The Logic Off Topic list

Mike Connelly wrote:
> Haven't been offensive?  "You US dudes don't give a damn" is supposed
> to be accepted as a fact backed by statistics?  Get real.

Don't rip that quote out of its context. The context was about high fuel
usage. I allready explained that I could have said "the average american
citizen".
Then the sentence would have read "the average american citizen doesn't give
a damn" - which again is backed up by facts, just have a look a the fuel
usage per person in the US, compare that to ANY other country in the world
and you'll know what I'm talking about. You might also find the word "damn"
to be inappropriate language, but then... hm.

However, most likely I know what it is that you find offensive, it's the
generalization of my comment.
But then, think about it, could you imagine saying "you german folks started
WW2"? Maybe you can and I wouldn't find that offensive at all because as a
historical fact it's just true, even if it was in no way me who started WW2.
Actually some relatives of mine died in Auschwitz.

>  So are any
> racist comments "OK" just because you can find a statistic to back it
> up?

Of course not, but usually you also won't find any statistics to back up
racist comments.
Plus, that's quite a different thing as I have been talking about economical
facts.
And it's just true that the average american doesn't give a damn about
ecological things, otherwise you wouldn't have a 100% higher per person
usage of energy than he whole rest of the world.
Of course it's 100% clear that I don't mean you as a person, but hey, there
must be someone causing these facts, and if it's noone in special, then it
must be the north american person in general.

I have no idea if this makes sense to you at all, but I can't explain it any
better in english which isn't my native language.

Regards,
Sascha