One can get away with saying "I don't like kids" or generally treat kids rudely in other ways or even condescendingly and get away with it. At worst you'll get a few people(probably the parents) calling you out, but nothing is ever really made of it. Similarly, you can degrade older people and it's not taken remotely seriously. For example, you can pretty much brush off anything someone over 60 years old says by claiming that they're "out of touch" or even worse "senile", even if there's no real reason to believe they are, in fact, going senile. If you did these kind of things to other groups of people down gender or racial lines, you'd be chewed out to no end and maybe even lose your job.
"by claiming that they're "out of touch" or even worse "senile", even if there's no real reason to believe they are, in fact, going senile."
Yes! there F8ken is. When you get older your bones shrink and become more brittle bones making it harder to move. Your body becomes delicate and your mind starts to wander and slowly lose touch with your surroundings, reality. etc.
My dads 66, he was a great driver and now whenever im with him in the car I fear for my life. He has lost a lot of weight over time and looks more skinnier then before, he tends to forget where he leaves things and gets upset when he can't seem to find them. But everyone ages differently, just a matter of time.
Kids tend to be retarded, inexperienced little shits, and old people tend to be out-of-touch and set in their ways. That's just life.
Stereotypes tend to have a glimmer of truth.
__________________
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
I'm getting old, man. This is the oldest I've ever been.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
I tend to think ageism would be more about denial of rights, not necessarily general perception.
And on perception, can we agree that ageism is pretty mild compared to, well, pretty much any social stereotype? Name any political, religious, or ethnic group, and I can almost guarantee they are the recipients of more vitriol than age demographics. I don't discount its existence, just its impact on the world. Most of the phrases in the OP are batted about in a vague, general sense anyway...not toward individuals. Every older person knows respectable youth, and vice-versa. Whereas I've met people that, say, dislike black people without exception, I can't say I've ever met or heard of anyone who hates the elderly under an all-encompassing blanket.
OP, where does ageism happen that would warrant firing if it was directed toward another group? I'm not outright denying that it could exist, but I've never seen such evidence.
I don't know about Germany but US Senators are spread from 41 to 88 and US Representatives are spread from 31 to 89 (here with at least ten people in every 10 year range). Obviously if you consider the only age categories to be "over 30" and "under 30" this seems like one group is in control. Fortunately those 50 year old senators are dividing things as "over 50" and "under 50" and the 80 year old Representatives are dividing things as "over 80" and "under 80". Everyone looks at things and sees themselves not having control.
Obviously in the US people under 30 are explicitly disenfranchised by being kept out of office but that doesn't change the argument that no specific age group holds all the power. Its hard for aegism to become as problematic as racism or sexism simply because the needed power isn't there (also people have foresight so no one will vote to enslave all people over 60 unless they want to be enslaved).
__________________
Graffiti outside Latin class.
Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
A juvenal prank.
Last edited by Symmetric Chaos on Nov 8th, 2012 at 04:18 PM
__________________ "Your Lord knows very well what is in your heart. Your soul suffices this day as a reckoner against you. I need no witnesses. You do not listen to your soul, but listen instead to your anger and your rage."
so, just as a legitimate question, you are arguing that all possible divisions of the human population are equal? So it is the same to divide based on gender, race, height, handedness, sport preference, age, smoker or not, hair colour, etc?
Like, if you discriminate against someone for their favorite Baseball team you are being a "teamist"?
additionally, I'm not sure anyone was ever really too worried about statements like "I don't like black people" or "I don't like women", it is the social and political establishments that refused them rights and privileges in society. FFS, at least complain about unfair insurance costs forced on good drivers under the age of 25, or something like that. Saying "I don't like kids" is hardly discrimination, and frankly, is just good sense.
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
Reported. Don't you dare take that kind of language around an old, Christian, God-fearing, man. I have morals and principles and I don't have to take that kind of language.
Don't talk to me like that. You're not my real Dad.
__________________
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
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Nov 8th, 2012 02:40 AM
