Racism

[NorthDakota]

On the subject of racism in our society - Published on the ND Law School site, an article by Dean G. Marcus Cole:

Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.'
June 08, 2020


His bio linked above.

After watching the bodycam footage I'd have trouble finding the cop guilty of manslaughter, much less murder.

 

[Irish#1]

Watching the news last night, there was a story about a company redoing the history text books for schools to provide more history on blacks. No problem with that.

Here's what made me shake my head. They mention a book used to teach electrical engineering and showed a diagram of a circuit and breakers. They are changing it from master/slave to primary/follower. If master/slave when describing a circuit offends you, you have some serious issues.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Watching the news last night, there was a story about a company redoing the history text books for schools to provide more history on blacks. No problem with that.

Here's what made me shake my head. They mention a book used to teach electrical engineering and showed a diagram of a circuit and breakers. They are changing it from master/slave to primary/follower. If master/slave when describing a circuit offends you, you have some serious issues.

ughhhh

 

[Irishize]

After watching the bodycam footage I'd have trouble finding the cop guilty of manslaughter, much less murder.

Agreed. Ellison almost assured that when he moved the charge to 2nd degree murder. What an idiot...but at least he secured his job. Is the UK paper the only group that’s released the bodycam footage? If so, why isn’t getting much play nationally? I

 

[ab2cmiller]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/KunkleFredrick/status/1298344285079838720[/TWEET]

 

[Irish#1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1) In a scene that played out several times Monday, a Black Lives Matter protest that began in Columbia Heights confronted White diners outside D.C. restaurants, chanting “White silence is violence!” and demanding White diners show their solidarity. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DCProtests</a> <a href="https://t.co/fJbPM76vb0">pic.twitter.com/fJbPM76vb0</a></p>— Fredrick Kunkle WaPo (@KunkleFredrick) <a href="https://twitter.com/KunkleFredrick/status/1298344285079838720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Makes you want to just haul off and punch them in the face.

 

[Irish#1]

Man we are way too sensitive anymore. Professor no longer teaching.

Poor was leading an online marketing class. In a video posted on Twitter, he asks if any students are from outside the U.S. A student says he is from China.

“I’ve heard of China,” Poor says, asking where the student is from in China.

“Actually, Wuhan,” the student said.

“Wuhan? Well, let me get my mask on,” Poor says with a slight laugh.

https://www.kmov.com/news/missouri-...cle_0216769a-9788-5d8d-a04a-4aedec9d8f4b.html

 

[IrishLax]

I just wonder what these people think they're accomplishing except getting votes for Trump. Like I'm very sympathetic to the cause of police reform, but if someone came up to me like that in the middle of a pandemic as I'm trying to eat I'd be inclined to say fuck 'em

Also funny how close that hits to home, that looks like 14th street in the video. Columbia Heights used to be the hood, but about 10 years ago they started gentrifying 14th street from K Street on north and now 14th street is lined with great restaurants until you start getting deeper into Columbia Heights which still has some rough parts. Spent a lot of time up there because my brother used to live in Logan Circle.

 

[tussin]

I just wonder what these people think they're accomplishing except getting votes for Trump. Like I'm very sympathetic to the cause of police reform, but if someone came up to me like that in the middle of a pandemic as I'm trying to eat I'd be inclined to say fuck 'em

Also funny how close that hits to home, that looks like 14th street in the video. Columbia Heights used to be the hood, but about 10 years ago they started gentrifying 14th street from K Street on north and now 14th street is lined with great restaurants until you start getting deeper into Columbia Heights which still has some rough parts. Spent a lot of time up there because my brother used to live in Logan Circle.

These radicalized protesters are authoritarian morons that just want to watch the world burn.

Silence is violence, words are violence, unfavorable actions are violence. Anything they don't like is "violence."

 

[Old Man Mike]

I believe that many good "sensitive" people are actually tone-deaf to the effect that their pressures place on other good people. I also believe that many black Americans do not realize how much reverse prejudice has been placed in front of good non-black citizens, who are genuinely happy to support anti-racism but aren't wearing slogans and marching.

Example: I was a pretty good amateur basketball player. Therefore I was often considered as an outsider not belonging in what some sportswriters call "the Black Man's game." I got the racism rammed down my throat all the time --- not just who gets to play or gets the ball passed to them (I scored 52 points in an intramural game; this was not about not being a capable scorer), this was about being shouted at while playing as not belonging in the game at all. So ... you say: "Well, now you know what it feels like." Yes. That's true, and I'll even go further and say that my experiences playing ball and even walking down the street were minor compared to 24/7 racism. But the point still is: being treated that way, and over and over again, did not increase my affection for any aspect of the greater cause.

Was that a less-than-what-Jesus-would-do personal failure? Of course. That doesn't make its effects less real, sadly. I've been assaulted (pretty ineffectively but still with a knife and racist challenge commentary) once. I've had bums come to my front door even at night almost demanding handouts (this in a neighborhood consisting of diverse racial stocks in pretty even proportions and poverty levels), I've had a kid try to spit on me with no prior interaction at all, I've had a piece of garbage try to pick a fight with me, again I was just sitting on the Chicago EL not even looking in his direction, I've had three persons try to initiate a confrontation as I and a female friend were going into a grocery store (one even threw a piece of paper at us to get something started) etc etc etc. the list can go on and on, and I mean that. And yes, I have had several black friends in my life, as did my parents.

Every one of these lovely experiences listed had one common factor: the persons initiating them were black. I did have one non-black person initiate one sort of similar incident. He knocked on my door late at night and was near to dying. We got him help at that moment, AND HIS FRIEND WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL WAS BLACK. I perfectly well realize that my life experiences have been mixed and WILDLY different. But there have been LOTS of negatives. I don't know the solution to this. But I think that part of it must be this: leadership figures in the black community must not only call for whites to do non-racist things, but they must also call (AND VERY STRONGLY) for blacks to do non-racist things. Example: President Obama made such a call. Instantly unhelpful (and I'm going to tone my language way down here) "leaders" like Jesse Jackson destroyed the impact with their "outrage."

I would really like to live in a color-blind nation or even a color-blind city. I don't. I don't even live in a color-blind mind, despite decades of really trying as a teacher and Catholic. It's too late for me. I hate that. I hope that the younger generations can somehow put a better face on that. This state in which I find myself is, I am sure, the state-of-mind (minus the good upbringing from my father and our Catholic faith) that fuels the deep-red voting block in non-urban USA and ferociously divides us. We are a sick country. We are not a community of neighbors. Short of killing each other and building strong walls (both the worst social engineering solutions ever), I really see no light in this tunnel. .... still at 80 I will continue to write my checks to good causes for the poor and the broken families, and pray, ... and hope that leaders of all the relevant colors will take their podiums and scream at all of us looking this right in the eyes, and not let up on the message that it is WE the individuals that need to take the responsibility --- not government programs, especially not outrageously huge racially-determined handouts, but lots of teach-a-person-to-fish-don't-hand-them-a-fish opportunities.

I have no curatives. .... Wish that I had. Even if just for my own soul.

 

[snoopdog]

I believe that many good "sensitive" people are actually tone-deaf to the effect that their pressures place on other good people. I also believe that many black Americans do not realize how much reverse prejudice has been placed in front of good non-black citizens, who are genuinely happy to support anti-racism but aren't wearing slogans and marching.

Example: I was a pretty good amateur basketball player. Therefore I was often considered as an outsider not belonging in what some sportswriters call "the Black Man's game." I got the racism rammed down my throat all the time --- not just who gets to play or gets the ball passed to them (I scored 52 points in an intramural game; this was not about not being a capable scorer), this was about being shouted at while playing as not belonging in the game at all. So ... you say: "Well, now you know what it feels like." Yes. That's true, and I'll even go further and say that my experiences playing ball and even walking down the street were minor compared to 24/7 racism. But the point still is: being treated that way, and over and over again, did not increase my affection for any aspect of the greater cause.

Was that a less-than-what-Jesus-would-do personal failure? Of course. That doesn't make its effects less real, sadly. I've been assaulted (pretty ineffectively but still with a knife and racist challenge commentary) once. I've had bums come to my front door even at night almost demanding handouts (this in a neighborhood consisting of diverse racial stocks in pretty even proportions and poverty levels), I've had a kid try to spit on me with no prior interaction at all, I've had a piece of garbage try to pick a fight with me, again I was just sitting on the Chicago EL not even looking in his direction, I've had three persons try to initiate a confrontation as I and a female friend were going into a grocery store (one even threw a piece of paper at us to get something started) etc etc etc. the list can go on and on, and I mean that. And yes, I have had several black friends in my life, as did my parents.

Every one of these lovely experiences listed had one common factor: the persons initiating them were black. I did have one non-black person initiate one sort of similar incident. He knocked on my door late at night and was near to dying. We got him help at that moment, AND HIS FRIEND WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL WAS BLACK. I perfectly well realize that my life experiences have been mixed and WILDLY different. But there have been LOTS of negatives. I don't know the solution to this. But I think that part of it must be this: leadership figures in the black community must not only call for whites to do non-racist things, but they must also call (AND VERY STRONGLY) for blacks to do non-racist things. Example: President Obama made such a call. Instantly unhelpful (and I'm going to tone my language way down here) "leaders" like Jesse Jackson destroyed the impact with their "outrage."

I would really like to live in a color-blind nation or even a color-blind city. I don't. I don't even live in a color-blind mind, despite decades of really trying as a teacher and Catholic. It's too late for me. I hate that. I hope that the younger generations can somehow put a better face on that. This state in which I find myself is, I am sure, the state-of-mind (minus the good upbringing from my father and our Catholic faith) that fuels the deep-red voting block in non-urban USA and ferociously divides us. We are a sick country. We are not a community of neighbors. Short of killing each other and building strong walls (both the worst social engineering solutions ever), I really see no light in this tunnel. .... still at 80 I will continue to write my checks to good causes for the poor and the broken families, and pray, ... and hope that leaders of all the relevant colors will take their podiums and scream at all of us looking this right in the eyes, and not let up on the message that it is WE the individuals that need to take the responsibility --- not government programs, especially not outrageously huge racially-determined handouts, but lots of teach-a-person-to-fish-don't-hand-them-a-fish opportunities.

I have no curatives. .... Wish that I had. Even if just for my own soul.

Thanks for your honesty Mike. On a topic littered with so much dishonesty, there was a lot of truth In what you wrote, especially about how difficult it is to deal with our own minds.

 

[RDU Irish]

I believe that many good "sensitive" people are actually tone-deaf to the effect that their pressures place on other good people. I also believe that many black Americans do not realize how much reverse prejudice has been placed in front of good non-black citizens, who are genuinely happy to support anti-racism but aren't wearing slogans and marching.

Example: I was a pretty good amateur basketball player. Therefore I was often considered as an outsider not belonging in what some sportswriters call "the Black Man's game." I got the racism rammed down my throat all the time --- not just who gets to play or gets the ball passed to them (I scored 52 points in an intramural game; this was not about not being a capable scorer), this was about being shouted at while playing as not belonging in the game at all. So ... you say: "Well, now you know what it feels like." Yes. That's true, and I'll even go further and say that my experiences playing ball and even walking down the street were minor compared to 24/7 racism. But the point still is: being treated that way, and over and over again, did not increase my affection for any aspect of the greater cause.

Was that a less-than-what-Jesus-would-do personal failure? Of course. That doesn't make its effects less real, sadly. I've been assaulted (pretty ineffectively but still with a knife and racist challenge commentary) once. I've had bums come to my front door even at night almost demanding handouts (this in a neighborhood consisting of diverse racial stocks in pretty even proportions and poverty levels), I've had a kid try to spit on me with no prior interaction at all, I've had a piece of garbage try to pick a fight with me, again I was just sitting on the Chicago EL not even looking in his direction, I've had three persons try to initiate a confrontation as I and a female friend were going into a grocery store (one even threw a piece of paper at us to get something started) etc etc etc. the list can go on and on, and I mean that. And yes, I have had several black friends in my life, as did my parents.

Every one of these lovely experiences listed had one common factor: the persons initiating them were black. I did have one non-black person initiate one sort of similar incident. He knocked on my door late at night and was near to dying. We got him help at that moment, AND HIS FRIEND WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL WAS BLACK. I perfectly well realize that my life experiences have been mixed and WILDLY different. But there have been LOTS of negatives. I don't know the solution to this. But I think that part of it must be this: leadership figures in the black community must not only call for whites to do non-racist things, but they must also call (AND VERY STRONGLY) for blacks to do non-racist things. Example: President Obama made such a call. Instantly unhelpful (and I'm going to tone my language way down here) "leaders" like Jesse Jackson destroyed the impact with their "outrage."

I would really like to live in a color-blind nation or even a color-blind city. I don't. I don't even live in a color-blind mind, despite decades of really trying as a teacher and Catholic. It's too late for me. I hate that. I hope that the younger generations can somehow put a better face on that. This state in which I find myself is, I am sure, the state-of-mind (minus the good upbringing from my father and our Catholic faith) that fuels the deep-red voting block in non-urban USA and ferociously divides us. We are a sick country. We are not a community of neighbors. Short of killing each other and building strong walls (both the worst social engineering solutions ever), I really see no light in this tunnel. .... still at 80 I will continue to write my checks to good causes for the poor and the broken families, and pray, ... and hope that leaders of all the relevant colors will take their podiums and scream at all of us looking this right in the eyes, and not let up on the message that it is WE the individuals that need to take the responsibility --- not government programs, especially not outrageously huge racially-determined handouts, but lots of teach-a-person-to-fish-don't-hand-them-a-fish opportunities.

I have no curatives. .... Wish that I had. Even if just for my own soul.

A+ post OMM. Very well said.

 

[tussin]

I would really like to live in a color-blind nation or even a color-blind city. I don't. I don't even live in a color-blind mind, despite decades of really trying as a teacher and Catholic. It's too late for me. I hate that.

It really is a shame. The hope was that Obama would usher in a post-racial American society. If anything, it swung back the opposite direction.

 

[IrishLax]

I believe that many good "sensitive" people are actually tone-deaf to the effect that their pressures place on other good people. I also believe that many black Americans do not realize how much reverse prejudice has been placed in front of good non-black citizens, who are genuinely happy to support anti-racism but aren't wearing slogans and marching.

Example: I was a pretty good amateur basketball player. Therefore I was often considered as an outsider not belonging in what some sportswriters call "the Black Man's game." I got the racism rammed down my throat all the time --- not just who gets to play or gets the ball passed to them (I scored 52 points in an intramural game; this was not about not being a capable scorer), this was about being shouted at while playing as not belonging in the game at all. So ... you say: "Well, now you know what it feels like." Yes. That's true, and I'll even go further and say that my experiences playing ball and even walking down the street were minor compared to 24/7 racism. But the point still is: being treated that way, and over and over again, did not increase my affection for any aspect of the greater cause.

Was that a less-than-what-Jesus-would-do personal failure? Of course. That doesn't make its effects less real, sadly. I've been assaulted (pretty ineffectively but still with a knife and racist challenge commentary) once. I've had bums come to my front door even at night almost demanding handouts (this in a neighborhood consisting of diverse racial stocks in pretty even proportions and poverty levels), I've had a kid try to spit on me with no prior interaction at all, I've had a piece of garbage try to pick a fight with me, again I was just sitting on the Chicago EL not even looking in his direction, I've had three persons try to initiate a confrontation as I and a female friend were going into a grocery store (one even threw a piece of paper at us to get something started) etc etc etc. the list can go on and on, and I mean that. And yes, I have had several black friends in my life, as did my parents.

Every one of these lovely experiences listed had one common factor: the persons initiating them were black. I did have one non-black person initiate one sort of similar incident. He knocked on my door late at night and was near to dying. We got him help at that moment, AND HIS FRIEND WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL WAS BLACK. I perfectly well realize that my life experiences have been mixed and WILDLY different. But there have been LOTS of negatives. I don't know the solution to this. But I think that part of it must be this: leadership figures in the black community must not only call for whites to do non-racist things, but they must also call (AND VERY STRONGLY) for blacks to do non-racist things. Example: President Obama made such a call. Instantly unhelpful (and I'm going to tone my language way down here) "leaders" like Jesse Jackson destroyed the impact with their "outrage."

I would really like to live in a color-blind nation or even a color-blind city. I don't. I don't even live in a color-blind mind, despite decades of really trying as a teacher and Catholic. It's too late for me. I hate that. I hope that the younger generations can somehow put a better face on that. This state in which I find myself is, I am sure, the state-of-mind (minus the good upbringing from my father and our Catholic faith) that fuels the deep-red voting block in non-urban USA and ferociously divides us. We are a sick country. We are not a community of neighbors. Short of killing each other and building strong walls (both the worst social engineering solutions ever), I really see no light in this tunnel. .... still at 80 I will continue to write my checks to good causes for the poor and the broken families, and pray, ... and hope that leaders of all the relevant colors will take their podiums and scream at all of us looking this right in the eyes, and not let up on the message that it is WE the individuals that need to take the responsibility --- not government programs, especially not outrageously huge racially-determined handouts, but lots of teach-a-person-to-fish-don't-hand-them-a-fish opportunities.

I have no curatives. .... Wish that I had. Even if just for my own soul.

Thanks for taking the time to type this thoughtful post, Mike.

 

[IrishLax]

It really is a shame. The hope was that Obama would usher in a post-racial American society. If anything, it swung back the opposite direction.

Here's what's weird though, race relations absolutely did improve under Obama... and then strangely, when polled on in retrospectively at the end of his presidency, Americans overall said they felt race relations got worse. This is despite polling data during his Presidency most often showing increasingly positive opinions on race relations relative to the past. For example, Gallup polls every year on race relations and had the highest percentage on record say they were "very satisfied" with race relations in 2013.

So where did it all go wrong? Looking at Gallups' yearly data, the answer is 2015. What happened at the end of 2014? Michael Brown got shot, Ferguson riots, the "hands up, don't shoot" lie, and the rise of Black Lives Matter. In 2015, white people's perception of race relations being "good" dropped by 17 points... their biggest drop ever in recorded data. Black people's perception on race relations dropped 15 points... likewise their biggest drop on record.

It has all gone to shit over the past few years. I blame social media above all else... algorithms built to drive "interactions" do so by emphasizing "controversial" takes. There are a lot of studies on this that basically show that not only are Facebook and Twitter "toxic" but they intentionally put people at each other's throats.

At the same time, we are now at all time lows with perceptions of race relations literally getting worse each year. I'll let everyone make up their own minds for who to blame on that, and there is plenty to go around.

 

[tussin]

So where did it all go wrong? Looking at Gallups' yearly data, the answer is 2015. What happened at the end of 2014? Michael Brown got shot, Ferguson riots, the "hands up, don't shoot" lie, and the rise of Black Lives Matter. In 2015, white people's perception of race relations being "good" dropped by 17 points... their biggest drop ever in recorded data. Black people's perception on race relations dropped 15 points... likewise their biggest drop on record.

It has all gone to shit over the past few years. I blame social media above all else... algorithms built to drive "interactions" do so by emphasizing "controversial" takes. There are a lot of studies on this that basically show that not only are Facebook and Twitter "toxic" but they intentionally put people at each other's throats.

I would also add in two factors as causes:

1) The growing influence of cable news on political discourse. Similar to social media, but putting on extremist goons on TV to say outlandish things and widely promote sensationalist stories for the sake of ratings.

2) The rise of identity politics. Every inequity is analyzed through a racial or demographic lens and this trend has permeated into the mainstream of the Dem party.

 

[IrishLax]

I would also add in two factors as causes:

1) The growing influence of cable news on political discourse. Similar to social media, but putting on extremist goons on TV to say outlandish things and widely promote sensationalist stories for the sake of ratings.

2) The rise of identity politics. Every inequity is analyzed through a racial or demographic lens and this trend has permeated into the mainstream of the Dem party.

An MSNBC produce recently resigned and wrote a scathing letter about this -- https://thehill.com/homenews/media/...exit-letter-ratings-model-blocks-diversity-of

 

[Irish#1]

Here's what's weird though, race relations absolutely did improve under Obama... and then strangely, when polled on in retrospectively at the end of his presidency, Americans overall said they felt race relations got worse. This is despite polling data during his Presidency most often showing increasingly positive opinions on race relations relative to the past. For example, Gallup polls every year on race relations and had the highest percentage on record say they were "very satisfied" with race relations in 2013.

So where did it all go wrong? Looking at Gallups' yearly data, the answer is 2015. What happened at the end of 2014? Michael Brown got shot, Ferguson riots, the "hands up, don't shoot" lie, and the rise of Black Lives Matter. In 2015, white people's perception of race relations being "good" dropped by 17 points... their biggest drop ever in recorded data. Black people's perception on race relations dropped 15 points... likewise their biggest drop on record.

It has all gone to shit over the past few years. I blame social media above all else... algorithms built to drive "interactions" do so by emphasizing "controversial" takes. There are a lot of studies on this that basically show that not only are Facebook and Twitter "toxic" but they intentionally put people at each other's throats.

At the same time, we are now at all time lows with perceptions of race relations literally getting worse each year. I'll let everyone make up their own minds for who to blame on that, and there is plenty to go around.

I would also add in two factors as causes:

1) The growing influence of cable news on political discourse. Similar to social media, but putting on extremist goons on TV to say outlandish things and widely promote sensationalist stories for the sake of ratings.

2) The rise of identity politics. Every inequity is analyzed through a racial or demographic lens and this trend has permeated into the mainstream of the Dem party.

Excellent points gents.

 

[NorthDakota]

Do I have it right that there were two shooters last night?

Or just one?

Nvm...its one guy it looks like.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

It has all gone to shit over the past few years. I blame social media above all else... algorithms built to drive "interactions" do so by emphasizing "controversial" takes. There are a lot of studies on this that basically show that not only are Facebook and Twitter "toxic" but they intentionally put people at each other's throats.

At the same time, we are now at all time lows with perceptions of race relations literally getting worse each year. I'll let everyone make up their own minds for who to blame on that, and there is plenty to go around.

I would also add in two factors as causes:

1) The growing influence of cable news on political discourse. Similar to social media, but putting on extremist goons on TV to say outlandish things and widely promote sensationalist stories for the sake of ratings.

2) The rise of identity politics. Every inequity is analyzed through a racial or demographic lens and this trend has permeated into the mainstream of the Dem party.

This is all undeniably true, so the question is: why is it allowed to continue? (1) It's hugely profitable for those who own the platforms, and they use that money to buy off the Congressmen who are supposed to hold them accountable; and (2) this divisiveness is a feature, not a bug, for our capitalist overlords. When voters in a frenzy on culture war issues--black v. white, Republican v. Democrat, etc-- they're not focused on Amazon and Wal-Mart gobbling up market share as small businesses close left and right, or on the increasing precarity of the majority of American workers. It's all a smoke screen for class warfare.

 

[TorontoGold]

It really is a shame. The hope was that Obama would usher in a post-racial American society. If anything, it swung back the opposite direction.

I truly think his presidency was detrimental to the young people of the Left. He preached a coming togetherness and the appearance of being a "good guy", except that didn't matter if you lived in the middle east. Constant bombing of middle eastern countries turned off a TON of young Left voters. Letting Wall Street off the hook so to speak, and overseeing yet another transfer of wealth of to the richest.

All of my friends that are 25-30 in the States right now can not stand him for the actions he took.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I truly think his presidency was detrimental to the young people of the Left. He preached a coming togetherness and the appearance of being a "good guy", except that didn't matter if you lived in the middle east. Constant bombing of middle eastern countries turned off a TON of young Left voters. Letting Wall Street off the hook so to speak, and overseeing yet another transfer of wealth of to the richest.

All of my friends that are 25-30 in the States right now can not stand him for the actions he took.

Doesn't matter whether the President comes from the red team or the blue team. The people pulling the strings behind both parties are the same, which is why their interests have been reliably advanced over the past several decades regardless of election outcomes.

The young Bernie Bros on the left and the populists on the right are much closer to each other than either is to the center now.

 

[tussin]

When voters in a frenzy on culture war issues--black v. white, Republican v. Democrat, etc-- they're not focused on Amazon and Wal-Mart gobbling up market share as small businesses close left and right, or on the increasing precarity of the majority of American workers. It's all a smoke screen for class warfare.

Are American workers worse off simply because of the business practices of large corporations? Or is it actually a consequence of broader societal trends like globalization and the feminist movement of the 70s? The fact is that highly educated, qualified labor is cheaper and more available than ever. Those shifts alone cause individual workers to naturally have less leverage and make the middle-class lifestyle achievable only in two parent households where both are working.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Are American workers worse off simply because of the business practices of large corporations? Or is it actually a consequence of broader societal trends like globalization and the feminist movement of the 70s? The fact is that highly educated, qualified labor is cheaper and more available than ever. Those shifts alone cause individual workers to naturally have less leverage and make the middle-class lifestyle achievable only in two parent households where both are working.

Those changes massively benefited the capitalist class at the expense of virtually every American family. Conscious political and business decisions were made toward those ends when they could have been made otherwise. There's no moral law that compels our elites to outsource American manufacturing jobs to the lowest bidder, to force every mother into wage slavery and every child into industrialized daycare centers masquerading as district schools.

Our government is supposed to pursue the Common Good of all Americans. But they don't, because doing so would require subordinating the interests of the capitalist class to higher goods. So the private profits of a small cohort who own virtually everything and pursue even more through rent-seeking and lobbying takes priority, while the rest of us get poorer and sicker and more hopeless. Nothing will improve until the government tames the corporate class. Might take a revolution.

 

[tussin]

Those changes massively benefited the capitalist class at the expense of virtually every American family. Conscious political and business decisions were made toward those ends when they could have been made otherwise. There's no moral law that compels our elites to outsource American manufacturing jobs to the lowest bidder, to force every mother into wage slavery and every child into industrialized daycare centers masquerading as district schools.

Point taken on job outsourcing, but women fought hard for the outcomes of the WLM. I don’t feel like that was driven by the capitalist class.

Cultural shifts need to happen with how we think about American family structure. Additionally, perhaps if higher education costs were lower, women would have more choice post-college in how to handle education debt. That said, higher education (particularly student loans) is decidedly not free market driven.

 

[NorthDakota]

Those changes massively benefited the capitalist class at the expense of virtually every American family. Conscious political and business decisions were made toward those ends when they could have been made otherwise. There's no moral law that compels our elites to outsource American manufacturing jobs to the lowest bidder, to force every mother into wage slavery and every child into industrialized daycare centers masquerading as district schools.

Our government is supposed to pursue the Common Good of all Americans. But they don't, because doing so would require subordinating the interests of the capitalist class to higher goods. So the private profits of a small cohort who own virtually everything and pursue even more through rent-seeking and lobbying takes priority, while the rest of us get poorer and sicker and more hopeless. Nothing will improve until the government tames the corporate class. Might take a revolution.

Oh snap Whiskey used the R-word.

Hell yeah I want a Holy Roman Empire dominating the Plains.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Once upon a time America ruled the economic world and still stayed essentially a towering island of independence. This was after the WWI when we defeated the German economic machine, proving that Oil and Oil-based products were superior to coal and coal-based products. America and Oil and Plastics and polymers and pharmaceuticals etc were BOSS of the world --- why else THE DOLLAR; why else the fear in Hitler that we would come in too soon?

That rumbling all-conquering GIANT (also grounded on fantastic food production --- oil powers that ultimately too) allowed the American worker to float his boat higher somewhat alongside the giant boats of the ultra-billionaires. But they had another plan. You can shove only so many twinkies and hamburgers and automobiles down an American consumer before even they can't swallow more.

Solution: GLOBAL MARKETS. ... and with that rush to sell came the concurrent rush to make and with that the dreaded foreign cheap worker. Now the US worker was no longer joined at the hip to the monster production system, but even a balance sheet liability.

Solution: keep them in just enough dollars to keep consuming, fire them when you can, you only need their money back so ignore them if you can keep them in addiction. This ain't "political." This is "just business." It just feels personal. UNLESS YOU HAVE THE FANTASY THAT THERE ARE ANY POWERFUL LEADERS NOT CONSTRICTED BY GLOBAL ECONOMIC POWER, you are not to blame "politics" for this, nor expect a different trajectory to what you see.

Hate Orwell if you must but he's mostly correct. Hate McLuhan if you must, but when he told you that YOU are the PRODUCT not the "products" that you race to consume, he was correct. Hate George Lucas if you must, but when he wrote his first movie (THX1138), he saw true.


... Hope? I took the only hopeful road that I saw. I tried to create an ecovillage which could drop out of this global elevator to destruction and addiction and uncare. We couldn't pull it off. Others occasionally have. Ecovillage is sustainability, but more importantly it is neighborly and "family" and strength beyond the crazed lone warriors staring out from their fortress lives, always too little to really have freedom.

 

[Irishize]

Here's what's weird though, race relations absolutely did improve under Obama... and then strangely, when polled on in retrospectively at the end of his presidency, Americans overall said they felt race relations got worse. This is despite polling data during his Presidency most often showing increasingly positive opinions on race relations relative to the past. For example, Gallup polls every year on race relations and had the highest percentage on record say they were "very satisfied" with race relations in 2013.

So where did it all go wrong? Looking at Gallups' yearly data, the answer is 2015. What happened at the end of 2014? Michael Brown got shot, Ferguson riots, the "hands up, don't shoot" lie, and the rise of Black Lives Matter. In 2015, white people's perception of race relations being "good" dropped by 17 points... their biggest drop ever in recorded data. Black people's perception on race relations dropped 15 points... likewise their biggest drop on record.

It has all gone to shit over the past few years. I blame social media above all else... algorithms built to drive "interactions" do so by emphasizing "controversial" takes. There are a lot of studies on this that basically show that not only are Facebook and Twitter "toxic" but they intentionally put people at each other's throats.

At the same time, we are now at all time lows with perceptions of race relations literally getting worse each year. I'll let everyone make up their own minds for who to blame on that, and there is plenty to go around.

Well stated. This has been discussed a lot lately.

 

[dublinirish]

this is on the money

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Irish American hypocrisy and racism hypocrisy getting called out. Last line is great. <a href="https://t.co/XhSscREPrq">pic.twitter.com/XhSscREPrq</a></p>— Tim Brannigan (@tim_brannigan) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_brannigan/status/1299091228907245571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[PraetorianND]

this is on the money

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Irish American hypocrisy and racism hypocrisy getting called out. Last line is great. <a href="https://t.co/XhSscREPrq">pic.twitter.com/XhSscREPrq</a></p>— Tim Brannigan (@tim_brannigan) <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_brannigan/status/1299091228907245571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In case you don’t feel like watching this nonsense, her argument is that Irish Americans’ DNA, race, and heritage are revoked because of their political beliefs. Sounds pretty racist, and bigoted to me. Also, I’m not sure I’ve heard of anything more narcissistic than believing that you, a single human, are the authority on owning inclusion and exclusion into an entire race of people. Not to mention, the very idea of removing your “Irish-American-ness” is literally impossible and fundamentally makes no sense at all.

She also states that “if you’re not pro-Palestine, you’re not an Irish American.” Palestine, which houses, funds, and enables Hamas, a group of people who’s public mission is to wipe an entire country of Jews off the map, is anti-Semitic to a comical degree.

Basically, this is dumb as hell.

It borders on being as dumb and racist as this -

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