Pride

[The Hunter]

You know what I just realized is a really stupid concept? Pride.

It really makes people easier targets sometimes. To loudly proclaim what someone is and put so much importance on something that shouldn't even matter. And I don't mean being proud of the small things in life like owning a big house or a nice car. I mean pretty much everything. Pride in race, religion, nationality, sexuality, political views, all those things. It's especially in politics where this annoys me. "Republicans are so proud of being pieces of shit! I guess I'll combat their pride with MY pride to show how stupid they are for being so proud of themselves!" "The liberals are so proud of being degenerates! I guess I'll show them by showing how proud I AM to show why it's so stupid to be proud of something like that!" And what about gay pride parades or white pride parades? It's one thing to state that your community wants more benefits in the political world, yet they show this by literally walking around the streets wearing their colors telling everyone how PROUD they are that they have some sort of trait that anyone else could possess and shouldn't be judged for.

Although the worst, in my opinion, is when someone takes unnecessary amounts of pride in all of their faults. And honestly, I think everyone has been guilty of that at some point. There are people I love despite their faults. I don't care if my friends and family are bigots or fat or nerds or idiots or anything like that. But then you have people who claim to be proud of being fat or being weird or being selfish or any of that. Displaying pride and asking for tolerance for something on that level without making an attempt to change is really just saying, "hey, I know I'm a really awful person, but you're going to have to put up with me no matter what because it's mean to disagree with me, and I'm calling the police if you do." This is especially prevalent in the social justice crowd. Hell, it's what makes Chris who he is. As a matter of fact, it may be the precise reason why lolcows are lolcows. Because instead of trying to better themselves or listen to the advice of others, they decide that they're perfect and demand acceptance without earning it. Honestly, what is there to be proud of in life? Why should I be proud of liking the same sex? Why should I be proud of being born into a certain race? Why should I be proud of being socially inept? Why should I stop myself from becoming a more tolerant and accepted person?

So what about you guys? Is it okay to be a proud person? Why is it okay for some people to be proud, yet not for others, if that's what you believe?

 

[Great Unclean Chris]

Aww good ol fashioned USI.

Maybe a little bit can't hurt (especially if they earned it), but most of the time there is no reason why anyone should have Unwarranted Self Importance (pride), especially for stupid and default things which you already stated

 

[Some JERK]

Pride itself isn't a bad thing. i take pride in the work i do. i worked damn hard to become good at it, and it's important to me that it's done right. When it is, i'm proud of that. When it isn't, my pride suffers, and that motivates me to be better the next time around.

Pride becomes a problem when you're basing it off of things you don't directly control. Okay so you're gay/black/tall/short/Chinese/female/Male... whatever. that's great, but how can you be prideful about that? That's not something you accomplished, it's just what you are. It's basically just a shortcut to being proud without actually having to accomplish anything.

 

[LM 697]

I am proud of everything I do.

 

[Surtur]

I'm proud of my beard.

 

[Bgheff]

Pride is a natural part of socialization. I think it has it's uses.

Like all things though, it's only good in moderation. Too much pride or too little pride is where problems start getting caused for yourself and/or other people.

 

[shutupman]

I'm a proud white hetero. I get mistaken for a racist a lot.

 

[NobleGreyHorse]

It makes sense to hold "pride" events when you are in fact a member of a minority that is consistently deprecated and attacked by "mainstream society," and the primary purpose is one day, one freaking day, of being able to socialize with others like yourself -- let's just use LGBT pride here -- and not get catcalled for holding hands with your girlfriend, or wearing rainbow beads, or just being who you are. This is what our annual pride festival is like where I live: it's literally just a day in the park to see people you might not see in other contexts also relaxing, and maybe donate to a charity or buy a bumper sticker or compliment someone's tattoo. There is a drag queen contest in our festival, but other than that, it's just people looking how they normally do, and saying in essence, "Look, assholes of the world, we are not ashamed despite your constant efforts to make us feel that way. In fact, we're proud to have a network of friends and/or a solid intimate relationship thanks to coming out. This is our day to not apologize for being us." It is an incredible feeling of relief just to mingle with the crowd and chat about the weather without being accused of trying to hit on the person you're chatting to.

I see little point in having a white or straight pride event because society already rewards people in many ways for the unearned traits of being straight or white. If you are shit on for being black, Latin@, Asian, Native, gay, trans, or whatever, then it makes more sense to say, "You know what? We take pride in having built an entire separate network of historically black colleges and universities, and having some of those institutions be the finest in the country, period." Insert accomplishment as appropriate to different community. Now of course none of the groups I have named are monoliths, and pretty much all of them have infighting, because that's how people are. But I am legitimately proud of belonging to the sex that includes people like Admiral Grace Hopper, Sally Ride, Alice Walker, Wangari Maathai, Fa Mu Lan, Jane Austen, and the original model for "Rosie the Riveter," just to pick some names at absolute fucking random, because those people are awesome contributors to world history and culture.

 

[QI 541]

The only things you should have pride in are your own actions. Not the things you were born with, or the actions of someone else who happens to have the same skin color/nationality/gender/orientation/religion/political views.

 

[Surtur]

The only things you should have pride in are your own actions. Not the things you were born with, or the actions of someone else who happens to have the same skin color/nationality/gender/orientation/religion/political views.

I'm proud of my little brother, despite his actions not being mine.

 

[QI 541]

The only things you should have pride in are your own actions. Not the things you were born with, or the actions of someone else who happens to have the same skin color/nationality/gender/orientation/religion/political views.

I'm proud of my little brother, despite his actions not being mine.

I'd say that's being proud of someone else for their actions rather than being proud of yourself for someone else's actions.

 

[Holdek]

It makes sense to hold "pride" events when you are in fact a member of a minority that is consistently deprecated and attacked by "mainstream society," and the primary purpose is one day, one freaking day, of being able to socialize with others like yourself -- let's just use LGBT pride here -- and not get catcalled for holding MANOS with your girlfriend, or wearing rainbow beads, or just being who you are.

I see little point in having a white or straight pride event.

I do think there is a special need to promote pride for oppressed groups.

Hypothetically, I see no problem with "white pride" per se, except that in practice it is virtually exclusively promoted by KKK and neo-Nazi types.

The only things you should have pride in are your own actions. Not the things you were born with, or the actions of someone else who happens to have the same skin color/nationality/gender/orientation/religion/political views.

If you associate yourself as part of an organization or culture, and participate in it, I think it's fine to have pride in the actions of those groups. The flip side is though that you should be ashamed of the faults of these groups too.

Ultimately, though, you should have the greatest pride and the greatest shame in your own actions as an individual.