When you write pieces like this, you have to be very careful about what you say. People are so fueled by emotion that they will attack anything they see as contrary to their view. Before I dig into the meat and drink of what I am going to say, I'm going to clarify a few things. No-one here at FoulENT supports any form of terrorism. The attacks were a bad thing and our thoughts go out to anyone who suffered in any way. Unfortunately, the attacks have brought out both the more distasteful elements and more ridiculous of the world. Read on.
People Will Use It To Push Their Agendas
I won't lie, my first thoughts when I heard about the attacks were purely selfish. "Fuck, is anyone I know out there?" That was all that went through my head. Then, the bigger picture sunk in, how bad it is for the people there and in general for the world. My first thought wasn't to jump onto my bed, boot up my MacBook and make a video encouraging people to smash the establishment. Now I'm using a bit of creative licence here, because the video was made in response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks, but the point remains, Russel Brand did do just that. Right here. The main reason I'm using this as an example is because it has popped up again after the attack on Paris, a solution to terrorism. Mr Brand however is unable to fashion a coherent actual solution. He rambles about peace and love and then talks about bringing down capitalism, corporations and the media. I'm not an expert of the geo-political spectrum, but I have a one point plan for helping to, maybe not stop but definitely reduce significantly, terrorism. It's also coherent and it doesn't try to push through any separate agendas I might have. Ready?
I know it's not quite as sesquipedalian as Brandy, but it's a hell of a lot shorter and it doesn't go into my personal bias against UniLad. Not related to the point as such, but as an addendum, if you're going to try to bring down big corporations, you probably shouldn't have spent all that money on a MacBook either.
Russel isn't the only one either though, regular people do it, but with a lot more vitriol and hatred involved. At least his intentions were good, even if he did make as much sense as a dog chewing a sock. There was a hell of a lot more of this...
- STOP BOMBING OTHER COUNTRIES FOR NO REASON
I know it's not quite as sesquipedalian as Brandy, but it's a hell of a lot shorter and it doesn't go into my personal bias against UniLad. Not related to the point as such, but as an addendum, if you're going to try to bring down big corporations, you probably shouldn't have spent all that money on a MacBook either.
Russel isn't the only one either though, regular people do it, but with a lot more vitriol and hatred involved. At least his intentions were good, even if he did make as much sense as a dog chewing a sock. There was a hell of a lot more of this...
Whereby people take a small section of a group of people, and use their actions to represent everyone. There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. There have been 48 terrorist attacks accredited to Muslim extremist groups since 1983. You're telling me that if even 1% of the Muslim population was of that belief there would have been just 48 attacks?
If as many Muslims as the racists would have you believe were that way inclined there would have been a damn site more than 48 attacks, and they would have been even more damaging than they were already.
I'm not trying to justify or downplay any of the attacks, just trying to bring a little perspective into the conversation. If you got cheated on by a blonde bird, would you never date another one? Exactly, it's a ridiculous notion isn't it. Think about that next time you're liking a Britain First Facebook post or buying an EDL hoodie.
If as many Muslims as the racists would have you believe were that way inclined there would have been a damn site more than 48 attacks, and they would have been even more damaging than they were already.
I'm not trying to justify or downplay any of the attacks, just trying to bring a little perspective into the conversation. If you got cheated on by a blonde bird, would you never date another one? Exactly, it's a ridiculous notion isn't it. Think about that next time you're liking a Britain First Facebook post or buying an EDL hoodie.
Slacktivists Come Out In Force
Facebook jumped right on the attacks. Straight away, offering people the opportunity to put the French flag as a watermark for profile pictures. Nice touch. It's really good to see people taking a stand against terrorism, by changing a picture on a social media site.
Remember how paedophelia was wiped out when everyone changed their picture to Bugs Bunny? No, it didn't happen did it. It's an empty gesture, that allows people to judge others. Haven't changed your picture? You fucking cunt.
A lot of people have been announcing that they are still going out to various places because "Isis won't rule my life". None of these things make any kind of difference, donate some money, offer aid, then you can be pious and judgmental. Not from clicking a button on a website where you spend all day documenting your life though.
I'm not against showing solidarity per se, it's just that with a situation like this it goes without saying that you are feeling sympathy for those affected. It would make more sense to offer the option of changing your profile picture to a picture of a massive bellend, so you know the people who don't give a fuck. That would make a lot more sense.
The main issue with the profile picture thing is that it creates division. A lot of people point out that there were other terrorist attacks on the same day, as well as natural disasters. Why should France be the only one to get support? There are people calling it racism, people arguing amongst themselves about who is most deserving of support and basically just a lot of stupid bullshit point scoring.
Here is the deal, it's most likely not racist why people have been vocal about their support, Facebook is used by Europeans and Americans a lot. Europe are most likely to feel most affected by it, compared to the attacks in Baghdad and Beirut.
Americans are mainly descended from Europeans and it was an American band playing. I'd hope that is all it is, but since writing that I have seen about 300 people calling for a mass cull of Muslims so maybe I'm wrong and there is more to it. Again though, I'd go back to my earlier point of not judging everyone by a small minority, just because the vocal people are fucking idiots, doesn't mean the majority are.
Remember how paedophelia was wiped out when everyone changed their picture to Bugs Bunny? No, it didn't happen did it. It's an empty gesture, that allows people to judge others. Haven't changed your picture? You fucking cunt.
A lot of people have been announcing that they are still going out to various places because "Isis won't rule my life". None of these things make any kind of difference, donate some money, offer aid, then you can be pious and judgmental. Not from clicking a button on a website where you spend all day documenting your life though.
I'm not against showing solidarity per se, it's just that with a situation like this it goes without saying that you are feeling sympathy for those affected. It would make more sense to offer the option of changing your profile picture to a picture of a massive bellend, so you know the people who don't give a fuck. That would make a lot more sense.
The main issue with the profile picture thing is that it creates division. A lot of people point out that there were other terrorist attacks on the same day, as well as natural disasters. Why should France be the only one to get support? There are people calling it racism, people arguing amongst themselves about who is most deserving of support and basically just a lot of stupid bullshit point scoring.
Here is the deal, it's most likely not racist why people have been vocal about their support, Facebook is used by Europeans and Americans a lot. Europe are most likely to feel most affected by it, compared to the attacks in Baghdad and Beirut.
Americans are mainly descended from Europeans and it was an American band playing. I'd hope that is all it is, but since writing that I have seen about 300 people calling for a mass cull of Muslims so maybe I'm wrong and there is more to it. Again though, I'd go back to my earlier point of not judging everyone by a small minority, just because the vocal people are fucking idiots, doesn't mean the majority are.
The Racists Come Out To Play
This is the biggest one and it is going to be my shortest bit too. I touched on it slightly earlier, but to be honest I can't bring myself to go through it all again. It just makes me angry, seeing people whose only answer to hatred and pain, is more hatred and pain. All I will say about it is, if you think that murdering people is the best answer to murder, it won't be long until we're all dead. Except Mark Zuckerburg, who will most likely change everyone's Facebook profile picture to a skull and crossbones.
Don't let a tragedy be a reason to act like a cunt, use it to be a better person. Better yourself, offer legitimate ways to fight thing and don't just insult and deride people with differing opinions to you, debate them, and bring facts to the debate. If anyone agrees or disagrees with anything here, the comments section is always open.
Don't let a tragedy be a reason to act like a cunt, use it to be a better person. Better yourself, offer legitimate ways to fight thing and don't just insult and deride people with differing opinions to you, debate them, and bring facts to the debate. If anyone agrees or disagrees with anything here, the comments section is always open.
By The Cunt
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for Foul Entertainment games. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for Foul Entertainment games. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.