Although this isn't furry stuff, I do still feel it is worth discussing. I brought up Mexico and its economic conditions because I mostly aimed this article at an American audience. I wanted to show that Mexico, despite the stereotypes held by many in the US, isn't some hell scape that shouldn't be treaded upon; it's a country that does, indeed, have people in it. This may sound like a basic assumption, but I see a lot of people who paint the rest of the world as some sort of weird "other" in a very unsympathetic way. Perhaps because I'm overly empathetic thanks to Autism (Autism is weird).
In regards to inclusivity, I would like to point out a recent point of contension in US Politics, because it is VERY VERY relevant here: the differences between equality and equity.
Equality is something like what you're describing - treating everyone the same regardless of skin tone, culture, disability, gender, et cetera. Good examples of movements that achieved equality include the civil rights movement in the 60s in the US, and the end of Apartheid in South Africa in the 90s. However, while these movements achieved a LOT of great things, they achieved more things in terms of political equality than economic. In the US, black families still have a far lower amount of wealth than white families do. In South Africa, the rate of unemployment is still far higher for blacks than it is for whites, that being 39% and 8.3% respectively.
Although both of these movements achieved a great amount of progress, the resulting policies of these decisions mostly removed the original barriers to opportunity against black people in the US and South Africa. As examples, in the US explicit Jim Crow laws were removed while in South Africa the explicit separation of black and white communities was removed. However, both of these somewhat ignored historical context and historical momentum. Since white families simply had (and have) more money, they could more easily pay for their children to go to college, start businesses, and more. Meanwhile, black families, who just had their literal barriers to opportunity removed, couldn't afford to fund their kids' college, start businesses, or many other things that the white families had opportunity to. In other words, they were (and in many ways are) unequal.
There's another term that describes a potential solution to this problem than equality does: equity. It involves artificially give those who are disadvantaged, in this case black people, more opportunities and greater chances for a home. This is something that was advocated for in the US and surely in South Africa (though I don't know as much about the latter case, since I live in the US). Desegregation bussing is a great example of an attempt at equity in the US, though because it ended and there weren't many other attempts at equity, many schools in the US today are still unofficially segregated. I would argue that we should try to reach for more equitable solutions in South Africa and the US, as the staggering racial inequality is offensive and sad.
Even though this furry article won't have much of an impact on racial stuff, it's still important to me to be... uh, nice. This is why I decided to talk so long about Mexico itself rather than Confuror specifically. Also, I will point out that according to the world bank that Mexico actually has more money per people (GDP per capita, nominal) than South Africa. If you're worried about inequality, South Africa is also VERY MUCH worse off than Mexico is. (Note: the gini index is a commonly used signifier to see how unequal wealth in a country is, with higher being worse. It's not perfect, but it is much better than the otherwise non-existent data we'd otherwise have.) So, in the same way that South Africa has rich people like Elon Musk, so does Mexico.
Yes, there are other aspects that contribute to the growth of the furry fandom, like culture and acceptance of furries. I also think that ignoring the economic reality of the world, which many furries accidentally do, is disingenuous. When we live in a world where money is so crucial and important, it's important to recognize that reality. In a similar way, we must also face the reality that racial inequalities still exist, and must be addressed. Yes, cultural differences can often be important too, and Europeans very may well have a different approach to conventions than the US does (though I doubt it, as I'm certain the 2006 World Cup in Germany was a giant event). That doesn't dismiss my philosophy, which is that there are things that can be learned from analyzing data.
There are multiple holes in my knowledge of the furry community due to simply how new I am. However, I don't think being too inclusive is one of them.
Although this isn't furry stuff, I do still feel it is worth discussing. I brought up Mexico and its economic conditions because I mostly aimed this article at an American audience. I wanted to show that Mexico, despite the stereotypes held by many in the US, isn't some hell scape that shouldn't be treaded upon; it's a country that does, indeed, have people in it. This may sound like a basic assumption, but I see a lot of people who paint the rest of the world as some sort of weird "other" in a very unsympathetic way. Perhaps because I'm overly empathetic thanks to Autism (Autism is weird).
In regards to inclusivity, I would like to point out a recent point of contension in US Politics, because it is VERY VERY relevant here: the differences between equality and equity.
Equality is something like what you're describing - treating everyone the same regardless of skin tone, culture, disability, gender, et cetera. Good examples of movements that achieved equality include the civil rights movement in the 60s in the US, and the end of Apartheid in South Africa in the 90s. However, while these movements achieved a LOT of great things, they achieved more things in terms of political equality than economic. In the US, black families still have a far lower amount of wealth than white families do. In South Africa, the rate of unemployment is still far higher for blacks than it is for whites, that being 39% and 8.3% respectively.
Although both of these movements achieved a great amount of progress, the resulting policies of these decisions mostly removed the original barriers to opportunity against black people in the US and South Africa. As examples, in the US explicit Jim Crow laws were removed while in South Africa the explicit separation of black and white communities was removed. However, both of these somewhat ignored historical context and historical momentum. Since white families simply had (and have) more money, they could more easily pay for their children to go to college, start businesses, and more. Meanwhile, black families, who just had their literal barriers to opportunity removed, couldn't afford to fund their kids' college, start businesses, or many other things that the white families had opportunity to. In other words, they were (and in many ways are) unequal.
There's another term that describes a potential solution to this problem than equality does: equity. It involves artificially give those who are disadvantaged, in this case black people, more opportunities and greater chances for a home. This is something that was advocated for in the US and surely in South Africa (though I don't know as much about the latter case, since I live in the US). Desegregation bussing is a great example of an attempt at equity in the US, though because it ended and there weren't many other attempts at equity, many schools in the US today are still unofficially segregated. I would argue that we should try to reach for more equitable solutions in South Africa and the US, as the staggering racial inequality is offensive and sad.
Even though this furry article won't have much of an impact on racial stuff, it's still important to me to be... uh, nice. This is why I decided to talk so long about Mexico itself rather than Confuror specifically. Also, I will point out that according to the world bank that Mexico actually has more money per people (GDP per capita, nominal) than South Africa. If you're worried about inequality, South Africa is also VERY MUCH worse off than Mexico is. (Note: the gini index is a commonly used signifier to see how unequal wealth in a country is, with higher being worse. It's not perfect, but it is much better than the otherwise non-existent data we'd otherwise have.) So, in the same way that South Africa has rich people like Elon Musk, so does Mexico.
Yes, there are other aspects that contribute to the growth of the furry fandom, like culture and acceptance of furries. I also think that ignoring the economic reality of the world, which many furries accidentally do, is disingenuous. When we live in a world where money is so crucial and important, it's important to recognize that reality. In a similar way, we must also face the reality that racial inequalities still exist, and must be addressed. Yes, cultural differences can often be important too, and Europeans very may well have a different approach to conventions than the US does (though I doubt it, as I'm certain the 2006 World Cup in Germany was a giant event). That doesn't dismiss my philosophy, which is that there are things that can be learned from analyzing data.
There are multiple holes in my knowledge of the furry community due to simply how new I am. However, I don't think being too inclusive is one of them.