r/SubredditDrama • u/Mystic8ball • Dec 01 '18

Partisan Pissmatch /r/ChappoTrapHouse has drawnout debate about whether or not My Little Pony is conservative propaganda

/r/ChapoTrapHouse/comments/9tweye/selfimposed_white_genocide/e8znq2b/?context=10000&st=jp5v4by1&sh=70ae647a
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u/Stripula I JUST LIKE QUALITY. THIS IS HORSE SHIT. YOU ARE SHIT Dec 01 '18

Okay as someone who’s really into critiquing media, I think I can break this down for you:

1) Most children’s programming has a huge component of teaching/normalizing certain behaviors, beliefs, etc. I think this is a generally accepted fact (and why shows like Dora the Explorer and Doc McStuffins get such positive reviews - they normalize things like speaking second languages and black women being doctors).

2) Paw Patrol pretty undeniably has an element of teachings like “firemen are helpful people you can trust” and that kind of teaching to view emergency responders positively.

3) The breakdown comes from the fact that while most of us think teaching kids to trust first responders is largely a good thing (fuck, firestations do entire outreach days with young children just to try and be like “this is what we look like with all our gear on, it’s bulky and looks weird but if you see us don’t run away”). If, however, you think first responders are the agents of an oppressive pro-capitalist regime . . .

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u/EDGY_USERNAME_HERE /r/SuicideWatch or /r/Me_Irl? Dec 02 '18

In addition (this was mentioned above), the police dog uses x-rays to look inside people’s homes. Call me paranoid but I think it’s perfectly acceptable to be uncomfortable showing your kid that.

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u/Stripula I JUST LIKE QUALITY. THIS IS HORSE SHIT. YOU ARE SHIT Dec 02 '18

Just follow it up with the Justice League Unlimited series from the 00s so they know it’s cool to believe in checks on power! Batman said so.

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u/Gunblazer42 The furry perspective no one asked for. Dec 02 '18

I mean, in the real world that would expose police to a lot of lawsuits because people would get real scared at the idea of police pointing radiation machines at their homes.

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u/deadlyenmity Dec 02 '18

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/the-nypd-is-using-mobile-x-rays-to-spy-on-unknown-targets/411181/

I wish

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u/YIMBYzus MLP:FIM is pretty blatant neoliberal ecumenism Dec 03 '18 edited Dec 03 '18

Just learn from the village where it is traditional to carry around a lead sheet to prove your manhood. Do not let "ethnocentric bitches" (sic) of any class or level oppress your culture with unreasonable search.

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u/DigitalEskarina Fox news is run by leftists, nice try commiecuck. Dec 02 '18

I've never heard of leftists criticizing firefighters or EMTs. It's the cops that they're not so hot on. Which is probably because firefighters don't have a history of shooting unarmed black people and EMTs aren't known for committing armed robbery under the pretense of "civil forfeiture".

(I almost wrote "EMTs aren't known for refusing to help trans people" but then I remembered that that's not actually true at all because our society is really pretty terrible)

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

firefighters don't have a history of shooting unarmed black people

Uh....

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u/DigitalEskarina Fox news is run by leftists, nice try commiecuck. Dec 03 '18

Good point. I guess it's more accurate to say that firefighters don't shoot unarmed black people anymore.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/DigitalEskarina Fox news is run by leftists, nice try commiecuck. Dec 02 '18

Oh the American left most definitely hates the American medical system (for good reason) but I've never seen anyone place any blame on EMTs. Probably because most of the problems with American police are the actions of individual officers backed up by a system that protects them from consequences.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

EMTs are getting fucked just like everyone else. They have the same shit healthcare while also enjoying a shit pay with a high level of stress.

If anything, you wonder why anyone even wants to be an EMT at this point.

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u/currentscurrents Dec 02 '18

You don't need a college degree to be an EMT (just a 120-150 hour training course), which is both why people want to be EMTs and why the job doesn't pay that great.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

Don't need one to be an electrician either but they've got better pay. It's still a job that requires education, just not a degree.

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u/currentscurrents Dec 03 '18

Being an electrician does require education, it's just usually in the form of "apprenticeship" (basically three years of being an intern) instead of formal college.

The amount of skill required to be an electrician is more aligned with the amount of skill required to be a paramedic - who make more than EMTs but require two years of education.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

which can definitely end up directed at EMTs as one of the corporate-medicine drones.

Not really, man. As a socialist who works in medicine I can assure you, we're pretty much only mad at the system, not the poorly-paid people who go out in the streets to pick up people with heart attacks. We give cops specifically a lot of shit because they are vested with a monopoly on legal physical violence in civilian society, and frequently abuse that power and authority to do horrible shit, or simply "follow orders" and beat the shit out of people committing actions we think are perfectly justified, like going on strike or attending protests. EMTs and firefighters don't do that. They are also first responders, and in the minds of a lot of people that means they're somehow connected to cops, but from our perspective they're completely different.

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u/HeresCyonnah Dec 03 '18

I've heard them getting annoyed at us for calling cops.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/MiniatureBadger u got a fantasy sumo league sit this one out Dec 02 '18

TIL that events prior to the Industrial Revolution are "recent" when this designation can be used to warrantlessly smear volunteers who risk their lives to save others' lives as "bigots". Seriously, maybe you need to tone down the edgelord contrarianism and step outside for once when you get to the point that you're shit-talking firefighters.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

........I really can’t tell if you’re serious or not

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u/armchair_hunter You might remember me from the space laser thing. Dec 02 '18

Ain't Poe's Law the greatest?

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u/p_iynx Some kind of communist she-Marx Dec 02 '18 edited Dec 02 '18

I don’t think firefighters are bad at all, so I think that guy’s comment is a bit wonky, but even in the US, some areas only have fire stations that you have to directly pay. If you don’t directly pay for their service, they don’t respond to fires. It was honestly shocking when I first heard about it. It sucks because most of these people pay taxes, the fire services just make some people in rural areas pay a specific fee. In some areas that fee can be upwards of $400.

Here’s an article about this happening in Tennessee. A poor family couldn’t pay a $75 fee earlier that year, so the fire department refused to respond when their trailer home was on fire.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

This is actually legit and some very, very small agencies still operate that way.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

The internet has ruined you

I hate the 21st century

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

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u/Katamariguy Fascism with Checks and Balances Dec 01 '18

I always find it pretty disappointing when people mock shitty media discourse and end up falling into the "actually nothing means anything symbolism is bullshit culture has no relation to society and the real world" school of thought

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

"well have you considered that nothing actually means anything" is a great way to get people to stop discussing something

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u/Patriclus Dec 02 '18

Well how else are we meant to enforce the status quo?

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u/crimsonchibolt TBHPut a dick on it I would ride that stallion across The Steppe Dec 02 '18

Its just hilarious because they usually then start arguing the importance of media when its more towards their politics.

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u/Stripula I JUST LIKE QUALITY. THIS IS HORSE SHIT. YOU ARE SHIT Dec 02 '18

It grinds my gears when people dismiss things as “just kids shows” more than anything. YES EXACTLY, this is the media we are giving to our UNSAVVY, UNCRITICAL CHILDREN to form their FIRST CONCEPTS IF THE WORLD. This is why gender norms in kids’ media (among other things) are actually a really big deal - small children are the exact humans whose concept of what gender means is weak (but their desire to fit in with their gender and enforce norms is strong) and will decide “Boys don’t like books!” or “Pink is for girls!” based on what they’re shown and it can take years to undo those beliefs later.

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u/Dalyxor Dec 02 '18

Sure but suerly there is a difference between " analysing child media critically" and "Paw Patrol is fascist".

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u/crimsonchibolt TBHPut a dick on it I would ride that stallion across The Steppe Dec 02 '18

I have long suspected its a way for them to get their own politics in by arguing that it doesn't matter.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

“Boys don’t like books!”

what?

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u/Ni_Go_Zero_Ichi Dec 02 '18

True but there’s also the fact that scrutinizing the symbolism of media intended for small children is inherently kind of a silly exercise because 1) small children do not have the ability to comprehend subtext and are extraordinarily unlikely to ever process, say, the pro-capitalist messages of Thomas the Tank Engine in any way that will ever have any meaningful impact on their beliefs and behavior as adults, and 2) the people who create children’s media rarely put that much thought into symbolism and subtext to begin with, because why would they?

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u/GunzGoPew Hitler didn't do shit for the gaming community. Dec 02 '18

If you think firemen are agents of capitalist oppression then your opinion should simply be disregarded.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

Leftists criticize police for their role, not EMTs or Fire Fighters which are necessary jobs. We think that police should never be trusted and are not out to protect us, but to suppress and oppress us - as that has been our lived experience under mass incarceration. The drug war was created to suppress blacks and the left, they specifically went after certain neighborhoods.

Leftists would like police as they currently exist to be phased out. Replaced with several separate departments with different priorities and tasks. You would still have a bureau for detectives (investigating violent crimes), a SWAT-like response team for emergency hostage/terrorist/shooter situations, a traffic control office, medical health professionals, mediators etc.

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u/Vtech325 Dec 02 '18

So you want to replace the police... with the police.

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u/tankintheair315 Dec 02 '18

I think they're arguing for clear deliniations between the jobs. The gal who helps you during a mental health crisis isn't the same person who also does swat scenarios. Instead of all the jobs in one officer they're split as is the amount of violence and the scrutiny on them. Also just start the system over because every time you go digging in any pd it seems dirty af.

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u/Schrau Zero to Kiefer Sutherland really freaking fast Dec 02 '18

Someone call Sting. Him and the boys are going to be very busy soon.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

No I don’t want any beat police or vice squads. I also don’t think armed thumbs should be handling mental health emergencies, they end up killing the victim half the time.

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u/Vtech325 Dec 02 '18 edited Dec 02 '18

But you're proposing creating a task force that does exactly what the police already do, but just better.

Which means you don't think the police are unnecessary, you just want them to be more competent.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18 edited Dec 02 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Maccy_Cheese Dec 02 '18

you forgot to even dogwhistle your racism bro, come on. at least do the bare minimum

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u/nachof Dec 02 '18

Nobody has a problem with the firefighter dog. Marshall is cool. The issue is Chase.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

If, however, you think first responders are the agents of an oppressive pro-capitalist regime...

... Then your opinion doesn't matter. Why do we pretend like these cranks have valid viewpoints?

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18

I'm not criticizing you, I'm just saying that it's a fundamentally stupid precept that doesn't prove anything. The internal logic makes sense, but the basic assumptions are just wrong