Why must we put people in boxes?

[Terry]

Chavs, Junkies, Alcoholics, Skinheads, Goths, Hippies, Punks, Hoodies, Bikers, Homeless, Teenagers, Unemployed, Single mothers, etc, etc, etc.

Why must we put people in nasty little boxes? These people are human beings just like the rest of us: Some are friendly, intelligent, honest and/or have other fine qualities; others are less so. Just like everybody else.

Just because someone dresses in a certain way, has tattoos, long/short hair, is bald, grows a beard or adopts a certain lifestyle doesn't make them any less deserving of fair treatment or respect and certainly doesn't automatically mean they are dishonest, dangerous or unfriendly and it doesn't necessarily make them a bad person either.

Surely this is akin to bigotry and it doesn't do Hastings (or anywhere else for that matter) any favours at all. If only it was that easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. For my own part, the majority of grief in my life has come from clean shaven men with smart haircuts, wearing collars, ties and suits.

Every single person you will ever meet is an individual. The vast majority of us have put idiotic racism, xenophobia and homophobia behind us, can we please do the same thing with the degraditory use of the above terms?

[david_russell]

I agree with the general tenor of your post but what's degrading or wrong with the term 'teenager', 'homeless' or 'unemployed' ? When you were writing about the Lord Nelson on 'Pub Memories' you used the teem 'biker' yourself !
I'm sure no one took offense ?

[Terry]

There's nothing automatically degrading about belonging to any of the above groups. That's what I'm trying to say. Obviously a biker is a biker, a teenager's a teenager, etc. I'm talking about when people use the terms to insinuate that someone is probably dishonest, dangerous or in some other way undesirable. And some people do seem to use the terms in that way.

As I said, If only it was that easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

[david_russell]

Those who are bigoted and critical about members of the above groups are usually from a different social class with different values. Their main concerns are nearly always about money and private property and they feel insecure about people who dont have the same values as themselves, ie: those who dont pursue money and property as an end in itself. GK makes the point exactly on the thread 'What I like about my home town'.