Observation

You know, there's making a point in a snarky way, and there's being an asshole. It's very easy to step over that line, sometimes. Some people, however, seem to live there.

No, I'm not who I'm talking about; someone who commented a lot on a post in a community just ticked me off. Whatever. Checking their journal for a few seconds tells me it's some high school kid, so I ought to just get over it.

Nonsense

Sometimes, when faced with an older person's racist or homophobic attitudes, people like to excuse it by saying "He/She grew up in a different time." I think this is horseshit. That may explain their beliefs, but it does not excuse them.

We all have the capacity to grow, to change our understanding of the world. More than that, I believe that we have a responsibility to grow, to advance not only our own understanding, but the understanding of others.

My grandfather fought in WWII against the Japanese. He still hates them. He won't buy a Japanese car, he hates that I study the Japanese language and culture, and he'll badmouth them any chance he gets in contradiction of years of historical study. He actually ignores recent discoveries from their own records about the war in favor of 1940s propaganda. I find this offensive. My aunt tries to excuse it because he fought in WWII. "They tried to kill him," she says. "He's still got shrapnel in his leg from them."

Ok. But... he tried to kill them, too. It was a war; that's what happens. It's been 68 years since then; they're now one of our most important allies. If he's not willing to change his opinions, fine, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with them or not find it disgusting.