Badger Pod nerdcast tonight "Social ustice in Tabletop Games"

[Necrozius]

Africa did not invent the thought system that devalues a persons worth based on their skin color in order to rationalize slavery. This stuff still has repercussions today. Try searching for a job when your name is Tyrone.

While I'm very certain that since the dawn of civilization, people have found many ways to be grotesquely prejudiced against each other, whether it be for tribe vs tribe, culture vs culture, religion vs religion etc... I do agree that it's pretty vile that this kind of prejudice has been institutionalized and even perpetuated in the 20th and 21st century in 1st world countries.

[TristramEvans]

While I'm very certain that since the dawn of civilization, people have found many ways to be grotesquely prejudiced against each other, whether it be for tribe vs tribe, culture vs culture, religion vs religion etc... I do agree that it's pretty vile that this kind of prejudice has been institutionalized and even perpetuated in the 20th and 21st century in 1st world countries.

Humans don't change, only civilizations and fads.

There has always been tribalism, prejudice, and suspicion of The Other, and always will be as long as humans feel fear.

On the other hand, there has also always been rationality, kindness, empathy, and love.

These things have played a tug of war for control of civilization for time immemorial. That we consider out current civilization "more enlightened" than those of the past is only our particular myopic delusion in regards to what we prioritize.

[ArrozConLeche]

People been treating each other horribly since the dawn of humanity.  Racism is pretty old concept that had been around long before Europe gotten into slavery.  Just because shitty slave owners from the Americans used racism as justification to own slaves doesn't mean that it is white people that invented racism.  That is a human problem that is spread out throughout all races.

I'm no historian, but I've never heard of any tribe or civilization that discriminated and dehumanized others on the basis of their skin color prior to the "white race."

Religion, nationality, and ethnicity sure. Skin color? No.

[Snowman0147]

Then maybe you should be a historian because your completely out of whack here.  Just wtf man.  There has always been racism throughout all time.

For crying out loud man China already committed mass genocide long before the Holocuast was even thought of.  Centuries in fact.  Hell they buried enemy soldiers alive as they built their great wall.  This isn't even touching the massive amount of human life lost when Mao went on with his culture revolution which caused the death of millions.

I know that second paragraph is out of place, but there is a reason I put that in here.  It is example that this isn't something invented by the evil white devil shit you are proclaiming.  All people did horrible shit.

To rub it in I just remember a conversation from a chinese immigrant who said that darker skin tone is usually a sign that the person is ugly.  It is a culture thing he had told me, but it sure as hell sounded racist.  So there goes your white man created skin tone racism.

[ArrozConLeche]

Dude, I'm not talking about beauty contests. I'm talking about dehumanization; the idea that someone is barely above an animal and that people can make that judgement  based on their skin color. Tell me who else has done that in history.

Also, don't pull that "white devil" pity party bullshit. I'm just pointing out one of the unfortunate things that the so called white race has inflicted on the world. Some people sure love to take collective credit for good things "the white race" has done in history but point out one bad thing and suddenly the persecution complex comes out with a vengeance.

[Snowman0147]

No your saying white people invented this dehumanization shit and I am telling your wrong.  Sure we used it which is vile, but we are not the makers of this shit.  We don't even know who, or which people invented that horrible thing.

Edit:  Also once again China.  The immigrant I talk to said that yes some time ago chinese people considered the Mongrels to be subhumans and only fit for war.  That is what he said and given the track record of how China handles human rights I am going to give that guy the benefit of a doubt.  Once again there are cultures that do dehumanize other people.

[ArrozConLeche]

Not dehumanization. Dehumanization based on skin color; so called race. Tell me who did it before "whites". If I'm wrong then I'm wrong.

[Snowman0147]

You think all people in China share one skin tone?

I am sick and tired of arguing with you because you are thick headed and I am starting to think your racist, or just hate your own race.  I do both of us a favor and put you on ignore.

Edit:  As for the rest of you guys.  I am sorry I gotten into argument and I can see we are way off track.  Don't even remember how we got into a race discussion, but I can now certainly see why people avoid it.

[TristramEvans]

Dude, I'm not talking about beauty contests. I'm talking about dehumanization; the idea that someone is barely above an animal and that people can make that judgement  based on their skin color. Tell me who else has done that in history.

The Romans, The Babylonians, The Mongols, The Japanese....actually, it might be easier to ask, who hasn't done that...

Or to wonder why you think prejudice based on skin colour is somehow worse than prejudice based on "those guy come from another village"?

The Aztecs initially thought Caucasians were deities because of their skin colour and fancy foreign clothes, but thats a civilization that played basketball with human heads and committed so many human sacrifices per year they had to build a whole 'nother city just to host them all. So...little bit of this, little bit of that...

[RPGPundit]

To clarify once again:  I don't use the X-card myself, and the one time I played in a game where it was used, the card was never touched. However, if some groups find it useful, I don't see a problem.

Likewise, if some people liked having a group hug and affirmation at the start of every game session, that's fine. If they blog about how the group hug and affirmation is great, again that's fine.



If the X Card something they use in their game sessions, then that itself is reason enough to talk about it online. The same goes if they use affirmations, or fate points, or spell points, or anything else. It doesn't have to be the thin edge of anything. If there were posters who started saying "Everyone must use the X-Card or they are insensitive jerks", then those posters would be wrong. However, it would still be fine for people to use the card if they liked it.


I have not read it thoroughly, but I've seen it, yes. By the way, thank you for reading it. That is better informed than what came across earlier in the thread and in the podcast. It isn't something I am interested in myself, but I believe that the people using it are sincere.

I don't necessarily disagree with most of what you say here, but what it ignores is that the people pushing the X-card are suggesting something about the hobby as a whole.  The whole x-card thing is based on the premise that the entirety of the RPG hobby (or indeed, of geek culture, or even of western civilization as a whole) is "Toxic", and that this is a way to try to impose social engineering to 'fix' this 'toxicity'.  

All of which is not just bullshit, but dangerous bullshit.

[Will]

Edit:  As for the rest of you guys.  I am sorry I gotten into argument and I can see we are way off track.  Don't even remember how we got into a race discussion, but I can now certainly see why people avoid it.

There are some argument so fucked up even I won't engage in them.

[crkrueger]

China and India have varying skin tones, who knows if that played into their notion of the Other?  All we know is thousands of years of wars amongst themselves and against each other.  The Egyptians warred with the Nubians.  3000BC was full of Empires across the world warring, raping, murdering, enslaving people of different religions, tribes, nations, cultures, and yes, skin tone, none of them white.

What were those Danes doing, well apparently that's when the fuckers started playing with boats. :eek:

Pudding Man is right though, we had slavery in a far more "civilized" age and the cognitive dissonance was staggering, with all the laws about blood admixture - Mulatto, Quadroon, Octaroon, etc.  Of course in Japan the Wajin didn't do too well at integrating or dealing with the Ainu either, so weird blood mixture stuff isn't uniquely white, but I think we may have gone off the deep end a bit more.

[TristramEvans]

In the end it was an excuse to do horrible things to other people. Why were people with black skin a lesser race? Because people wanted to own slaves, and thats the justification they told themselves so they could sleep at night and still pretend they were civilized. What justifications do you tell yourself for shopping at retail stores where clothing is made by slaves-by-any-other-name in foreign countries? People will always do horrible things to other people, changing the excuse doesn't matter as much as people want it to.


But I'm playing the "X-card" on this tangent.



Let's go back to discussing crazy SJWs and how they're ruining gaming for everyone AKA "lets all dogpile on Will".

Wasnt there another broadcast of Honey Badger tonite? Did anyone catch it yet?

[Snowman0147]

Watching it now.

[Ratman_tf]

Wasnt there another broadcast of Honey Badger tonite? Did anyone catch it yet?

I think the next episode about TTRPGs is tomorrow. Yeah, today was about tv/movies, specifically Firefly, Farscape and Guardians of the Galaxy.