Racism is a form of Groupism.
Calling muslims "terrorists" is a form of Groupism.
Saying "Fuck the Police" is a form of Groupism.
Saying "Republicans have their head up their ass" is a form of Groupism.
Combining the protesters with the looters is a form of Groupism.
Saying "All politicians are corrupt" is a form of Groupism.
We all are guilty of Groupism.
It's primal.
It over-simplifies.
Call it out in yourself.
Call it out in others.
Don't be a Groupist.
@jurban I get your point, but the counterpoint is that it is often completely legitimate to group things together. Some levels of analysis are not possible without doing so.
@Kalos Absolutely. Grouping is a basic function of intelligence. The issue is understanding how to group. If you group using inadequate logic, you end up with a fallacious, sloppy grouping. Blondes have blonde hair. That's rational. But Blacks are not "violent". We need to understand how to better "Group".
@jurban I agree that we need to understand how to better group, but I don't think it's as simple as that. We don't usually group based on logic, but something rather like a neural network noticing patterns of association and building stronger connections over time. Pointing out these connections, or grouping, doesn't have to mean that ALL X's are Y. It's still hella meaningful to point out that many more X's are Y than would be expected in the general populace, and to generalize.
@Kalos, a deeper pattern to discuss. And if the profession attracts authoritarians, then there needs to be a better process for mitigating that propensity. I too have friends that are cops. Very good people. So I don't believe it is the profession that creates the bad cop. If there is a propensity, then address that. But grouping and disregarding any further parsing doesn't get us closer to a solution. And, the label we assign to the group makes it even harder to see the solution. Labels hide.