# BrainGlutton, I've got a question for you **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736 "2004-08-07T04:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/21 "2004-08-07T22:27:45Z")
Damn, missed a stanza. Also, the dedication should read, of course, _"To Jean Chrétien, pre-emptively_ ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/22 "2004-08-07T23:09:20Z")
Rune, My local American version of White Man’s Burden isn’t just blaming others for your failings. It is specifically blaming people of color for keeping you down, and blaming people of color for having opportunities that you as a white person don’t have. > [@Rune](#): > > And being from Copenhagen, which is in DENMARK and not the NEDERLANDS (Odin on a flying horse! You wouldn’t guess the number of times I’ve been told Copenhagen is a city in Holland!) you might image how I find this just fabulous. Now pay my fucking Danegeld or I’ll come and pillage San Jose! LoL, sorry, I didn’t look before I typed that. Having a sister from Denmark, I know full well that Danes aren’t Nederlanders. You might to come to San Jose anyways…better weather 😃 Sam ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/23 "2004-08-07T23:21:17Z")
I always understood the “White Man’s Burden” to be the guy who works hard every day, puts food on the table for his family, pays his debts, saves for his kid’s college, pays his taxes, etc. The context in which it’s uttered, which is where the race connection comes in, is when some white males get mad for being constantly put down by others because they have the advantages of being white and male, and therefore don’t understand what hard work and sacrifice really are. I think its’ somewhat of an antiquated notion. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/24 "2004-08-07T23:24:08Z")
Here’s **Warren Zevon’s** take on the White Man’s Burden, which tends to support the way I’ve understood it: > [@](#): > > Don’t bring the milk in > Leave it on the porch > Don’t read the papers > Don’t mow the lawn no more > Drive to the market > At the break of dawn > Watch 'em unload the produce > Then ride right back home > > It’s the white man’s burden > And it weighs a ton > I’m a family man > Model citizen > > Torment the mailman > Terrorize the maid > Try to teach 'em some manners > Whip 'em into shape > Down in the basement > I’ve got a Craftsman lathe > Show it to the children > When they misbehave > > It’s the white man’s burden > And it weighs a ton > I’m a family man > Model citizen > > I’m a law-abiding man > I’m a good Samaritan > I pay my taxes when I can > Model citizen… > > \ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/25 "2004-08-07T23:39:47Z")
Back to the OP, a personal rule I have is that if someone expresses the opinion that anyone who disagrees with their point of view, philosophy, political stance, or whatnot is automatically stupid or mentally feeble in some way, then I automatically have no interest in anything else they may have to say on that particular subject. I have a coworker like that. If you disagree with anything she thinks, whether it’s who should be the next president or what you thought of the latest movie, she will instantly call you an idiot. I have no patience at all for that kind of thinking. NOTE: I didn’t even read the thread or the post linked to in the OP. I have no idea if BG usually adopts this sort of posture or not. ---
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/26 "2004-08-07T23:48:01Z")
Interesting. The _OED_(1989 edition) only mentions the Kipling sense of the expression. The latest referene they cite is from 1966, though, so it’s neither here nor there. _American Heritage_ and _Merriam-Webster_ likewise only mentions Kipling. Sam, I think the poem you cite uses the Kipling sense of the expression rather than the one that you mention in your 07:21 PM post. The poem is sarcastic and aware of the Kipling meaning, I think. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/27 "2004-08-08T03:34:31Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > NOTE: I didn’t even read the thread or the post linked to in the OP. I have no idea if BG usually adopts this sort of posture or not. Eh, quite a number of people on the SDMB express just such a posture. I’m actually surprised that some of the Usual Suspects haven’t chimed in by now to agree with BG. I suppose it’s possible that they finally realize just how silly it sounds. But I doubt it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/28 "2004-08-08T04:11:45Z")
> [@mic84](#): > > Yer absolutely right to say that’s not so. It’s more like a monopsony. How many non-lefties listen to NPR? 😛😉 From [The Pew Center for People & The Press](http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=834) > [@](#): > > _of those who regularly watch, read, or listen to…_ > Conservative/Moderate/Liberal/Other > NPR 31/33/30/6 > General Public 36/38/18/8 ---
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/29 "2004-08-08T05:02:07Z")
What’s this Pew Center? Some evil amoral right-wingers, I’ll bet. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/30 "2004-08-08T05:24:31Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > But then we’ve never had to add the word “compassionate” to our label as if it somehow needled explanation. 😉 **Zoe** , insofar as we’re about fighting ignorance here, and that negative stereotyping is widely accepted to be a form of ignorance, I would put it to you (pardon :p) that the word compassionate, as in “compassionate conservative,” has not entered the lexicon due to the more humane of us conservatives wanting to distance ourseves from our more heartless brethren, but rather we’ve had to adopt it to counteract negative stereotyping from the left which would portray us as cold, heartless, selfish, greedy…well, you know. So actually, the left is responsible for this phrase having come into use, not us “compassionate conservatives.” Just sayin’ is all…🙂 Regards. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/31 "2004-08-08T07:34:31Z")
> **[About Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/about/)** > > Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. > [@](#): > > The Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. We are best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for our polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes. Formerly, the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press (1990-1995), we are now sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts. > > The Center’s purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. In this role it serves as an important information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations. All of our current survey results are made available free of charge. I haven’t heard any serious critiques of their research, but YMMV. Their methodolgy is given in the other link I posted. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/32 "2004-08-08T16:04:36Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Just from this snippet I think Coulter meant to say her guys wore their crosses around their necks and not, like liberals, on their back. I.e. Not necessarily more moral but less like the self-righteous holier-than-thou pricks liberals so often insist on being. Funny how latter days liberals have taken up the white mans burden with such gusto. Yeah, taking up the white man’s burden by invading other countries, removing their governments, and installing ones more to our liking. Wait, shit, that wasn’t liberals! ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/33 "2004-08-08T19:09:33Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Yeah, taking up the white man’s burden by invading other countries, removing their governments, and installing ones more to our liking. You’re talking about Iraq ain’t you? Chomsky on a pongo stick, don’t tell me you’re talking about Iraq! What, I mean have you been living in a hole for the past few years?! Iraq was all about oil! Get it?! Oil, oil, oil. Halliburtun, Cheney, Bush, Condoleezza Rice – it’s all about oil man. ---
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/34 "2004-08-08T23:05:58Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > You’re talking about Iraq ain’t you? Chomsky on a pongo stick, don’t tell me you’re talking about Iraq! What, I mean have you been living in a hole for the past few years?! Iraq was all about oil! Get it?! Oil, oil, oil. Halliburtun, Cheney, Bush, Condoleezza Rice – it’s all about oil man. Whoever said taking up the White’s Man Burden shouldn’t make you some money? By “you” I don’t mean, of course, the “you” referenced here. > [@](#): > > Go bind **your sons** to exile > To serve your captives’ need ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736/35 "2004-08-08T23:26:02Z")
So far as I know, Rudyard Kipling is the guy who originally coined the term, “white man’s burden.” So, if you’re not using the term in the sense used in that poem, you’re not using the term correctly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brainglutton-ive-got-a-question-for-you/258736.md?page=1)