RE: Stereotyping People And Why It's Not Acceptable.
Hi @lexikon082. Your message is something worthy of note. I have had periods in my life where I have chosen a path of silence in the conditions that Gandhi describes.
Was this inexperience? Cowardice? Social pressure? I'm not sure but perhaps it's something that needs to be experienced personally in order to fully understand the obligation that we have to speak out at times when confronted with issues that fundamentally clash with our core values.
I see people such as you who share messages like this as role models for the younger and less life-seasoned steemit membership demographic. Your sobriety journey alone is inspirational and has even influenced me as a more "seasoned" participant for the better, as you know.
It's funny about stereotypes based purely on looks in particular. I recall my father once talking about an experience he had in Germany. He'd observed one or perhaps a small group of Asian people in some social context and had assumed that they were tourists or for some other reason "fish out of water". That was until he heard them speak fluent German with no discernible accent. It could very well be that they were native German speakers, possibly born there from Asian heritage. You just never know.
Thanks for taking the time to post this and as the sun rises here, I wish you an enjoyable evening and offer you my very first "slider" upvote!
I do agree we must at times go through situations in which we don't speak up to truly appreciate the need for it. I do believe Gandhi got to that point because he saw the plight of the people and realized it had gotten to that point because the people who were being oppressed were not speaking up for themselves.
Qui tacet consentire videtur is a latin phrase I always try to remember. It means "He who is silent is taken to agree". Many know it as "Silence is Consent".
I think of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his opposition to Hitler. Imagine how many people stayed silent because of fear of Hitler's aggression. While they may have disagreed, many did not speak up. Could you imagine if all had stayed silent? All Germans of that time could have gone down in the history books as racist. Actions like those of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg tells a different side of the story. Thank God for people like that.
In regard to your first "slider vote'! That is awesome! I know it's a super good feeling. And thanks for giving that vote to me. That's something special and means a lot.