What's wrong with being bad ?

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 102139

Darrin wrote :
> The overwhelming majority of the DEs are Slytherin.

Del replies :
Maybe, but we don't know that the majority of Slytherins are DEs, and
this is a BIG BIG BIG difference.

You remind me of some old people I knew who were convinced that all
Germans were evil. Most Nazis were Germans, granted, but most Germans
were not Nazis. But because almost all the Nazis they'd met were
Germans, those old people just assumed that all Germans were as bad.
So that if a German kid came in their grandkid's school as an exchange
student, they would forbid their grandkid from associating with him.
If Germans tourists came to spend the summer in their village, they
would discreetly campaign to have them expelled, saying all sorts of
horrible things about Germans, and spreading fear and hate in as many
hearts as they could. And the worst thing of all, is that they were
sure they were doing what was *right*. because all Germans are Nazis
at heart, right ?

And all Slytherins are DEs at heart, right ?

Wrong. Draco might be some kind of junior DE, and Pansy seems to like
being nasty, but that's pretty much it. Crabbe and Goyle would follow
anyone who could buy them. Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini have never been
heard of. Millicent Bulstrode seems to be nothing more than a female
Crabbe. And the gang of Slytherin girls that Pansy keeps making laugh
have not even been broken apart into individuals by Harry, which says
a lot about their personal nastiness.

And nobody from the other years seems to be anywhere as nasty as
Draco. Honestly, if *Draco* is the top in nastiness that Slytherin can
create, then I say the DEs have reason to worry : the next generation
won't bring them any interesting nor strong fresh blood.

Darrin wrote :
> The DEs play around in hoods, torture Muggles for sport, casually 
> drop the word mudblood, which is an obvious parallel to the "N" word
> and use their political power to keep minorities down.
> 
> The parallels, both in actions, rituals, physical appearance and 
> culture, are obvious.

Del replies :
I agree that the DEs are horrible, they are meant to be. But they are
a *minority*. And much more important : they are a product of their
society. They might have a lot of money and political power, but
that's only because the whole WW society is *corrupted*. Malfoy
couldn't bribe Fudge if Fudge wasn't corruptible. Draco couldn't act
the way he does if the teachers and the students set him straight each
time he acts up. Snape couldn't abuse his students if he were punished
for it.

It's the whole WW society which is going down, and the DEs are only
the most visible part of it.

Kneasy wrote :
> > Tell us how many people the kids of Slytherin House have killed, 
> > tortured and driven from their homes. Not DEs, 'cos they're not 
> > exclusively Slytherin, (Peter, remember?). Perhaps they sneak out 
> > at Hogsmead weekends and terrorise neighbourhoods, 12 year old 
> > proto-wizards swigging Butterbeer and bragging about how they're 
> > going to stop Hermione from attending Hogwarts by blowing up the 
> > train tracks.

Darrin answered : 
> Give them time. They'll get there.

Del replies :
Maybe they will. So why is the WW giving them time ? Those kids might
have bad parents, but they go to a boarding school at the age of 11.
If, when they get out of it at the age of 18, *almost all of them*
STILL think the same way they did when they entered, I'm afraid all
the fault can't be put on the parents.

Darrin wrote :
> "Light" bullying. Now we have degrees of it. Is there no argument 
> you won't resort to in order to mitigate how loathsome the 
> Slytherins are?
> 
> Tell me, what is "heavy" bullying?

Del replies :
Yes, let's discuss the degrees of bullying, and then let's have a poll
to ask how many of our members NEVER indulged in some degree of
bullying ! Honestly, how many of us never made fun of the nerd in our
class ? How many of us never called a girl fat just to make her sad ?
How many of us never commented on the acne of a guy ? How many of us
never refused to associate or to be seen with certain people ? (I did
do some of those, though not all)

Bullying, to various degrees, is a part of childhood and adolescence.
Teenagers, in particular, like to make others look bad in order to
make themselves look better. It's sad, but it's normal. 

I've always been fat, and I had to endure horrible bullying because of
it. And one thing I discovered was that *teachers* and other adults
were important : if the kids got told off for bothering me, half of
them would be less tempted to do it again, because somehow, they knew
deep inside that it wasn't nice and hearing the adult say so was
enough to make them ashamed.

So yes Draco bullies a lot. But why isn't anyone in charge doing
anything about it ? It took only ONE DAY, if I remember correctly, for
Fake!Moody to put Draco back in his place !!

Darrin wrote :
> Muggle-borns ARE a separate race or bloodline. The Slytherins 
> obviously think so, but even the Gryffindors and others think so. 
> 
> Hagrid: "You don't have to be pureblood."
> 
> Ron: "We intermarried long ago."
> 
> The difference is, like most folks with all their functioning 
> chromosomes, the Weasleys don't see any problem with Muggle-borns 
> having the same rights as pureblood wizards. 

Del replies :
It's the wizards that built the WW. I understand that some of them
might not appreciate having to share it with kids who come out of
nowhere but can get all the benefits of it right away. It's not
charitable, but it's understandable.
The same thing happens in many RL cultures : the first generation of
immigrants is rarely considered full-citizens of the nation they come
in (I'm not talking legally, but mentally). It's usually with the
second generation, or even only with the third, that the family is
considered completely integrated.

As for the Muggles themselves, some wizards might like them, but they
don't have any *respect* for them. Any time a wizard talks about the
Muggles, it always strikes me how they seem to be talking either about
animals or children. The Muggles have to be protected, they have to be
kept ignorant, they are less talented and have to cope as best they
can, and so on. There doesn't seem to be a single wizard, not even
Arthur Weasley, who oinsiders the Muggles to be at the same level at
the wizards.
This reminds me strongly of the attitude of the western cultures
towards the African peoples a few centuries ago. The whites (to make
it simple), well the best of them anyway, had this horribly
patronizing attitude towards the blacks : poor things, look in what
awful conditions they live, look how undeveloped they are, they
obviously have none of our intelligence and skills and technology, we
have to protect them, we have to help them, even though they will
never be as developed and cultured as we are, poor things.
The worst whites just thought the blacks were fun game to hunt and
kill, potential slaves, or parasites to be eliminated. Does that
remind you of anything ? JKR sure knows what she's doing, and it's
very brilliant.

Darrin wrote :
> Lucius Malfoy tried to manipulate events so that Arthur Weasley and 
> his Muggle-protection bill failed. I suggest re-reading Chamber of 
> Secrets if you want more information.

Del replies :
And one of the reasons for the Secession War was slavery, if I'm not
mistaken. Or more exactly the fact that some crazy people were trying
to change the law in order to protect a group of people who had always
been thought of as inferiors. Some people went to war to protect their
right to be inhuman with other human beings.
Come to think of it, Lucius Malfoy would look good in a Sudist
uniform, wouldn't he ?

Darrin wrote :
> I'll be happy to take a break if you'd stop calling other people's 
> ideas silly.

Del replies :
What about *you* Darrin stop assimilating people who don't think like
you to abysmally stupid would-be criminals ? And if that's not what
you're doing, then I suggest you choose your words more carefully :
you made *me* look like I was either incurably stupid for not
understanding that you were right and I was wrong, or willingly
evil-intended with an agenda to make bad look good and vice-versa. I'm
a pretty open person, I have been known to change my mind when given
good arguments, and I don't even like Snape and Draco. So what's going
on there ??


Del