Desicritics Comments on Where is The Line?

Comment by fahrrad

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 01:41:19 EST

Dies ist ein gro�er Ort. Ich m�chte hier noch einmal.

Comment by fahrrad

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 01:40:44 EST

Dies ist ein gro�er Ort. Ich m�chte hier noch einmal.

Comment by commonsense

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:17:32 EST

Kaffir, "dirty" was meant to be a rare hint of sarcasm from me, the straight-laced guy, but I forgot the scare-quotes. It was also meant to be a wink-wink, nod-nod towards Kerty, the warrior in-chief against what he calls "sexual anarchy" and the defender in chief of mindless, prurient prudery.

Comment by kaffir

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:20:00 EST

There's nothing "dirty" about masochism, and BDSM is quite fun. The problem comes when a masochist wants everyone to be like him and enjoy the pain, or it is non-consensual. ;)

Comment by commonsense

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:51:57 EST

Kaffir: ""Unless, of course, one is a masochist."" exactly my point! but now my dirty secret is out! thanks :)

Comment by kaffir

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:42:08 EST

It's like if some member of some idiotic neo-nazi gang were to rough me up, me taking it out on some other poor, hapless "white". But it makes sense to adopt a cautious approach (different from hostile) towards those who exhibit some of the same characteristics as the neo-nazi gang, or those "whites" about whom we do not know anything and they could possibly belong to a neo-nazi gang. It's also common sense to ask the larger group to solve or contain this problem, which exists within their internal sub-group, by themselves - or help the victim do the same. Unless, of course, one is a masochist.

Comment by Ledzius

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:21:12 EST

Seems like Mr 10 Percent is finally dancing to the tunes of the military and the ISI. He is now denying that Kasab is a Pakistani. And Nawaz Sharif has drawn flak from the Urdu press (read - the common man's voice) for claiming the same. The average Paki still claims that the Mumbai was a conspiracy hatched by India and Kasab is not from Pakistan. It is ironical that there are dreamers on this website who want an unified India-Pak. Yeah, first get Pakistanis to accept that Kasab is from their country before embarking on your project. One small step at a time. Good luck.

Comment by The Shiva

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:20:35 EST

@ commonsense: I agree with all that you mention, which is why I still don't know how to react. Again, there is a difference between attacking a poor white guy, and avoiding him. I think avoiding him still makes sense till the opposing side comes up with its clear distinction between the problem makers and the so called victims who just happen to look like them. @ Prateek: yes it should hurt them, and they should realize the fact that it hurts them to belong to the same group. This should at least force them to come up alternate strategies on how to differentiate themselves from the idiots who cause the trouble. If its business as usual, why would they think any of this is wrong? @ Kerty: There is some truth to what you say I think, but instead of pouring the millions to make them rich, it should be poured to make them fight each other if at all they want to fight. This has been US covert policy for years, you make a country unstable by supporting different factions at different times. All in the name of self interest. Why shouldnt there be an Indian self interest in the region? Why should we be the only ones fighting for peace when the Paki buggers dont want anything to do with it? There is a macro level response to such actions and a micro level one. What we keep discussing is the macro level response when it really isnt our job to do so. Instead of signing petitions and emailing threads, I think we should spend some time thinking how we should act as individuals. And I think boycotting Paki owned enterprise is a pretty good way, morally and economically.

Comment by Kerty

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:28:33 EST

Prateek India and USA should pour trillions in Pakistan to make everybody rich, so that nobody in Pakistan have any economic incentive to join Jehad. I think billions will not be enough to get the job done - because if ISI were to offer few millions rupees, they will definitely have more than 10 people line up to join the Jehad. So the financial aid should be so big and everybody so rich that nobody shows up to join the Jehad no matter how much financial incentives are offered to the Pakistanis. Lets roll red carpet for Pakistanis. It is the least we can do to punish terrorism.

Comment by commonsense

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:25:01 EST

to add to Prateek, it does not make sense to be hostile to others to whom we impute a certain community membership. Despite strong emotions. It's like if some member of some idiotic neo-nazi gang were to rough me up, me taking it out on some other poor, hapless "white".

Comment by Prateek

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:37:43 EST

To play devil's advocate here, wouldn't boycotting the economic endeavours of honest, modern Pakistanis hurt us in the long run? There is less incentive to follow the "right" path and more to follow a radical path and fight "injustice".

Comment by commonsense

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:11:35 EST

in the pre-globalization days, it was not impossible, but certainly more difficult for citizens of a country to interact or conduct business with citizens of another hostile country (commonsense, but true!). such interactions throw up a whole range of conundrums that you discuss. delicate, subtle issues that cannot always be dealt with as eiher/or issues. such as, you did not day, "heck no way i'm getting into this cab driven by a Pakistani" nor "no way will i meet with this client who happens to be a Pakistani". Yet, you could not just totally ignore the real mix of anger, resentment, frustration etc. etc. that is part and parcel of dealing with the tragic horror of mumbai. BTW, regardless, "Paki" is not a good word to use...even though, in fairness to you, your bio does indicate that "sometimes I end up being mildly offensive"!