SpecialKai wrote:Why autism? I never got that vibe (then again I think autism is suggested too loosely these days.) He's clearly troubled however and admits to depression, anxiety and dyslexia. He mentioned dyslexia is the cause of his speech impediment. Does anyone know if that's common in dyslexia? I'm uninformed.
Well, dyslexia has a lot of effects that people wouldn't generally think are related. For example, being able to easily distinguish 'left' and 'right.' So while it's not common, it's also not unheard of to have a lisp and being dyslexic. I have some difficulty reading (due to language troubles, not dyslexia), and noticed that I have developed a slight-to-moderate lisp mainly because I visualize words as I'm saying them...if that makes sense. It may be something else, like maybe my tongue is too long or that Daniel's is too short, but if this gave you some sort of insight about it, then I'm happy
Oh man, I haven't seen any of his videos in ages and only came back to this thread because TP's is at a low right now. Seeing how people were talking about the transphobic video, I decided to watch it. You all pretty much said what needed to be said, but I thought that I'd add in that his blatant imperialistic beliefs are appalling. His whole digression about how the East is so 'backwards,' and how people are "ripping women's vaginas out," and have no rights made me click off. Basically, there are two things I wanted to address:
First, he needs to calm down and not take these things so personally. When people criticize the practices and beliefs of the West, they're not criticizing him. They're criticizing the hegemony that is the West and not individual Westerners. Slamming the table doesn't add anything to his points, it only makes him look unstable, and his instability transfers into the instability of his arguments. Eastern people aren't so blind as to believe that the people, and not the institutions, are to blame.
He's angry that people are generalizing a vast array of cultures and practices as being terrible by also generalizing a vast array of cultures and practices...Son.
Second, I can't help but question how naïve someone who says, "If you don't like this country, quit complaining about it and just leave" is, especially when they wholeheartedly believe it. Listen, Daniel, most of the people who criticize a country either a) don't have the means to leave or b) actually love the country and want to see it achieve the best it can. I don't need to pledge by allegiance to a certain way of life in order to love my country. I love my people and my country and will always do what I believe is my duty for it to flourish, and if it means that I must say it has made mistakes, so be it, because only from there can it get better. I criticize my country because, as a mother knows of her child, I know it has the potential to do better than it has, and I am disappointed when I see it fail to meet that potential. If it's never criticized or questioned, it'll grow as spoiled and insufferable as would a child who was never disciplined. And, like a mother, I don't need to praise it every time it does what I believe it should have done all along; I will be quietly content, but still push it to do better. People who critique the West's practices should, in fact, stay in the West, because no one cares more to see it become stronger than them.
So please, Daniel, gain some perspective.
i'll be sure to paraphrase the really ignorant and insensitive things he says, because i know how hurtful those sentiments can be. it'll be done by tomorrow.
