José Soplanucas

So melodramatic. No, you are not hurting anyone. But if you do not hire Blacks, you have a Racist prejudice. Just as if you do not hire older guys, you have ageist discrimination, or if you do not hire fats, you have sizeist prejudice. This resistance to viewing our mindsets critically is dangerous. If we cannot accept our discriminatory prejudices on something as harmless as sexual preferences, I can imagine how we move around on the rest of reality.

That is for sure. He and the guys who, I am sure, billed a lot of money to the victims to get on board.

I bet you it was scheduled.

I do want to clarify one thing. Someone who does not hire or does not have sex with someone else because they are Black/White/fill the blank with your excluded ethnicity is not necessarily a Racist person, but has a Racist behavior on this point, whether or not they like it.

I feel ignored.

Hey, there is no way to convince "Color Blinded" people that Race is not the same as height or muscular mass.

Oh, please. It is rather like, "I would not spend time with you because you are Black" (or White, or any ethnicity) We all have preferences, but excluding an entire kind of people is not a preference.

This is a thoughtful response.

I think you might be wrong, but I am unsure. @mike carey @MikeBiDude @RadioRob, is it possible to create a profile and join the forum without ever posting? If yes, is it possible to know the number of members who have never posted?

Yes I do not think so. I bet you many members have never posted.

I have probably met more members than that and shared more than a meal, like a couple of trips abroad. But that is a tiny part of the forum membership.

Can we keep this conversation on track?

Sir, I have never been for silencing people. Consistently, I have encouraged everyone to speak up. Which does not mean I will not call them out. I firmly believe the best thing we can do with the crazies is to let them talk. But this thread is not about you and me. Despite my horrible memory, I still remember my Sociology 101 lessons. Durkheim was one of the first social thinkers to systematically reflect on the differences between close communities and broad society. Knowing each other was at the core of his definition of a community. Following that lead, I dare say this forum is not a community. Of course, I may be wrong.

Indeed. And we can disagree on this. For me, sharing space is not enough to be part of a community. An essential requirement is knowing each other, which cannot happen here. I never thought about this, so I appreciate the discussion. @pubic_assistance is correct. My initial definition was too intolerant.

As usual, you are guessing wrong. Surprise: I would count you inside the "community" despite our strong disagreements. I will not mention who I count out because part of our (not only you and me but we all) disagreements may perfectly be who is in and who is out. But the problem remains: how do you include inside the community the many lurkers who we do not know and often show up with attitudes towards sex workers that are absolutely unacceptable?

Lucky you. I got several of those here.

You are doing the trick here, probably driven by your emotional attachment to the forum. Or we all are a community, or we all are not. You cannot trace a line, leave out the homophobes and those who look down on sex workers, and then say we are a community. Indeed, I do feel a sense of community with many friends here (you two would be in), but that feeling does not make the entire forum a community.

Some less experienced posters do not understand that this is not a community but a public forum. We have many knowledgeable members who are here to share information from a mindset that considers sex workers with respect and many posters who feel entitled to treat sex workers as mindless and soul-less objects. Furthermore, we even have posters that are here and support a homophobic agenda. We have to be careful who we share information with.

This guy seems to be perpetually talking to a mirror.

The US government hid the truth because the submarine was destroyed by one of the lizard-men secret ships. Biden is a reptilian.

Like in the Uber system, I think most people deliver five stars when they are satisfied, without overthinking it.

Sometimes (too often), I act like a middle-schooler idiot. My apologies to the forum members trying to have an educative conversation. Let's try to redirect the discussion back to the topic. Entitled "first worlders" are a pain in the ass, ruining the traveling experience for many. Hopefully, some of the many friends who read this blog to educate themselves before starting an adventure will take advantage of an informative thread. Sometimes it is not easy to be aware of our biases and behaviors. Although I am not a Karen, I tend to be self-centered, and I have ignored others' perspectives when on a trip abroad. Although criticizing others is perfectly legit, it is not about pointing fingers but reflecting on our behavior.

Thank you for the advice! I will ask my 86-year-old mom to respond to your pots. She can express herself better than you can.

I can not go over the paywall! This is one of my favorite walks when visiting Rio!