Morgaln wrote:So basically what you're saying is that since everyone knows monsters are evil, it is a-okay to kill them. Just like it was a-okay to enslave Africans in the colonial era, because everyone knew they were inferior to white people. Clearly it was the Africans' fault that they kept their villages where Europeans could find them. Or that they didn't speak English (or German, or Dutch or French) to negotiate. If no one had ever questioned that, we would still be keeping slaves. Just because something is socially acceptable doesn't mean it isn't morally questionable.
The whole theme of the comic is how it is immoral to treat a whole race badly just because they are of that race. That is the definition of racism. Yes, if Minmax had not bought into the propaganda about monsters, we wouldn't have a story, or at least not this one. But if we decide that everything Minmax did was alright and he is not to blame for anything, we won't have character development and growth, because there is no need or reason for him to change.
Hrm, well there have always been people that were against slavery in Europe since before the Atlantic slave trade (in fact, a few European nations didn't partake in slavery and even had laws against owning people through the duration of the trans-Atlantic slave trade) and the belief in racial inferiority/superiority came after the slave trade was well underway for a couple hundred years. In fact, a lot of effort was put into dehumanizing native peoples worldwide as a means of justifying all sorts of atrocities and convincing most of the populace to look the other way or be apathetic. There have been other forms of slavery in existence long before and after the practice of chattel slavery during the trans-atlantic slave trade continuing on to this day.
Also consider that Europeans DID buy slaves from African kingdoms that they had alliances with and those kingdoms sold individuals from conquered territories. Now, I'll make clear that both cultures had starkly different understandings of property, ownership and so on which ultimately meant different understandings of slavery or what it meant to sell/buy a person.
Anyhow, I don't believe in objective morality. For people that lived in those societies and those eras slavery, human sacrifice, cannibalism, rape and a whole host of things that we don't view as good were a way of life in many societies and accepted as normal and often good or acceptable behavior based on the rules of their society.
In Minmax's society, monsters are evil. He didn't make the 'propaganda' or belief and really didn't have a reason to change or challenge that belief until he actually got to know a monster (Kin). In our society, there is a sharp contrast in the general political viewpoints and feelings on race and other cultures based on where one lives. If one doesn't live around minorities and only sees negative things about them on TV, they'll likely have negative feelings toward minorities. A buddy of mine grew up in rural Florida and has a father that was/is VERY racist. He told me a story about his dad beating him because he liked a black girl when he was a teen in the early 80's. His viewpoint is different from his father's because he knew minorities that were both positive and negative and he had joined the army and was stationed overseas for a number of years. That granted him lots of exposure to see that it isn't black or white, but more grey or a host of different shades and colors. His father didn't have that luxury. He grew up in the Jim Crow south where it would be constantly beat into his head that blacks and other non-whites are bad, that they are not equals and that they must be ground under boot to keep them in their place.
All of this was done to maintain a power structure that came into play during the slave trade and continued long after the civil war. To me, his father is a victim of generations of conditioning, as are many others. If he lashes out with what he was conditioned by his culture to believe, then one has to consider his conditioning, his personal issues that cause him to continue to believe such things and whether or not he has actually had an opportunity to see something that would expand his understanding of the human condition.
Minmax hadn't even had an opportunity to even consider that his beliefs would be wrong before meeting Kin. What if he were fighting Thaco and heard Thaco make a plea to the other goblins to save his son instead if Forgath? He probably would have pulled a similar 180 and HELPED Thaco. But he didn't get that opportunity.
Consider the Maze of Many, I recall at least one group that had Minmax and Names teamed up. How did that happen? Maybe something was drastically different in that world or maybe something minor changed at the warcamp raid. We'll never know.
Yeah, Minmax may have "bought into the propaganda", but what other message did he get to hear? I'm guessing nothing else. Propaganda that is unchallenged becomes a fact. Every year we get fed the propaganda that Columbus was an explorer that discovered America when that wasn't true. However, it isn't challenged at the dinner table, so it is a fact. We hear the propaganda of our religions if we are religious and that forms our entire belief system concerning what our god(s) want and how to please our god(s) or how we should live our lives. Usually those beliefs go unchallenged. However, it's important to note that many atheists once were very religious or raised in religious households. If one only gets to hear ONE message, they really don't have a choice in what they believe.
