Think for yourself

Some people seem to be able to find accusations and arguments in a paper bag.

I think other people were being racist for us. Still are in fact.

It's a bit silly really, I think. We had no tellies so had never ever seen or heard of a black and white minstrel.

Sorry Not Gabriella, SummerLove

I also had a sweet little black dolly. I called her Topsy and I've no idea why. I hadn't read Uncle Tom's Cabin at that age.

It makes it A part of history , when sadly many ( especially children ) had no idea of the connotations at that time.
Im sure GabriellaG54 did not mean any disrespect, but was innocently recalling a part of her childhood.

I have no opinion about gollys. I never liked mine very much, but never equated him with a black person. Probably because, in that time, I had hardly ever seen a black person.

I have been doing an awful lot of thinking for myself about XR.

Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that they are doing something really important and necessary.

LondonGranny
Why walk into a shop selling items of which you disapprove? It makes no sense.
It's like walking into a brothel, knowing that they sell sex, then telling everyone how dreadful it is.

It doesn't make it anything other than a fact Summerlove
Just a doll, which I happen to like, from another era.
Barbie and cabbage patch dolls don't resemble me any more than those 3 dolls resemble any other people.
I won't discuss this further as you're evidently on a witch-hunt.
Your values are not mine.

I've had 3 golliwogs for years, 2 were bought in a teashop in Broadway (Worcs)

...so that makes it, what? Ok? Not racist? Totally acceptable?

That was to grapefruitpip

Virtue-signalling

I've had 3 golliwogs for years, 2 were bought in a teashop in Broadway (Worcs)
They, a floppy dog and two teddies are my toys which sit on a bedroom shelf.

Re GN some opinions posted just make me want to form an opposite view as the posts are framed in such a virtual signalling way!

Virtual or virtue?

Maybe it's related to the old idea of a "stiff upper lip" colonial. I agree it's weird that being pig-headed and stubborn is seen as a virtue.

I've never understood why Maggie was admired so much for her 'this lady's not for turning'. Why not? Fine if you're right all the time (who is) but if you've made an error of judgment surely you should be willing to reconsider and not dig in for the duration.

Sara65 There is a biblical quotation - "By their fruits ye shall know them" Many things can be clarified by asking ourselves "What would be the results of that?" and further, "What might be the results of that?" The answers could at least put us on the right track toward whether the thing proposed would be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing - and who it might be good or bad for.

Some things, for instance, might be good for money-lenders and financial speculators, but bad for those with no money who would end up as borrowers at who-knows-what interest, (and certainly with none spare to buy sterling cheap because what is proposed has caused it be cheap, but a later recovery will send the price up again so they can sell it dear)

There sometimes isn't one right answer to the big issues, but people can be aware where they're coming from. For example, I have some quite definite views about the purpose of education which are different from other people's views. Therefore, I would come up with different solutions, but I could justify them. The NHS also throws up difficult issues. Resources are finite and somebody has the responsibility to share them out fairly. What's fair to one person doesn't always seem always fair to somebody else. I confess that I don't know enough about the details of climate change to have fixed views, so I listen and try to learn.

This reminds me of my dad. He always had strong views on everything and was very outspoken about them but even in his nineties if I disagreed with him or reasoned with him he found it easy to change his mind and accept what I was saying. The only thing he had real problems with was homosexuality. He could never quite get his head around it.

I think some of the problem is, that we’re subjected to so many opinions from so many sources, it’s impossible to know who, if anyone is telling the absolute truth.

Even the really big issues, climate change , the NHS, education, if you hear ten people speak, you’ll possibly hear ten different opinions.

How are we meant to know who we can trust?

It's interesting isn't it how as young people we are open minded and gradually the trap closes and we can't or won't take on new ideas.

One person's opinion can be presented and believed as fact. That's the problem.

It could be akin to unsolicited advice- Where even those that advocate against it fall into the trap-

It could also be that change goes unnoticed, perhaps because it's so slow or not even considered, so don't look for it-

Jane10 It's a difficult one. Should only people with certain analytical skills be exposed to opinions?