What’s so wrong about xenophobia?

[Calfredd]

Xenophobia is actually a natural trait we all have.

You know xenophobia has irrational in the definition right? What you are talking about is rational. Can you honestly say it's rational to be xenophobic towards a Canadian for example?

[shaunika123]

"japan is doing great"

meanwhile they're literally facing a population crisis cos literally nobody wants to have kids anymore.

I think xenophobia is to a degree natural.

but it's still fucking ironic when the biggest melting pot of immigrants is one of the most xenophobic nations in the west.

but i mean, the entire history of USA is about colossal contradictions, so why not add this to that as well.

[Rhaide]

At its core it is irrational, and we should strive to be more rational all around. Now feel free to justify your dislike of people based on the color of their skin and/or national origin by painting an entire demographic in a negative light because of the extremists/small population of assholes. Because if we want to play that game, I can justify some terrible shit about men in general, but that might trigger some people.

And men can justify some terrible things about women without any difficulty. Everyone sucks.

As a parallel to this conversation, I think it's funny that when people in the US speak ill of any other country, even lightheartedly, we're bigots, but entire memes exist to make fun of us. (http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/murica)

I don't particularly LOVE any current nation, even my own - but I find it infuriating that people are happy to mock and deride others from their high horse, but then they cry injustice when someone does the same to them.

[Swizzington]

I roll my eyes when people hold up Japan as some sort of perfect society.

Xenophobia is irrational. If you hate and/or fear different customs, cultures and beliefs just because they're different, you're a bit of an idiot. Now, having a healthy skepticism when looking at other cultures is fine. That's not xenophobia, that's just critical thinking.

I think the key to making multiculturalism work is that the society has to expect, that when the pervasive and pre-existing culture rubs shoulders with a newly arrived, immigrant culture, that it's the new culture that makes the accommodations and compromises, not the other way around. There is actually nothing wrong with expecting people to conform to your norms and standards when they come to your country.

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You know xenophobia has irrational in the definition right? What you are talking about is rational. Can you honestly say it's rational to be xenophobic towards a Canadian for example?

To be fair, humans are largely irrational by nature.

[Deleted]

like with most things, there is nothing wrong with it unless you take it to an extreme, try to push it on others or try to have the good without the bad.

[Rhaide]

Which happens to be true irrelevant of where the stranger actually comes from.

K tell you what, you open your home to a refugee from a conflicted ME nation who doesn't have any interest in assimilating, and I'll open mine to a Canadian person. We'll see who has more problems.

It's not really about danger, it's about societal expectations. It's important to respect and maintain one's culture, even when migrating - but refusing to DO ANYTHING to fit is not good. The problem the US (and many other countries) faces, is that large populations of migrants and refugees are not willing to accept any of our culture at all but we're expected to accept theirs. That isn't how togetherness works, it should go both ways or you get angry people, and guess what? There's lots of angry people now.

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I roll my eyes when people hold up Japan as some sort of perfect society.

Xenophobia is irrational. If you hate and/or fear different customs, cultures and beliefs just because they're different, you're a bit of an idiot. Now, having a healthy skepticism when looking at other cultures is fine. That's not xenophobia, that's just critical thinking.

I think the key to making multiculturalism work is that the society has to expect, that when the pervasive and pre-existing culture rubs shoulders with a newly arrived, immigrant culture, that it's the new culture that makes the accommodations and compromises, not the other way around. There is actually nothing wrong with expecting people to conform to your norms and standards when they come to your country.

Perfectly put

[ranzino]

Ok if you don’t want japan as an example fine so be it, how about China? They’re very xenophobic and quite far from what I’d call a nation going extinct.

if you are a billion people at home, extinction is not your concern for a long time.

[Kraenen]

if you are a billion people at home, extinction is not your concern for a long time.

Japan has over a hundred million on that little island. Not sure why someone would be worried about ethnic extinction (or 'population crisis'), and then argue for less of that ethnicity through immigration.

[Deleted]

You know xenophobia has irrational in the definition right? What you are talking about is rational. Can you honestly say it's rational to be xenophobic towards a Canadian for example?

i can imagine a bunch of isolated african tribes who have had bad experiences with westerners to have fairly rational reasons for becoming xenophobic.
fear for cultural contamination/pollution can be rational, e.g. tibet and china use that reasoning.
your average dictatorship also has pretty rational reasons to become xenophobic.

[Garnier Fructis]

K tell you what, you open your home to a refugee from a conflicted ME nation who doesn't have any interest in assimilating, and I'll open mine to a Canadian person. We'll see who has more problems.

You know, people are always telling me to go live near Middle Easterners as if that's some sort of argument, but... I used to for a decade. Some of my former next door neighbors were from the ME. I couldn't drive a mile without reading Arabic on a store sign. And ironically, guess who caused us the most trouble?

The trailer trash who decided that it was a good idea to drive loud cars and and motorcycles down our residential street at 2 AM every other day. And I'm not talking normal traffic. I'm talking about the kind of dickhead that mods their vehicle to make more noise on purpose.

It's not really about danger, it's about societal expectations. It's important to respect and maintain one's culture, even when migrating - but refusing to DO ANYTHING to fit is not good. The problem the US (and many other countries) faces, is that large populations of migrants and refugees are not willing to accept any of our culture at all but we're expected to accept theirs. That isn't how togetherness works, it should go both ways or you get angry people, and guess what? There's lots of angry people now.

For the U.S. specifically: what is our culture? It's not homogeneous across the states or even within a state. What are the hallmarks of culture? About the only piece of culture that you have a business caring about is language. Religion, dress, food, art, those are integral parts of culture and quite obviously we can't force anyone to adhere to specific choices in those.

When you look up "U.S. Culture", a common theme that people talk about is how American Culture is sort of a blending of other cultures. Xenophobia might make sense in other countries, but in the U.S. it's sort of an attack on what our nation actually is.

[Ghostpanther]

Like any phobia, it is having a unreasonable fear of something. Now, granted, some will call a person guilty of a phobia, when they are simply wanting to be cautious or they have a different opinion on a subject. Simply disagreeing with someone does not automatically make a person guilty of a phobia.

[sarahtasher]

The issue is that there is not a neat ''turn off'' button for xenophobia that allow to hate just ''the right targets'' (read, Muslims nowadays).

For instance, people praise Japan for it's rabid xenophobia, presumably because they don't have Blacks and Muslims in Japan. So cool I suppose. The issue is that Japanese rabid xenophobia led to a Native-American like conquest of the Ainus (still okay I suppose) and to a conquest of Korea (edeglords will nod and cheer, not Koreans)

The issue is that it also leads Japan to agression in China and a lot, lot lot of unplesantness for Japanese themselves. That's the little problem : at one time, xenophobes stop picking off defenceless targets...

That's like the Hitlerian Youth who found nothing wrong with xenophobia when it was parading and smashing Jewish windows and suddenly find it a lot less funny when he was soiling himself in a foxhole outside Berlin with the Red Army swarming around.

[Sky High]

Ok if you don’t want japan as an example fine so be it, how about China? They’re very xenophobic and quite far from what I’d call a nation going extinct.

<cites China as an exmplary country as if they don’t have serious issues with their own demographics
< Heeeeee hue hue hue hue hue!

[Deleted]

Good luck finding that dictionary!

don't need a dictionary. you need a list of diseases. you won't find xenophobia on such a list.

therefore xenophobia is "fear of foreign" and not "irrational fear of foreign".

[Sky High]

"japan is doing great"

meanwhile they're literally facing a population crisis cos literally nobody wants to have kids anymore.

I think xenophobia is to a degree natural.

but it's still fucking ironic when the biggest melting pot of immigrants is one of the most xenophobic nations in the west.

but i mean, the entire history of USA is about colossal contradictions, so why not add this to that as well.

Chalk that up to blind pride and poor education.

[Maybach]

Xenophobia put the equality back into hate

I cant stand racists however, as they are simply part timers and discriminatory

If you're going to hate, at least be an equal opportunities hater and give everyone a fair share

Never understood why SJW's are so unhappy about it given that it is the ultimate equality model!

[kail]

Seems silly to fear someone you don't know.

[Sky High]

Also you wouldn’t have a refugee crisis from one part of the world if some countries didn’t stick their dick in the perverbial hornets nest for decades. But we don’t talk about that...

[Mad_Murdock]

Like any phobia, it is having a unreasonable fear of something. Now, granted, some will call a person guilty of a phobia, when they are simply wanting to be cautious or they have a different opinion on a subject. Simply disagreeing with someone does not automatically make a person guilty of a phobia.

I agree with you on this. I really hope in the next 5 years or less, we start using our IST and PHOBE words a lot more sparingly. If someone disagrees with you, just call them a dumbass and move on. Ist and Phobe should be reserved for those that really earn it and should carry some real weight, now it's almost a badge of honor to get labeled by the other side as such in an argument

Seems silly to fear someone you don't know.

By silly you mean totally rational? After All, it's pretty much in our DNA (if you are a evolutionist). Jon Haidt and J Peterson had an interesting conversation around why this was both good and bad.

[Addict]

Seems silly to fear someone you don't know.

Sort of the reason why you'd fear them, you dont know them - therefore act on the side of caution or be taken by suprise.

we're cowardly creatures afterall.