There is no country in the world or time in history when racism as a political strategy has ended well for a nation - If the GOP fails to purge itself of its racist politicians our future is grim
The United States was founded by men who were racist white supremists whose income and wealth depended on slavery and the appropriation of the land of the indigenous people by force. The war with England was the result of that country moving to banning slavery inside the country and it was feared that this ban would be extended to the colonies. The other factor was the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that forbade settlers in the areas west of the Appalachins and this was prime real estate already being surveyed by men working for Washington and Thomas Paine and others.
After Bacon's Rebellion it became essential for the landowners to segregate the European settlers from people of color as they feared more uprisings. It is also why the Second Amendment was added so that there would be private militia available to fight these "insurgents".
The men who took over what is now Texas did so as the Mexican government was also about to abolish slavery in their country. The "texans" wanted the land to grow cotton and wanted to be able to use slave labor. When Haiti broke free of the French the U.S. government supported France and has continued to exploit the people of this rich country without mercy.
This strategy of divide and conquer has worked exceedingly well for more than years. Even with the Civil War and the 13th Amendment the practice of slavery has continued in the USA to the present day. The GOP with Trump is not a fundamental shift but a continuation of the policies and practices of this country, regardless of how we might light to see ourselves and rewrite history.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been preoccupied with finding a new place and moving myself and my large Husky/Shepard mix, and then finding a place for my grandson and his family and helping them move. Consternation about the rent prices throughout the US and here in Las Vegas and the rigid restrictions and requirements for acceptance has already been the subject of many discussions here and elsewhere, I’m sure. Build Back Better and the infrastructure bill may eventually provide cheaper housing, but by the time it happens, if it ever does, I will occupy some expensive property in a cemetery. The squeeze on the working stiff, poor people, and seniors is just one more outrage among many.
I did start to compose some thoughts in response to a couple of rants or to commentary on the show during that time, which I may include as part of this comment. However, I will focus first on the rant from today.
When dealing with an addicted person, one often reaches a point when one throws up their hands in exasperation and decides that the situation is hopeless. It is not uncommon for family members or an entire family to simply give up on the person who is either unable or unwilling to do whatever it takes to stop using and abusing a substance and to take advantage of the professional help or rehab that is available. Until they reach that point, significant others may be supportive and try any and all possible strategies to help, and some of us never give up on them. Unfortunately, however, the predominant theory or consensus is that to offer help to an addict is to “enable” their habit. I am not going to discuss that here in any detail, though.
The problem with the addict is analogous to the problem with the conservative Republicans and the problem of racism and white supremacy. The addict operates on a fundamental system of beliefs or cognitive/behavioral patterns which are the origin of her dysfunction. The addiction is the symptom of erroneous emotionally tinged thinking or habitual patterns of behavior in response to events and relationship dynamics which are the triggers for regressive behaviors. Denial is just one facet of a constellation of ideas which confuse the issue. This may sound like psychobabble, as some cynics like to claim, but it is not. It is basic psychology.
Likewise, the conservative or Republican, or possibly even certain more progressive thinking individuals have a perverted or pathological belief system, a substantial part of which is below the level of conscious thought, and which has strong emotional underpinnings, in which whiteness is experienced as preferable to darker hues. They cannot merely b persuaded to change their minds. They are hooked. I believe two callers alluded to this today (Monday 11/1).
After all, purity is associated with whiteness in our language, in religion, and in popular culture. If it’s got be clean, it’s got to be Tide. Cleanliness is next to godliness and clean is typically perceived as lighter, whiter and brighter. Females menstruate; therefore, men fear being defiled, which is the source of imagined male superiority. Etc., etc., etc. These things lie mostly under the radar and are unconscious and amorphous.
So, how do we combat this bad and discriminatory thinking? The media could help, but they are busy with petty BS and making money. Good books are wonderful and social media can mold public perceptions and opinion, but the literature is full of the negative stuff, people don’t read, and social media is all over the place. Good government propaganda is effective when government is good. But, we usually get back to schools and education, eventually.
The question then is, how do we achieve the sort of education that dispels the harmful notions and mythology? What have schools failed to do or what should they start doing to counter the undesirable narratives? My answer is always the same. Freedom, autonomy, and agency must be the first order of business. If there is a power structure and a traditional bureaucracy and any hint of control, coercion, manipulation, or arbitrariness, then growth, innovation, and awareness will be greatly inhibited or completely blocked. Power corrupts. You knew that.
Education is about change. Education is about following the science. Education is about being able to absorb the existing knowledge without being dominated by it or by those who purport to have it and dispense it. Compulsory schooling cannot and does not yield education. Do not fall victim to the illusion. Nothing will change until children own their education because they enjoy full citizenship rights and have maximum liberty.
These were my earlier thoughts a week or two ago:
While you are educating us with brilliant insights, truth, facts, and history – all of which is of a subversive nature with respect to the powerful, influential, and wealthy individuals and organizations which insist on lording over those of us who work and who care for each other, the nation, the Earth, and the future of humanity, you speak often about bringing back civics’ classes to schools. Do you not see the disconnect?
Civics classes in schools which lack civility in their own operation and organization contribute little to civility within society. They did not save us when they were part of the curriculum for many decades. Students need sanguine illustrations and models, not mere abstraction. For most, the messages and morals do not sink in or make a lasting impression as a rule because students are only going through the mental motions with none of the necessary tethers to reality and none of the cognitive and emotive connections to what is being taught that are needed for real comprehension and awareness.
Correct me if I am wrong. I believe that the baby boomers and a generation or two since still had a good dose of civics, government, and American history in their curricula. Yet, they have been the most easily addicted to the Fox Nuisance Channel and they were first in line to support Trump.
Education by any logical and meaningful definition is always essentially subversive. An official curriculum does nothing to permit or encourage creative or oppositional orientations. Please do not recommend civics classes as a solution to our social and political dilemmas. That is merely a feel-good balm. Schools can only screw up civics classes as they screw so many other disciplines up.
On a different day:
The Republican operatives who intentionally spread misinformation and the right-wing media operatives who do the same are despicable and repulsive. You are right to condemn them in the harshest terms. However, you risk sounding a bit paranoid or as if there is a conscious or methodical organized conspiracy when you attribute an intentional strategy, when in fact, I believe that most of these individuals are merely promoting their own particular personal interests or beliefs, and more importantly, echoing the loud but undistinguished crackpots who have found a way to get attention and magnify their bizarre impulses, imaginations, and ideas from hidden perches “out there” somewhere in the hinterland. Catering to the “base” as it is reflected in reflective poll pools is primarily reactive.
The politicians and media are in no way absolved of their massive culpability. But I suspect that the squirrels out in the forest are a major factor in the spread of nutty false narratives, divisive propaganda, and bogus reporting. Your suggestion for a public education campaign, therefore, is indeed the best option overall. The ‘conspiracies’ lie in the subterranean power and influence structures which have become so integral to many of our institutions and way of thinking and acting that we simply don’t see the trees for the forest.
Few people have been more vociferous than me in demonizing the rotten, self-serving bastards who have started wars and profiteered from the death and destruction of innocents. But no one cares what I say, and I have no audience beyond a few FB “friends”. Regrettably, even the arrogant billionaires who push their rank ideology on the rest of us typically do justify their evil and deceit with some version of the prosperity gospel or a morality framework that elevates those from certain families or backgrounds far above their rightful status. Pegging them as the bad guys will always be problematic. I ramble; therefore I am.
White supremacy is also about maintaining systemic racism or making sure all races blame the darkest group for leaving them with less - less money, less freedom, less benefits, less life, etc.:
Systemic anti-black racism is multi-racial:
The first 15 chapters of Ibram Kendi's book, How To Be An Antiracist, are about Kendi's recognition of the many forms of racism he observed in himself & how he learned to recognize and then resist them.
This Report's illustration is a priceless snapshot of history instead of a graphic. They are still trying to sell that communism nonsense, but they lost the race-mixing issue long ago. What I find fascinating is how many racial minorities ARE Republican. The demographics that will double while Whites dwindle are Hispanics and Asians not Black folks; that's according to Pew Research Center. They are currently focused on CRT and the border. However, the Republican Party just may be picking up enough Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians with an authoritarian bent that they will be forced to change to survive. Do they want power or do they want purity?
The United States was founded by men who were racist white supremists whose income and wealth depended on slavery and the appropriation of the land of the indigenous people by force. The war with England was the result of that country moving to banning slavery inside the country and it was feared that this ban would be extended to the colonies. The other factor was the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that forbade settlers in the areas west of the Appalachins and this was prime real estate already being surveyed by men working for Washington and Thomas Paine and others.
After Bacon's Rebellion it became essential for the landowners to segregate the European settlers from people of color as they feared more uprisings. It is also why the Second Amendment was added so that there would be private militia available to fight these "insurgents".
The men who took over what is now Texas did so as the Mexican government was also about to abolish slavery in their country. The "texans" wanted the land to grow cotton and wanted to be able to use slave labor. When Haiti broke free of the French the U.S. government supported France and has continued to exploit the people of this rich country without mercy.
This strategy of divide and conquer has worked exceedingly well for more than years. Even with the Civil War and the 13th Amendment the practice of slavery has continued in the USA to the present day. The GOP with Trump is not a fundamental shift but a continuation of the policies and practices of this country, regardless of how we might light to see ourselves and rewrite history.
Thom,
For the last few weeks, I’ve been preoccupied with finding a new place and moving myself and my large Husky/Shepard mix, and then finding a place for my grandson and his family and helping them move. Consternation about the rent prices throughout the US and here in Las Vegas and the rigid restrictions and requirements for acceptance has already been the subject of many discussions here and elsewhere, I’m sure. Build Back Better and the infrastructure bill may eventually provide cheaper housing, but by the time it happens, if it ever does, I will occupy some expensive property in a cemetery. The squeeze on the working stiff, poor people, and seniors is just one more outrage among many.
I did start to compose some thoughts in response to a couple of rants or to commentary on the show during that time, which I may include as part of this comment. However, I will focus first on the rant from today.
When dealing with an addicted person, one often reaches a point when one throws up their hands in exasperation and decides that the situation is hopeless. It is not uncommon for family members or an entire family to simply give up on the person who is either unable or unwilling to do whatever it takes to stop using and abusing a substance and to take advantage of the professional help or rehab that is available. Until they reach that point, significant others may be supportive and try any and all possible strategies to help, and some of us never give up on them. Unfortunately, however, the predominant theory or consensus is that to offer help to an addict is to “enable” their habit. I am not going to discuss that here in any detail, though.
The problem with the addict is analogous to the problem with the conservative Republicans and the problem of racism and white supremacy. The addict operates on a fundamental system of beliefs or cognitive/behavioral patterns which are the origin of her dysfunction. The addiction is the symptom of erroneous emotionally tinged thinking or habitual patterns of behavior in response to events and relationship dynamics which are the triggers for regressive behaviors. Denial is just one facet of a constellation of ideas which confuse the issue. This may sound like psychobabble, as some cynics like to claim, but it is not. It is basic psychology.
Likewise, the conservative or Republican, or possibly even certain more progressive thinking individuals have a perverted or pathological belief system, a substantial part of which is below the level of conscious thought, and which has strong emotional underpinnings, in which whiteness is experienced as preferable to darker hues. They cannot merely b persuaded to change their minds. They are hooked. I believe two callers alluded to this today (Monday 11/1).
After all, purity is associated with whiteness in our language, in religion, and in popular culture. If it’s got be clean, it’s got to be Tide. Cleanliness is next to godliness and clean is typically perceived as lighter, whiter and brighter. Females menstruate; therefore, men fear being defiled, which is the source of imagined male superiority. Etc., etc., etc. These things lie mostly under the radar and are unconscious and amorphous.
So, how do we combat this bad and discriminatory thinking? The media could help, but they are busy with petty BS and making money. Good books are wonderful and social media can mold public perceptions and opinion, but the literature is full of the negative stuff, people don’t read, and social media is all over the place. Good government propaganda is effective when government is good. But, we usually get back to schools and education, eventually.
The question then is, how do we achieve the sort of education that dispels the harmful notions and mythology? What have schools failed to do or what should they start doing to counter the undesirable narratives? My answer is always the same. Freedom, autonomy, and agency must be the first order of business. If there is a power structure and a traditional bureaucracy and any hint of control, coercion, manipulation, or arbitrariness, then growth, innovation, and awareness will be greatly inhibited or completely blocked. Power corrupts. You knew that.
Education is about change. Education is about following the science. Education is about being able to absorb the existing knowledge without being dominated by it or by those who purport to have it and dispense it. Compulsory schooling cannot and does not yield education. Do not fall victim to the illusion. Nothing will change until children own their education because they enjoy full citizenship rights and have maximum liberty.
These were my earlier thoughts a week or two ago:
While you are educating us with brilliant insights, truth, facts, and history – all of which is of a subversive nature with respect to the powerful, influential, and wealthy individuals and organizations which insist on lording over those of us who work and who care for each other, the nation, the Earth, and the future of humanity, you speak often about bringing back civics’ classes to schools. Do you not see the disconnect?
Civics classes in schools which lack civility in their own operation and organization contribute little to civility within society. They did not save us when they were part of the curriculum for many decades. Students need sanguine illustrations and models, not mere abstraction. For most, the messages and morals do not sink in or make a lasting impression as a rule because students are only going through the mental motions with none of the necessary tethers to reality and none of the cognitive and emotive connections to what is being taught that are needed for real comprehension and awareness.
Correct me if I am wrong. I believe that the baby boomers and a generation or two since still had a good dose of civics, government, and American history in their curricula. Yet, they have been the most easily addicted to the Fox Nuisance Channel and they were first in line to support Trump.
Education by any logical and meaningful definition is always essentially subversive. An official curriculum does nothing to permit or encourage creative or oppositional orientations. Please do not recommend civics classes as a solution to our social and political dilemmas. That is merely a feel-good balm. Schools can only screw up civics classes as they screw so many other disciplines up.
On a different day:
The Republican operatives who intentionally spread misinformation and the right-wing media operatives who do the same are despicable and repulsive. You are right to condemn them in the harshest terms. However, you risk sounding a bit paranoid or as if there is a conscious or methodical organized conspiracy when you attribute an intentional strategy, when in fact, I believe that most of these individuals are merely promoting their own particular personal interests or beliefs, and more importantly, echoing the loud but undistinguished crackpots who have found a way to get attention and magnify their bizarre impulses, imaginations, and ideas from hidden perches “out there” somewhere in the hinterland. Catering to the “base” as it is reflected in reflective poll pools is primarily reactive.
The politicians and media are in no way absolved of their massive culpability. But I suspect that the squirrels out in the forest are a major factor in the spread of nutty false narratives, divisive propaganda, and bogus reporting. Your suggestion for a public education campaign, therefore, is indeed the best option overall. The ‘conspiracies’ lie in the subterranean power and influence structures which have become so integral to many of our institutions and way of thinking and acting that we simply don’t see the trees for the forest.
Few people have been more vociferous than me in demonizing the rotten, self-serving bastards who have started wars and profiteered from the death and destruction of innocents. But no one cares what I say, and I have no audience beyond a few FB “friends”. Regrettably, even the arrogant billionaires who push their rank ideology on the rest of us typically do justify their evil and deceit with some version of the prosperity gospel or a morality framework that elevates those from certain families or backgrounds far above their rightful status. Pegging them as the bad guys will always be problematic. I ramble; therefore I am.
White supremacy is also about maintaining systemic racism or making sure all races blame the darkest group for leaving them with less - less money, less freedom, less benefits, less life, etc.:
Systemic anti-black racism is multi-racial:
The first 15 chapters of Ibram Kendi's book, How To Be An Antiracist, are about Kendi's recognition of the many forms of racism he observed in himself & how he learned to recognize and then resist them.
https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist
This Report's illustration is a priceless snapshot of history instead of a graphic. They are still trying to sell that communism nonsense, but they lost the race-mixing issue long ago. What I find fascinating is how many racial minorities ARE Republican. The demographics that will double while Whites dwindle are Hispanics and Asians not Black folks; that's according to Pew Research Center. They are currently focused on CRT and the border. However, the Republican Party just may be picking up enough Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians with an authoritarian bent that they will be forced to change to survive. Do they want power or do they want purity?