Before I get into the blog post I just want to point out that I do not support or endorse racism, discrimination, bigotry, or violence.

If you are familiar with the internet news, you may have come across a story regarding the H&M scandal where they posted some kids clothing of two children wearing sweatshirts with some questionable text. Tons of people were quick to jump onto the bandwagon of the racist card due to what the articles of clothing said in addition to the color of skin that kids had combine with which piece of clothing they were wearing.

Now there are some people who say that this is racist and others that say otherwise.

So the reason why people argue that it is racist is that there is a white child that says "jungle expert" while a black child says "coolest monkey in the jungle" and if taken in a particular context calling a POC a monkey is a racial slur while others suggest that calling a kid a monkey just means a kid that is playing around in a jungle like a monkey. I guarantee that if a white kid had been wearing the monkey version, there would be no racist card tossed out but because the other kid was chosen this is what caused the entire uproar.

Other people have even gone as far as to say the white kid is the jungle expert because white people dominate over POC. I see where they could pull that from however...

Interestingly enough, the mother of the child photographed wearing the hoodie was completely okay with it and took no offense. And I believe there is a divide on people who did take offense (POC and white people alike) and many who don't see the problem.

Where do I stand? Well, if calling a POC a monkey is a recognized racial slur then I can totally see why the clothing item could be seen as offensive. However, you would think that the child, the mother of the child, etc... would have stepped down from the modeling opportunity if they viewed it that way. And if the mother of the child model didn't take offense then perhaps "coolest monkey in the jungle" was simply a general statement to express being the coolest kid playing around. Kids are hyper and animated and they jump around and climb all over things up and down just like that of a monkey or an animal.

Do I think the clothing is racist? No, but perhaps maybe they should have switched who wore what or included various other kids modeling the same items in assorted colors or options to make it more apparent that the black kid getting the monkey one (or another phrase) has NOTHING to do with race, racial slurs, etc...

We've come to be so PC with our actions, our words, our motives, context, reasons, etc... that it feels like everything you say and do is a matter of walking on eggshells. It seems as though no matter how much you analyze or carefully select your expressions, you have to censor yourself down to every word in order to try not to piss off people.

Of course when it comes to these odd marketing tactics with unintentional messages based off of consume interpretation, they have to retract the items and issue an apology. If a person interprets something a completely different way than an item is or was intended to be and it goes viral to the point where the company is receiving global backlash, they get backed into a corner and have no other choice. They'll lose millions of dollars if they do nothing and they lose millions of dollars (hopefully less) if they do take action. Because in this online mob mentality no choice made will be good enough.

I personally don't see the clothing as racist because I see it from the standpoint that they're kids and they're having fun and goofing off. The only thing I would have changed is maybe adding other kids wearing the same phrases or have the black kid wear a different phrase to avoid this entire fiasco. Something I would suggest to companies and their marketing team is to have diverse eyes look at their products, advertising, brand statements, etc... and point out any discrepancies or questionable imagery, symbolism etc... that can be acknowledged, assessed, and improved before reaching a public eye. Because something you may not see as an issue could be offensive to another community. If your entire team of marketing is all white people who are unfamiliar of certain phrases, designs, etc... that a POC or sexual orientation, religion etc... might struggle with then being able to point out these details may prove difficult unless it has already been called out before.

A prime example would be the dove commercial where it shows several women stripping off their skin and because of the order of women it looked like the soap will cleanse you of your black sin and make you a white person. That uproar was HUGE. So we have this situation where companies feel like they are obligated to included diversity so that other races feel included and represented, which is GREAT. It makes me SO happy to see someone who isn't white take part in things and I hope as time progresses we can reach a point where diversity is so accepted that we don't have to point out that "this kind of person is never represented." Right now I think the two biggest types of people that don't get represented or recognized are Asian people and people with disabilities that are legitimately disabled. It irritates me when an actor who isn't wheel chair bound plays a roll of a wheel chair bound character. IF there were no qualified candidates to fill the role then fine, you gotta cast it to someone who can... but I think there are plenty of people out there with various disabilities or disorders that could easily play that character and be truly relatable to those who look up to them. But I kind of got on a different tangent there, woops.

But with this Dove commercial they did right by showing various diverse women but they screwed up in the public's eye because of the order of operations in which they show the black woman phasing into a white woman. And it could have been 100% coincidence that it happened and maybe to the director, the producer, the actors, writers, etc... this wasn't an issue in the foreground of their minds because the message is: dove soap is great, it will make all women feel clean and beautiful. But society is eager to launch their pitchforks at anything and so if you do a before/after segment and the before is an average black woman and the after is a super confident white woman, the mob will latch onto it like vultures and rip the company apart.

So dear companies and marketing departments, keep up with the diversity in your content but please have other sets of eyes truly critique what you put out before it's too late. I think if you listen to my advice, your consumers will be happier and your companies will not have to play clean up as much.

So now that we have a few examples of what not to do as a company, let's talk about what not to do as a consumer.

I think it is really great that people care about things enough to stand up for them to inspire changes in their communities. I'm lazy so I don't go to protests, I don't go to meetings, and public councils and political events, etc... I'm a horrible citizen. I obey the law, I pay taxes, but I don't really look into or care much about everything. I go to work and I come home and relax. And I thank the hard working people in our military and in our country that have made the US a place where I have that freedom. I do not take it for granted and I'm not here to shitpost on our country. I just don't have passion for anything enough to leave my house to tell other people that I agree or disagree. I do that on the internet because if the SJW's can I can, too. I'll be the first to admit that I am ignorant in many ways. It's part of being a learning and growing human.

So when it comes to problems that exist in our world and community driven events of support or protest, I think it can be very beneficial to a cause or very harmful. That outcome is strictly based on where the arguments come from as well as the actions of those who actively participate. I know that the actions of a few do not speak for a whole but what I will say directly applies to people who are in the wrong but is a good guideline for all people to follow and to consider when they stand up for what they believe in and act on it.

Let us revisit the H&M scandal for this portion. So the problem that we've identified is that people are upset that H&M created some clothing that poses a message of racism projected onto kids. Parents don't want their kids promoting racism and kids don't want to be racist or treated poorly among their peers. So the basic solution is to just not purchase the clothing. If 50% of the people are offended and the other 50% are not then those who are offended should go shop somewhere else. Because we've established that many people don't think it's offensive at all while others do.

So H&M steps in and apologizes and pulls the clothing off the market so that it can no longer be sold. So the people who didn't think it was racist and/or didn't really care don't really get affected by it and those who did find it racist can sit back down and revel in their success. But the apology and the removal of the item was not enough for the mob.

Instead of sitting back and assessing the situation to see if more needed to be done  or if this action was good enough people rampaged into H&M stores and destroyed mannequins, clothing racks, clothing displays, articles of clothing, etc... So because of 1 article of clothing giving off a mixed message the world, a select group of protesters decided it was beneficial to their cause to act on the behalf of everyone to go into H&M retailer stores and vandalize their property and products.

So not only did H&M apologize and remove the clothing, but now they have to handle all of the damages to their stores and product inventory, not to mention the negative effects it will have on their employees. So not only did you go in and destroy a store and make yourself look like a rampaging asshole but now other people who are completely innocent have to suffer and clean up your mess. If you bought a coolest monkey in the jungle sweatshirt and you're upset by it then go ahead and by all means light it on fire while recording it on YT to express your boycott of the company. Go ahead and make a blog like me expressing your disgust for this kind of message being sold to consumers. Go ahead and explain that you are offended, why you are offended, and why things could have been dealt differently.

If you want to stand up for your beliefs and to inspire change to move forward to improve our world, CAUSING DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE in the process IS NOT THE ANSWER. Causing harm to the employees and stores of the company, which if you need a reminder, are not in charge of the marketing, design, and decision making of the company overall, does not fix or solve the issue at hand. If you want to be effective, protest in front of the H&M headquarters if you care that badly. Make your poster in a big bold text and stand in front of their office chanting. If devoting your time and energy and money to travel will help you in your quest to inspire and receive change then by all means go ahead but do not do it at the expense of innocent people.

Protests that hold up traffic cause more harm than good for whatever cause is at hand.
Imagine the doctors stuck in traffic that are supposed to perform surgery on cancer patients and maybe those cancer patients are people you know and love and instead of that doctor being able to get to the hospital, they're being held up in traffic by you because of whatever pissed you off. I get it that sometimes you have to make big bold statements or actions to truly get the attention of people - but I think it is EXTREMELY important to acknowledge and question what your actions and words will do for your cause and who it may affect in a negative way. Sure you might get an extension to push back an important decision but to what expense? People dying? Losing their jobs so they can't feed their kids? Etc...

If what you're standing up for gets in the way of innocent people, I ask that you take a step back and truly ask yourself if it's worth doing. I think racism is an issue in our country and  there are most certainly times where companies or people of influence make bad decisions and there are other instances where it's an honest mistake while other times it is intentional and out of hatred etc... But going into the stores and destroying them over a piece of clothing is so childish in my eyes. Just make a youtube video, a blog, an instagram post, a tweet etc... to express how you feel. Do not harm other people that have nothing to do with it.

The actions of a few do not make up a whole. That applies to both sides of an issue.
The people that work for H&M and the people who stood up and said that clothing is racist, please remove it and please don't make anything racist ever again. To the people who voiced themselves peacefully and responsibly, thank you. To those of you who are violent, ignorant, and selfish, please consider things differently before jumping on an opportunity blindly or in a fit of rage. Also keep in mind that the people who were involved with the clothing are the ones to be questioned, not the innocent teenagers and adults that are just trying to pay their bills. The corporate level of a company is extremely different than the store level of a company. The people at the stores just do their job and do what they're told. The amount of decision making and authority they have is very minimal in comparison to the corporate side of the company. The corporate side is where the decision making is made.  So the next time you have an issue with a company and something they did or didn't do, please do not jeopardize the jobs and safety of the people just living their lives, take your problems to the company and the people responsible for whatever has your bunch in a knot. And when you do so, also do so respectfully. Because no only are you representing yourself but you are representing the people that stand along side you along with the people who support your cause from afar. And if you act irresponsibly towards the cause you fight for, it could have a ripple effect on everyone else.

That's why people roll their eyes at feminists and vegans because certain individuals in those communities have caused so much unnecessary trouble and harm for the causes they fight for that it has created a blanket of negative judgement and bias towards people who identify with those things and even though I mentioned earlier that the actions of a few don't make a whole, though few in numbers may have a big impact on the whole. So I know that feminists and vegans are not bad people but I also know that when someone gives off a certain attitude when they proclaim they're a feminist or vegan, I can't help but want to push  them into that category. So keep in mind that if you are the kid of person to rampage into the store and just go wild with destruction and violence, you are putting a bad label over people who didn't participate but supported your cause.

Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Treat things as if they were happening to you. Question your actions and morals. Question what is truly right or wrong or if multiple things are right or wrong. As soon as you think that you are right about everything I guarantee with a little digging and listening you will come to find that you are wrong about things and when you can learn to accept that you are wrong and not perfect and can see other perspectives, you can then grow and further your cause maturely and responsibly.

If you have a problem, I believe that it can be dealt with through words and actions but I don't think violence is the answer. I understand that sometimes violence is the last straw and it gets pulled but it should only be done so in times of defense if necessary for protection. But getting pissed over a monkey hoodie... that's not cause enough to bust down the doors of a clothing store.

As a kid I expected so much more out of adulthood and the years we're going through now. I'm truly disappointed with the kinds of things that pop up in the news. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I think God outta drop another meteor on this planet. Reset this whole thing and hope that next time life will go the right direction. Got people eating tide pods, got people filming dead bodies, got everyone getting sexually abused more than once, and everyone is a little snowflake that wants to whine if their coffee isn't hot and then wants to sue the hell out of the company if it is hot. Can't win... :(

If you are generally active on the internet I'm sure you've come across the name Logan Paul in recent news. If you are heavily active on the internet then you definitely know who he is and what he does. For those of you who do not know, Logan Paul is a full time Youtuber with roughly 16 million subscribers (although that might be lower or higher at this point as it keeps going up and down). He makes a video every single day featuring his other YT friends doing crazy, wild, and fun shenanigans. Sometimes the things they do are generally fine and other times they crossover into extreme and irresponsible antics. The demographic for his channel ranges from children to teenagers and some young adults but mostly children.

I very casually watched Logan Paul when Vine was still active. When Vine closed down a lot of the Viners had already started a following on YT so I began to follow them on YT as I already spend 40+ hours a week on the platform. I never really got into Logan too much because his videos are just all over the place for me. Some of his videos are funny but I couldn't sit here and name one off hand. I remember him being the older controlling brother in the YT original series "Foursome" featuring Jennxpenn. I began watching the show to support her and recognized Logan by default.

So why exactly is Logan Paul such a big deal? Well he has gone under fire and rightfully so for committing a horrible act against humanity, respect for people and families, respect for cultures, foreign countries, and foreign people, as well as death. Being as big as he is, I imagine he constantly has to set the bar higher and higher. Finding viral and original content seems to grow more and more difficult as so many people have done so much already. I understand that people that high up on the fame chain that are built on a foundation of "shock factor" and 1uping themselves each time have to cross the line to maintain and increase the wave they ride. But how far is too far? Comedians and artists go under fire for jokes, comments, or art that they create that crosses that line of what society deems okay and not okay. So what did he do? Say a racial slur? Sexually assault an underage girl?

No, nothing like that. And while those things are horribly wrong and inappropriate, what he did falls under that extremely wrong category. Logan Paul and his crew took a trip to Japan. If you look at his Japan trip videos, you can clearly see the crazy shenanigans and antics that they perform on a repeated basis. If you think it's obnoxious, imagine how those innocent Japanese people feel? Some crazy whacked out young American man acting obnoxious and belligerent to a culture that is primarily introverted and non-confrontational. He can be seen doing things such as, dressing in traditional clothing and talking loudly and inappropriately at a prayer temple. Everyone else is silent and being respectful and he's yapping around like a hyena jackass. In another scene he is dressed up in a onesie throwing pokeballs at people including a police officer. And sure in the video it seems like the people aren't too bothered or maybe even just confused but according to Japanese videos discussing the topic, the people are in fact upset and bothered but because they are non-confrontational and toss the "foreigner card" to people, they let it go because Logan Paul will be gone soon enough and they can move on with their lives. But little do they know, that this is just the beginning... In another clip Logan Paul and his friends go to a fish market where professional chefs and businesses meet with all of the different fishermen and select the freshest and highest quality food to deliver and prepare for their customers. Logan and his buddies buy some fish and kickstart the engine to their antics right away.

For example, they hopped on the back of a guys vehicle and startled him. He was driving a vehicle and should someone be walking by and get injured or should he crash, can you imagine how bad that would have been? Later on Logan takes the fish they bought and they are screaming and walking around the busy area putting the raw fish in peoples faces, up onto the window panes of businesses all the way to the low low action of setting the raw fish onto a taxi and just walking away.

So you might be thinking - okay I understand that he is being culturally insensitive and disrespectful but how does this even compare to a racial slur or a sexual assault allegation scandal? Well, like many Asian countries, the suicide rate is very high in Japan. In fact, there is a forest called Aokigahara in the Yamanashi Prefecture that is popularly known as The Suicide Forest. It is called such because each year roughly up to 100 people go to the forest strictly to end their lives and this forest has been a place to go to for an alarming amount of people total. It is said that so many have died that the forest itself has a very chilling and haunting atmosphere. If so many people went there to end their lives for whatever reason that plagued them to go that far to make it end, it would not surprise me that such a heavy and negative energy would be lingering throughout.

Logan and his friends decided that going to this forest to "check out ghosts" would be a good idea. So they proceed to enter and walk through the forest and surely enough they chanced upon a body. Rather than doing what any normal and sane person would do, they decided that it was lights camera action time and filmed the body and themselves and their reaction along with some really tasteless jokes. This is why Logan Paul is under fire. If you come to a place knowing that many people go there to end their lives and you have the audacity to not only film them but to mock them and disrespect them etc... what kind of darkness resides in your heart?

So they film the body, make the jokes, and take a thumbnail pic with the body. They had the sense to blur out the face for "identity" protection purposes. So at some point during this thought process they DID care enough to protect the identity but all other responsibility was thrown out the window. So the "Logang" head back to the US all honky dory like nothing happened. They have all this footage and they go OH YEA we found that dead body so we're gonna get LOADS of views.

When they made the decision to go to the forest they should have had it in the back of their heads that there would be a very HIGH chance of finding a fresh dead body, a decaying dead body, or remains/belongings of a body that was once there or a memorial placed by the loved ones etc...

So venturing into the forest and just walking around, okay... fine, there's no harm in that.
Finding the body... okay stop. This is where it is screwed up.
Not only did they find the body, but they decided to film it.
Not a single person out of the handful that were there had a conscious enough to say, "hey maybe we shouldn't do this? Let's leave."
Or when they made the jokes about the the deceased someone couldn't chime in and say "guys this isn't funny, this is really sad and we should go..."
And then when they get on the computer to EDIT the footage after they have had time to process and accept what they witnessed and they STILL didn't have a conscious fiber in their being that told them "we shouldn't do this."
Are people THAT driven by money that they'll shit all over the world for a buck? Yeah... I  guess a ton of people are unfortunately. :(
And the people who "manage" Logan and/or his friends didn't have a shred of responsibility to say "hey guys this isn't going to go over well with the public, you should upload something else instead."
Was their only thought process, "OMG this is insane, I can't believe this happened, the viewers are going to freak out, we're gonna make history, this is gonna get so much views, we're gonna make so much money from this shock factor."
You're telling me out of the maybe 20 people involved, NOBODY thought to kill the concept before it was uploaded? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

So the video goes up. The world is outraged. The video goes down. Logan makes his sad attempt at an apology. Followed by a more convincing apology that is too late. Tons of people are upset by this and everyone is talking about it. He had the nerve to say that he uploaded to video to spread suicide awareness. I'm sorry but laughing at a dead body, making jokes about the dead body, and not mentioning a single shred of a suicide hotline or prevention info etc...  does not scream awareness to me. I understand that when people are truly shocked by something sometimes they can react with being speechless, emotional, or even laughter because it's just SO shocking that they cannot believe it is real and right in front of them but there's a difference between that anxious and nervous shocked laugh and laughing and making direct jokes at a corpse.

So what punishment did he receive? Well YouTube made an official statement saying that they are going to improve their attempts to prevent this kind of content from making its way to the site. They pulled his channel from their top tier of ad packages (which means less monetization from ads that play on his videos). They also cancelled his movie that was about to be released AND he was also removed from the Foursome show that has a new upcoming season. Is this punishment enough? No. This scandal did nothing to harm him because he is making so much money off of other avenues vs just his videos alone. Plus all of this attention, even the blog I am posting now, just puts his name out there and curiosity will have people look him up and check out his content and people on the fence could turn into fans despite the scandal. If anything, bad publicity is good publicity because it gets a conversation started and it spreads a name around like wildfire which increases fame. In my opinion, they should have suspended his account to probational status. Which would mean when he wants to upload a video, YT has to personally watch it and approve it before it gets published with monetization. As long as the video meets their guidelines, he can resume his channel like normal and if he uploads anything that violates those terms he will get 1 warning and if he violates the terms a 2nd time, his channel would be banned. Some might say that is harsh, but there's no way someone as powerful as him can understand the seriousness of the situation unless the punishment matches. I'm so tired of people making mistakes and then they go under fire, give a piss poor apology, go incognito for a few weeks and once society is harping about something else, they resume back to normal.

First of all, you should have the common sense by now from other people going under fire for things, to not follow in the same damn footsteps. Likewise, maybe have an advisor that can help determine whether or not something is okay or crossing the line TOO far. People are too easily getting a pat on the back after they pull out the "sorry :(" bandaid. Yes I think it is important to apologize. Own up to your mistakes, learn from them, apologize sincerely and do something positive to make a change that benefits towards that cause. For example, because of Logan's screw up, Jacksepticeye raised over $200,000 for suicide prevention.

Logan we can accept and live with the shenanigan videos that you make. I'm sure Japanese people can forgive and laugh at your pokeball antics, the fish market prank, etc... those are all things that don't have a serious side effect on peoples lives, a culture, a country's reputation, etc... but I wish you would have done your video differently. Here's how....

When you decided that you were going to go to the forest, I wish you would have started the video like: "Hey guys we've totally got something crazy planned today. Okay so there's this insane forest that we think is haunted so we're gonna go check it out." Then there would be so montage footage of you guys walking and heading to the forest. Then in a quiet voice you'd resume dialogue. "Hey guys so, we originally came to this forest because we thought it would be cool to see if it's haunted but something happened." And the video would get all serious. "So this forest is actually Aokigahara also known as the suicide forest and originally we thought it would be cool to walk around and see if we could find any ghosts or paranormal activity but because so many people come here to end their lives, we've decided to switch things up from what we normally do. Aokigahara is a forest located near Mt Fuji. We want to give a moment of respect to everyone who has ended their lives here as well as give our condolences to the families who have lost a loved one. We wanted you all to know that we love that we can make you smile and laugh when you are having a bad day. It means so much to us that as soon as you get home from school you turn on YT and come to our channel to watch what we do and it's thanks to you guys that we have this career and life to share with you all. But we also understand that life can be hard and sometimes we go through things and it feels like there is no way out. For some people, they feel this way so much that they want to die. If you are battling depression or if you have suicidal thoughts you can call this phone number if you live in the US and you can call this phone number if you live in Japan. We also wanted to let you know that all revenue generated from this video will be donated to [name] suicide prevention organization."

See how easy that would have been?
1) they could have avoided seeing a dead body in person
2) they could have avoided filming it, laughing at it, and uploading it
3) they could avoid this huge public fiasco
4) they could get positive attention but spreading education & a good cause
5) maybe they could have prevented people from contemplating suicide

When Logic performed his 1-800-273-8255 song on TV the hotline calls went up 50%. If 1 live performance can have THAT much of an impact on people who are in a dark  and unhealthy place, imagine what a YT video that over 16 million people could do on the long term.

Now go back to his demographic. The majority of his viewers are kids. Kids are super impressionable and easily persuaded. I would hope that the kids watching his videos aren't depressed or suicidal but with puberty, getting bullied at school, not fitting in, having any kinds of issues... this could have helped some of them I'm sure. It could have given them the courage to talk to their parents and open up about what they're feeling. Or maybe it could have shown them that ending their life isn't the only answer, and that they can get help and find other options etc... But even beyond that, why would you upload a video about a dead body to an audience full of kids. Why. Just why.

And the saddest part is, Logan Paul probably does genuinely feel bad now after it's too late. But he had plenty of opportunities to avoid this before clicking that upload button. I'm sorry but any normal human being would have been the bigger man and said "this isn't right we can't do this." That is how you KNOW he cares more about the money, fame, views, etc... especially because people will grab their pitchforks and move onto the next big scandal and he'll be able to resume his life with no dings or scratches. So YT did right by stopping his movie and tv show role but I still think more could have been done...

There is an extreme amount of responsibility that you have being an online personality especially when you reach 16 million+ people on a daily basis. I'm not saying you gotta be perfect. We're all gonna slip up and make mistakes. I've said and done things on the internet that I wish I could take back. Thankfully I'm not famous so I don't have an entire world up my ass, but that doesn't excuse what I've done. Everything you say and do as a famous person has an impact on who you are, the people around you, the people that follow you, and the people looking for dirt to end you.

I apologize for adding to the pot of people bringing Logan Paul up. But like everyone else, it weights heavy on my mind and I feel compelled to talk about it. I want to apologize to anyone who has ever lost someone because of suicide. I cannot imagine the pain you go through. I read a quote on Facebook once that said something like "ending your life doesn't kill the pain, it gives it to someone else." That quote has moved so many people who have contemplated ending it all. To the people of Japan, I apologize for the behavior of an immature American. When creators who are young get rich and famous fast, the value/respect/maturity tends to lack in my opinion. I am sorry that he disrespected the deceased, disrespected your culture, your citizens, your religious and ceremonial public areas, your professional and economical businesses and markets  etc... I hope that the people of Japan can forgive his antics and can understand that not all Americans are like that. To anyone who is a fan of Logan Paul or follows online creators as fans, feel free to enjoy the things that they do but please consider that what they are doing may not be right, healthy, legal, or responsible and you should never recreate or attempt what they do. For other creators, please learn from this and do not do the same thing.

To anyone who is in a dark and unhealthy place, I want you to know that there is a place for you and a purpose for you. I don't know what you may be going through but many people have survived what you're going through and I have faith that you can survive and find happiness too. You do not have to live your life a certain way. You should live the way that makes you happy. If you are not happy, let people help you find things that do make you happy.