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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Agree to disagree
Oct 28, 2002, 20:36
> No the primary injustice is the dehumanisation
> of 'the others' that allows the genocide to
> continue
>
Sorry, but we'll not agree on this one. For me the primary injustice is the genocide. I've been in dehumanising situations before; felt myself reduced against my will, in different ways for different reasons, to something less than human - by people or systems or bureaucracies. Do i consider those people guilty of the same primary injustice as was visited upon minorities in Germany in the 30s/40s?

Like fuck do i.

You appear to be placing "attitudes" or "beliefs" which we would probably both agree are reprehensible into the same category as "actions" which we would both agree are reprehensible.

Frankly, i believe that to be one step away from thought-police and simple cannot see how you can justify it. But that doesn't mean i'm right and you're wrong; merely that we view this issue differently.

If a person views me as *less* simply because i'm a "bloody paddy" (or a jew, were i one, or black or Palestinian), that dehumanisation is not the ethical equivalent of acting upon it. You can argue that one leads to the other - perhaps with statistics on your side; but to assume that is universal implies a prejudicial attitude towards them which actually _is_ the ethical equivalent of their dehumanisation of you - The Other.

You are implying that the person cannot rise upon what is probably cultural conditioning or political manipulation, and restrain their behaviour based upon an over-riding sense of empathy - The Rehumaniser(TM).

The fact is, people do change their attitudes or modify their behaviour based upon factors other than a certain set of prejudices... to draw an equivalency of injustice between someone guilty of acting in a manner which dehumanises others, and someone guilty of acting in a manner which murders others is unsustainable (i think).
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