Wonder, the first fact would not be a surprise. We'll try not to worry too much that he was inner fact brown. It's done by shape not colour, as you know.

When OJ murdered whoever it was, 'anti-racists' complained that his picture was being made 'blacker', and that this was wrong because it was more 'sinister'. You may want thinkers like this in charge. I would prefer them charged. By rhinocerousesises. White, of course. They're much better, because they're fewer.

Pretending to be Welsh, I find it confusing that someone can in fact be not-shite at football. I'm afraid it's not my area of expertise. All I know is Posh Spice takes it up the arse. That is the democratic verdict from the terraces. We don't have terraces. Anyway, I'm guessing 'his' team has not just won the tartan cup or whatever it is, and 'he' did not score a hat-trick.

You're shite at football because you're black would be something different - mainly hilarious - but now we are pretending we are dealing with a literary genius. Perhaps it wasn't Tolstoy.

But then we only have ten words, unpunctuated, uncontexted. But that's enough for us isn't it? We can prejudice the meaning automatically unthinking. I can give you ten different meanings of it. I can even make it nice. But I agree with you, it was intended as nasty. I decide this from his ineloquence elsewhere. Which you haven't checked.

Give up life. Now is this a command or a suggestion or a somethingelse? A comma after up would make it interesting. But as I have said, it was not by a hand that knoweth the comma.

At what rate were the keys - if keys they be - pressed, and at what pressure? These important facts are not recorded. I'm not going to tell you why they are important. Because I already know, by magic, that you won't get it.

Let us colour it blackest.

Who is required to read it? who is required to parse it? who is required to act on it? who is required to distribute it? who is required to comment on it? Must the orders be obeyed? We are in very dangerous territory here.

Now since we are dealing with humans - unfortunately - we have before us not Oscar Wilde, but David Irving. Minus the cunning. The scary/clown dependent on the audience.

Zuckerberg tells us a lot can be done by reflex. We do have free will, Mr. Harris, at this level of self, once informed. We do have response ability. It can be learnt.

Teach this.

This law enshrines a sinister infantilism to poison future generations. The diffusion of responsibility is the most dangerous facet of the self delusion.

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