An Ode to Intolerance
Posted by switters on January 30, 2007
The biggest problem facing our country and our community is not a dearth of tolerance but an excess of it. Tolerance is a vastly overrated characteristic whose overuse leads inexorably toward mediocrity, shallowness, and an overall decline in culture and grace. We err grossly in our society by not being sufficiently intolerant of ignorance, stupidity, lack of class, lack of respect, lack of manners, and worst of all, lack of humor. (For god’s sake, people of the world… RELAX! Lighten up and laugh a little, especially at yourselves. Everyone else is laughing at you so you might as well join the fun).
Of course we should not tolerate racism and bigotry but nor should we tolerate those who toss around those words in an effort to distract attention from inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.
People on Sayville.com frequently call Heretic/Keeper a racist, but as he says: please point out the things he has written that aren’t factual. Is it racist to point out truths that reflect poorly on a particular minority group? To acknowledge the fact that certain groups commit grossly disproportionate percentages of violent crime?
Hardly.
What is racist is to try and sweep these facts under the rug – because doing so belies a mindset that the underlying problems are inherent and intractable. While it may seem paradoxical to the simple minded, anyone who has a passing interest in social justice must be aware that no solution to resolve the problems of society’s “underclass” can even be attempted without a realistic appraisal of what those problems are.
Call me a bleeding heart (hardly) but I do believe the underlying causes for the imbalance in the crime rate has to do with societal, historic and economic factors rather than genetic ones. And yet, while we need to find solutions to these problems, no matter how bad one’s circumstances may be, there are certain behaviors that are just not acceptable.
If we want to make a better world for our children, we must be intolerant of all those things that stand in our way.
Switters' Blog 
tpanarese said
The thing that’s been bothering me about the thread you’re mainly referring to is not that Heretic/Keeper may or may not be speaking “intolerantly.” I grew up in Sayville … it’s not the first time anyone’s used that tone. What bothers me is the general NIMBY crap that’s spewed … I mean, there’s calling things for what they are and then being incredibly insular.
That, and the occasional completely false post *cough*millpond*cough*.
Of course, this is just warmup for March/April’s inevitable budget, teacher-bashing thread. 😉
Bloony said
Unless demographic trends change, our Sayville and nation WILL end up like South Africa.: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/05/99/south_africa_elections/353596.stm
“serious crime is committed every 17 seconds in South Africa and Johannesburg is the epicentre of the crisis.
“The reality behind the statistics means that I live behind a high brick wall, topped with an electric fence.
“Johannesburg: At the epicentre of the crime crisis
I cannot see the street outside: I cannot see the horizon. My house is alarmed day and night: so is my garage. I pull in and out of it fast: most armed carjackings take place in people’s own driveways.
“They are often serious in the extreme: they are fatal. I’ve worked across this continent for years on the basis that I’m happy to call an aggressive man with a gun “Sir” and to give him what he wants.
“So far I have survived the ill-disciplined rebel fighters, militiamen and soldiers. But in South Africa it is different – the armed men don’t always give you the chance to hand the car over. They just shoot.”
dakeeper said
I don’t think I’m being intolerant. Let someone prove me wrong. I deal with these people on a daily basis- they do not live like you and I. That goes the same for some white people in Mastic/ Shirley, blacks in Wyandanch, Latinos in Brentwood, etc. I for one, choose to live a law-abiding existence, I pay my share of taxes, I volunteer my time, I keep a clean property and I raise my kids to be productive citizens. I do have an IN-tolerance for criminals, deadbeats, those who basically offer nothing to society- like gangstaz. So if that makes me ‘intolerant’ in the eyes of my Sayville neighbors, then so be it.
I call it like I see it. I’m all for an argument where the other side can validate for me how it is responsible for someone to have 5 kids with 5 women, boast about it, be in jail, pay no child support, make the girl come in to the jail during a blizzard with the kid to drop off $10 so he can buy snacks, and then get released to victimize society once again. Am I supposed to ‘tolerate’ living next to people like this? I think not.
If you want that in your town, let me know and I’ll get out- quickly.
Faust said
I agree with every work Dakeeper wrote.
I don’t pay more in taxes than the average American makes so that some people can have baby after baby while tax payers pick up the medical, food, and housing costs.
dakeeper said
Faust, trust me, you have no idea how rampant this problem is. I kid you not when I have spoken to guys who think there is nothing wrong with having 5 different kids with 5 different ‘baby-mommas’.
Faust said
This is why we need our government to change the welfare calculations so more kids don’t equal more $$$.
These men need to be held responsible as do they women popping these kids out every year.
dakeeper said
I once heard a female in custody, when asked about her pregnancy (she was about 7 or 8 months pregnant) state ‘well you know, it’s just another paycheck’ as she pointed to her belly.
Shall we discuss state-sponsored sterilization?
Faust said
You need a license for a car, a permit to work on your home but any jackass can reproduce. Amazing.
dakeeper said
Well, when you don’t work and you have 60 license suspensions all there is to do is screw your fat ugly baby mommas, smoke weed, and sell dope.
Btw- the stereotypical ‘I hate my father’ overweight white woman with tattoos and straight hair who gets suckered by minority cons? Its’ true- very true.
Thanks. Now I need a drink. After being on these forums I feel like I’ve watched the movie ‘Beeches’ over and over…..
blooby said
In our lifetimes the majority in this country will be nonwhite and we will have to live under their rule. Checkout how they treated the whites after they took over Rhodesia and South Africa. We need to stick together. http://nationalvanguard.org/
switters said
You’re just being satirical right? I mean, you can’t really believe this stuff, can you?
NEMO said
I agree with ALL of you! I work in a busy ER where most of our admitted pediatric cases are children of “no-speakity” parents. Nobody speaks English! The parents nod their heads while I work and when asked a simple question, their relpy is “no speakity”…YET…they ALL carry cell phones, they drive cars (on roads where the signs are in English only), they send their kids to public schools (where there are more ESL classes than English-speaking classes. Why do we allow this nonsense? And, who pays for their medical care?? We do…hospitals (especially Catholic hospitals) don’t turn people away.
I also deal with baby-mommas and baby-daddies daily. I recently met a baby-momma with 4 different men’s names tattooed on her abdomen…they were the names of all her baby-daddies. Sickening. Call me a snob, biased, racist, honkey, whatever…statistics don’t lie!
As far as being “politically correct”…well, it is what it is, and to quote Mr. John Cougar Mellencamp, “…People know this world is a wreck, we’re sick and tired of being politically correct, I see through it now but I didn’t at first, the hypocrites made it worse and worse…”
I need a drink now, too, Keeper! 🙂 And, for the record…I am not looking forward to the upcoming teacher-bashing threads.
blooby said
They are brought in to dilute our nationality and bust unions.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=14965
We are being merged with Mexico and Canada, like the European Union. That is the reason supermarket merchandise is in French and Spanish.
switters said
Interesting article. On the other hand, there’s this. And this.
NEMO said
Oh, jeez…I just reread my previous post. I hope the Grammar Police don’t find me here! Hehehehe…
NEMO said
Oh…I reread my post again…somebody snuck in a post a few minutes before mine…I can’t say that I agree with what’s written there. It is quite interesting and thought-provoking and will surely make for an interesting discussion.
switters said
Rather than beating yourself up over it, why not just enjoy the irony of using poor grammar in a post that criticizes people who don’t speak English? It’s all relative, right? 🙂
tpanarese said
Okay, okay, okay. This is where I give a weird look and leave the room lest I be stoned for voting for the Democratic Party.
a) Sarcastic, satirical, ironic or not … some of those posts are ridiculous, especially considering that we are talking about Sayville here. Sayville. There aren’t many places more insular than that to grow up in.
b) Next time you link to a site, pick one that doesn’t have a huge picture of Ann Coulter on it. The woman has the journalistic integrity and credibility of Jayson Blair.
That being said, maybe I am overly tolerant but spewing this is not a solution as much as just letting crime happen is not a solution (besides, we’re talking about a college dorm, too … not the apartments that were on Lincoln and Overton back in the early ’90s). It’s just … mind boggling how much this, and the thread on the Sayville boards completely devolved.
Oh wait, devolved … uh, that’s the antonym of evolve, whose noun form is evolution. Uh … unintelligently designed?
Peace out.
switters said
No, T- don’t leave the room- we need balance. I tried for it in my original post, but I’m not sure I succeeded given the direction that the comments have headed in.
To go back to your first comment above you mention NIMBYism: to quote Inigo Montoya, You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means. If you’re implying that people in Sayville are wearing blinders and ignoring the drug problems among our teenagers, I agree (let’s just say that the new Walgreens main competition for Percocet sales will not be Thornhill’s). But I think there are many others who are aware of the problem and they know that we are not as far from those “other towns” as we’d like to believe and that’s why they react so strongly.
“lest I be stoned for voting for the Democratic Party.” – you have to be stoned to vote for the Democratic party. (ba-dum-bump) (jk)
Finally, It shouldn’t need stating but I’ll do it anyway. The opinions posted as comments do not necessarily reflect my own. I made this an open forum because I enjoy dialogue, but I have to admit I was hoping for something with a little more irreverence and a little less, I don’t know, bitterness. It’s not even a question of whether or not I agree at this point – it’s just enough already let’s move on. What about those sidewalk cracks in front of the library?
tpanarese said
Thanks Switters, and I know what you mean regarding your opinion, so there’s no need to explain.
What was getting me was that the discussion didn’t seem to be going anywhere. I enjoy a balanced discussion because I personally think that when you get a dialogue going you at least get somewhere, even if it is just getting someone to consider another side to a story. But some of the comments here and on the site weren’t constructive at all.
And I’m not saying that this discussion should be discontinued, but if we’re going to see post after post that yammers on about people not speaking English and the like, what’s the point?
Now, cracks on the sidewalk … if we don’t repair those, the terrorists win. 😉
dakeeper said
I like to think of myself as a realist. I make observations on what I see and experience. Yes, I add my own twisted way of thinking into my posts, but they are honest. I always ask that anyone who can prove me wrong to please try.
I think Blooby takes it to the extreme. I don’t hate everyone. Hate is a very misused word. I do have very, very, strong dislike and contempt for criminals who prey on society and punk gangstaz. My opinions speak for themselves.
Having said that, I like Switters and his blog. I like lots of jokes, like…say the Democratic party. So I will lurk. I will be ready. ……I will listen……
NEMO said
I like Switters and his blog, too. I am so glad to be granted freedom of speech. ADD was not a problem when I was in elementary school…we had kids who were smart, kids who were normal, kids who were slow, we had retards and those who just didn’t listen, no matter what (we learned from them)…all these labels that we use today are crazy! Everyone seems to have an excuse as to why they act as they do…when will people begin to take responsibility for their actions again??
blooby said
View this video to understand the problem Sayville faces. http://youtube.com/watch?v=zRkthjd0GTc
dakeeper said
Yes, I’ve often thought Sayville was at risk for rodents who have a propensity for Vaudeville entertainment….