5 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: What would I do?
I don’t make a distinction between rhetoric “We should gas all the Jews” and “Kill the rich” - both are equally reprehensible
You should make that distinction because words have historical context and it's important to keep that historical context in mind when discussing slurs. When you use anti-Semitic language, it calls back to the hundreds of years where Jews were murdered because of their ethnicity. The conspiracies about Jews running the world or conspiring against non-Jews. You cannot separate that history from that language.
Hatred of rich people, on the other hand, has no such history. Rich people have enjoyed incredible privilege throughout history. They suffer no societal consequences for being rich. That is why saying "eat the rich" will never be as reprehensible as "gas the Jews." One solicits an eye roll, the other refers to an atrocity where over 6,000,000 people were murdered by a fascist regime.
That is why I state that I want bigotry and harassment banned. What qualifies as bigotry and harassment is pretty clear. Saying you support Donald Trump isn't bigoted, even if Donald Trump himself supports bigotry. Calling trans people slurs, that is bigotry. Using dogwhistles like "13/50" or "(((them)))" is also bigotry. Sending users threats is harassment. Following them into every post to insult them is harassment. Brigading a support subreddit to disrupt it is harassment. These are clear things that are currently not seen as banworthy under reddit's current system. They may say it's against the rules, but practically speaking, no one gets banned for doing these things.
Yes, I disagree with bigotry and harassment. Yes, I think both need to be banned. No, I'm not the final authority of what constitutes those things, but I think there is consensus on the most egregious examples.
Comment by KaiserBob at 07/06/2020 at 09:01 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hatred of rich people, on the other hand, has no such history. Rich people have enjoyed incredible privilege throughout history. They suffer no societal consequences for being rich.
So the experiences of the people who have survived or escaped from the various Communist revolutions are false?
There was a reddit post a while back which a user posted a picture of his grandfather who was killed in the Russian Revolution for owning a horse farm, and most of the replies were saying he deserved it. That sentiment is real and it shows the same fundamental disregard for human life as anti-Semitic language.
Yes, I disagree with bigotry and harassment. Yes, I think both need to be banned. No, I'm not the final authority of what constitutes those things, but I think there is consensus on the most egregious examples.
I think most people agree on the most egregious examples but the problem is that opinion shifts and what might be normal to one person becomes offensive to others and how does this hypothetical Reddit program address that conflict?
Let’s use a hypothetical example: Gendered pronouns (he/she) are now extremely offensive to a vocal minority of Reddit users because you are presuming their gender. It’s just as offensive as using (((them))) is to you right now. Are you now a bigot and should you be banned? You obviously aren’t but Reddit HQ is very forward thinking and decides you are - now you are banned. Does that feel fair?