Your account of rats turning on each other is terrifying but (I believe) accurate. I wonder what it takes for people to turn to compassion and kindness, if they do at all. Right now, we are witnessing the arrivals of refuges from Ukraine and they seem to be receiving a kind of reception denied others who are working their way through a s…
Your account of rats turning on each other is terrifying but (I believe) accurate. I wonder what it takes for people to turn to compassion and kindness, if they do at all. Right now, we are witnessing the arrivals of refuges from Ukraine and they seem to be receiving a kind of reception denied others who are working their way through a system designed to keep as many out as possible. We wonder how this squares with democracy and the Lazarus poem at the base of the statue of liberty; well, it doesn't but something barely concealed is at work here and we all know it full well. That too goes back to our former president who left us with a lack of decency, incivility, selfishness, respect or reverence for ignorance, hatred of others, and a general counter-legacy that is denied by many but still there nonetheless. I wonder at times whether the US citizenry will ever recognize the cult for what it is and reject its presence in our society. I do not know.
I think the prior president saw something that had been festering for a long time. He saw RACISM and FEAR. America's predominate white European population was declining and the Spanish speaking Latino population was growing, and the blacks were gaining in political power. They had just succeeded in having elected a black president elected. The prior president started planning the seeds of further discontent by questioning that Obama was even born in the United States. I am not surprised of what is happing. When I was growing up, I saw Dr. Kings lead the Civil Right struggle. I saw when he was assassinated. I saw how Anglo America did not want to share power with Afro-America and for that matter with anyone that was not Anglo. Yes, at that time the Southern Democrats were leading the resistance. What did those Racist Democrats do when President Lyndon B. Johnson had the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964? These RACIST are now in the REPULICAN party. President Johnson knew the South would go to the REPULICAN party after the Civil Rights Act was passed, yet he pushed it through Congress. Trump is now the leader of America's Racist and hate mongers.
I do not think one can simply label anyone Anglo-American as racist and unwilling to share power (one cannot label any group of people as any single thing, people are individuals for better and for worse, even Anglo-American people). But if it were true, what would labelling Anglo Americans as racist and unwilling to share power accomplish? Would anyone racist suddenly transform into non-racist? Would our society improve in any measurable way? What would happen to those who did not deserve such an automatic label? Or would such individuals become outcasts? Everything you say is true and I am not denying the fact that some Anglo-Americans are and will continue to be racist. However, clearly Lyndon B Johnson was not a racist, he had actually taught school in Mexican American communities and had first-hand experience with that community. I imagine his first-hand experience did a good deal to change his attitudes and I believe other Anglo-Americans have also developed an understanding they may not have had to begin with. I think the key does not lie in labelling a group and then assigning a set of beliefs and pre-conceived notions about the group but in recognizing that people are individuals and are capable of change and greater understanding if given the kind of opportunities that JOhnson had. If people of whatever race or ethnic background are willing to let go of their pre-judgments and notions and work together to achieve common goals, we might turn out better as a society. I have no idea that there is a guarantee but working together may be worth a try.
Under no circumstance am I saying that all Anglo-Americans are racist. I am pointing out a fact regarding a subset of the ruling class within our country. Obama would not have been elected as president were it not for the Anglo-Americans that were Democrats or Independents that voted for him. I doubt it very much if any Republican voted for him. Regarding President Johnson, I am aware of his history working within the Mexican community as a teacher in Texas. Regarding changing a racist, only God could do that. Racism among those in POWER has a far greater negative impact then racism among those that have little or no power. This country has not been working together since the prior president was in office. I have been following politics since President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) was president. I have not seen our country in such bad condition as I have seen it now. During the Vietnam war our country was divided over the war and there was many protesting in the streets. However, our leaders dealt with each other with respect and projected some semblance of unity. The prior president is in my book, "The Great Divider". Do you think for one minute our country can survive divided? Our enemies outside of our borders LOVE the fact that we are divided. They know world history. They know that all great world powers fail because of internal divisions. I hope that we stop acting like children and start acting like sophisticated adults.
If I recall your post correctly, you discussed Anglo-Americans as a uniform block of racists until you decided to focus on wealthy and powerful Anglo-Americans, letting members of the block off the hook. So you started from the position of labelling Anglo-Americans as racist and then moved to a position where powerful and wealthy Anglo-Americans were racists. The facts are, I believe, more complicated than this: it is surely true that wealthy and powerful Anglo-Americans are sometimes racists, just as working and lower-middle class people are sometimes racists but the reverse is also true. I do believe that many powerful white male supremacists are calling the shots and they (and their lies) do influence less powerful and economically disadvantaged people but they are not the entire picture of wealthy and power people. LIkewise, many poor and lower-class people are easily swayed to racist points-of-view but not all. One could argue, I suppose, that people with solid Christian and Judeo-Christian beliefs denounce racism but even that is not uniformly the case as those supposedly guided by religion may veer towards racism and never consider the contradiction this inherently poses. (One cannot logically espouse treating everyone as your brother/sister and then advocate treating people of a different race/ethnic background/religion) differently. I believe that racism is essentially an enigma and I do not know if we will ever get to the bottom of it and solve the puzzle on the side of what Bernie Sanders termed The Good. However, the enigmatic nature of racism is no reason to give it a pass and not attempt to deal with it for the good of all, that is, in order to ensure a more perfect union. We have to keep striving to communicate and act towards each other with respect and as individuals. We will not succeed completely, I don't believe, but perhaps the effort is what counts. A work in progress, you might say.
When we have a rising middle class again, we’ll have civility and respect. People who fear for their financial future tend towards being defensive and exclusivist: “they want to replace us.” Today’s mood contrasts with that of the 1960s, when the labor unions had triumphed and workers could expect a salary raise every year. It’s no accident that the famous Woodstock concert, that shining example of peace and freedom, should have happened in 1969, before the turn to 19th century capitalism as exemplified in the Powell Memo. I was a kid at Woodstock, and I’ll never forget the sense of unity that is sorely lacking today.
Your account of rats turning on each other is terrifying but (I believe) accurate. I wonder what it takes for people to turn to compassion and kindness, if they do at all. Right now, we are witnessing the arrivals of refuges from Ukraine and they seem to be receiving a kind of reception denied others who are working their way through a system designed to keep as many out as possible. We wonder how this squares with democracy and the Lazarus poem at the base of the statue of liberty; well, it doesn't but something barely concealed is at work here and we all know it full well. That too goes back to our former president who left us with a lack of decency, incivility, selfishness, respect or reverence for ignorance, hatred of others, and a general counter-legacy that is denied by many but still there nonetheless. I wonder at times whether the US citizenry will ever recognize the cult for what it is and reject its presence in our society. I do not know.
I think the prior president saw something that had been festering for a long time. He saw RACISM and FEAR. America's predominate white European population was declining and the Spanish speaking Latino population was growing, and the blacks were gaining in political power. They had just succeeded in having elected a black president elected. The prior president started planning the seeds of further discontent by questioning that Obama was even born in the United States. I am not surprised of what is happing. When I was growing up, I saw Dr. Kings lead the Civil Right struggle. I saw when he was assassinated. I saw how Anglo America did not want to share power with Afro-America and for that matter with anyone that was not Anglo. Yes, at that time the Southern Democrats were leading the resistance. What did those Racist Democrats do when President Lyndon B. Johnson had the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964? These RACIST are now in the REPULICAN party. President Johnson knew the South would go to the REPULICAN party after the Civil Rights Act was passed, yet he pushed it through Congress. Trump is now the leader of America's Racist and hate mongers.
I do not think one can simply label anyone Anglo-American as racist and unwilling to share power (one cannot label any group of people as any single thing, people are individuals for better and for worse, even Anglo-American people). But if it were true, what would labelling Anglo Americans as racist and unwilling to share power accomplish? Would anyone racist suddenly transform into non-racist? Would our society improve in any measurable way? What would happen to those who did not deserve such an automatic label? Or would such individuals become outcasts? Everything you say is true and I am not denying the fact that some Anglo-Americans are and will continue to be racist. However, clearly Lyndon B Johnson was not a racist, he had actually taught school in Mexican American communities and had first-hand experience with that community. I imagine his first-hand experience did a good deal to change his attitudes and I believe other Anglo-Americans have also developed an understanding they may not have had to begin with. I think the key does not lie in labelling a group and then assigning a set of beliefs and pre-conceived notions about the group but in recognizing that people are individuals and are capable of change and greater understanding if given the kind of opportunities that JOhnson had. If people of whatever race or ethnic background are willing to let go of their pre-judgments and notions and work together to achieve common goals, we might turn out better as a society. I have no idea that there is a guarantee but working together may be worth a try.
Under no circumstance am I saying that all Anglo-Americans are racist. I am pointing out a fact regarding a subset of the ruling class within our country. Obama would not have been elected as president were it not for the Anglo-Americans that were Democrats or Independents that voted for him. I doubt it very much if any Republican voted for him. Regarding President Johnson, I am aware of his history working within the Mexican community as a teacher in Texas. Regarding changing a racist, only God could do that. Racism among those in POWER has a far greater negative impact then racism among those that have little or no power. This country has not been working together since the prior president was in office. I have been following politics since President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) was president. I have not seen our country in such bad condition as I have seen it now. During the Vietnam war our country was divided over the war and there was many protesting in the streets. However, our leaders dealt with each other with respect and projected some semblance of unity. The prior president is in my book, "The Great Divider". Do you think for one minute our country can survive divided? Our enemies outside of our borders LOVE the fact that we are divided. They know world history. They know that all great world powers fail because of internal divisions. I hope that we stop acting like children and start acting like sophisticated adults.
If I recall your post correctly, you discussed Anglo-Americans as a uniform block of racists until you decided to focus on wealthy and powerful Anglo-Americans, letting members of the block off the hook. So you started from the position of labelling Anglo-Americans as racist and then moved to a position where powerful and wealthy Anglo-Americans were racists. The facts are, I believe, more complicated than this: it is surely true that wealthy and powerful Anglo-Americans are sometimes racists, just as working and lower-middle class people are sometimes racists but the reverse is also true. I do believe that many powerful white male supremacists are calling the shots and they (and their lies) do influence less powerful and economically disadvantaged people but they are not the entire picture of wealthy and power people. LIkewise, many poor and lower-class people are easily swayed to racist points-of-view but not all. One could argue, I suppose, that people with solid Christian and Judeo-Christian beliefs denounce racism but even that is not uniformly the case as those supposedly guided by religion may veer towards racism and never consider the contradiction this inherently poses. (One cannot logically espouse treating everyone as your brother/sister and then advocate treating people of a different race/ethnic background/religion) differently. I believe that racism is essentially an enigma and I do not know if we will ever get to the bottom of it and solve the puzzle on the side of what Bernie Sanders termed The Good. However, the enigmatic nature of racism is no reason to give it a pass and not attempt to deal with it for the good of all, that is, in order to ensure a more perfect union. We have to keep striving to communicate and act towards each other with respect and as individuals. We will not succeed completely, I don't believe, but perhaps the effort is what counts. A work in progress, you might say.
When we have a rising middle class again, we’ll have civility and respect. People who fear for their financial future tend towards being defensive and exclusivist: “they want to replace us.” Today’s mood contrasts with that of the 1960s, when the labor unions had triumphed and workers could expect a salary raise every year. It’s no accident that the famous Woodstock concert, that shining example of peace and freedom, should have happened in 1969, before the turn to 19th century capitalism as exemplified in the Powell Memo. I was a kid at Woodstock, and I’ll never forget the sense of unity that is sorely lacking today.