tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post8509326503730166949..comments2024-03-29T11:07:51.893+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Losing The "Struggle-Session" Over Climate Change.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-71107219066176501652021-06-28T20:44:57.313+12:002021-06-28T20:44:57.313+12:00Climate change is the imperative challenge and it ...Climate change is the imperative challenge and it requires democracy. Not just the name as per America's 'Democrats'. Why they have no real ammo against the Republican fascists. Why only Bernie?<br /><br />Concluding, the Democrat funders prefer autocracy to the rule of the people.<br /><br />Amerika is the home of stories not an enviable politics, why it infects far into the English-speaking world. I encounter these dopes all the time, transferring these stories onto us. sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-16488526168091292672021-06-28T11:47:56.709+12:002021-06-28T11:47:56.709+12:00And if we're going to be cutting and pasting, ...And if we're going to be cutting and pasting, here's something you might like to read.<br /><br />These “basic tenets” of CRT, according to the authors, include the following claims: <br /><br />(1) Race is socially constructed, not biologically natural. <br /><br />(2) Racism in the United States is normal, not aberrational: it is the common, ordinary experience of most people of colour. <br /><br />(3) Owing to what critical race theorists call “interest convergence” or “material determinism,” legal advances (or setbacks) for people of colour tend to serve the interests of dominant white groups. Thus, the racial hierarchy that characterizes American society may be unaffected or even reinforced by ostensible improvements in the legal status of oppressed or exploited people. <br /><br />(4) Members of minority groups periodically undergo “differential racialization,” or the attribution to them of varying sets of negative stereotypes, again depending on the needs or interests of whites. <br /><br />(5) According to the thesis of “intersectionality” or “antiessentialism,” no individual can be adequately identified by membership in a single group. An African American person, for example, may also identify as a woman, a lesbian, a feminist, a Christian, and so on. Finally, <br /><br />(6) the “voice of colour” thesis holds that people of colour are uniquely qualified to speak on behalf of other members of their group (or groups) regarding the forms and effects of racism. Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-66612613801094944362021-06-28T11:31:53.384+12:002021-06-28T11:31:53.384+12:00David. I disagree with much of your cut-and-paste ...David. I disagree with much of your cut-and-paste about CRT obviously. There were a couple of cogent critiques made in the comments I noticed. And again, there was much misinterpretation. Incidentally – STILL waiting for evidence that I categorise everyone who disagrees with me as racist. Not really expecting it but.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-61288125510091653122021-06-28T11:24:27.650+12:002021-06-28T11:24:27.650+12:00Nick. I don't necessarily categorise people as...Nick. I don't necessarily categorise people as conservatives, but some of their ideas are conservative or perhaps even reactionary. If they claim to be progressive and still have these ideas well – I guess it's confusing.<br />I did not try to "pull academic rank". I probably put it badly, but all I said was that the people putting together the history syllabus would be and should be monitored by historians. I did say that I'm extremely unlikely to be asked to do it. And that's actually an understatement. And it was in response to a question like "who decides – you?" I should maybe have said "me – no". My bad.<br /><br />Jesus wept is an expression that is been in use by my family for years it sort of expresses frustration. "Because I use it must be okay"? That's sort of meaningless. If it offends you – put it down to freedom of speech. If I remember correctly you're all in favour of it.<br /><br />Thank you at least for giving me the benefit of the doubt on Marxism the way it's used by the people who use it on this site seems to me obviously to mean "communist" – something which if I was here under my own name and still working might have had an effect on my job prospects. Who knows IANAL but it may even have been actionable. It's one of those things that you among others accuse me of – it's thrown around at people you don't like who disagree with you. And I notice when I have asked for evidence, none has been forthcoming. So yeah, there basically is none.<br />I wouldn't actually describe myself as a "follower". But as you say, I have a reasonable knowledge having had to read a fair bit of him in my extramural Massey courses. He has influenced the social sciences quite a bit, although again, people use him as a tool rather than become communists.<br /><br />Jens:<br />"Galloping inequality. Concentration of wealth. Spread of capitalism all over the world. Increasing division of society into antagonistic classes of a tiny minority of wealthy capitalists and a huge majority of propertyless workers. Perennial instability of capitalist economies, periods of growth and technological development punctuated by increasingly severe crashes. A permanent reserve army of the unemployed. Lengthening of the working day and increasingly intense exploitation of labor. "<br /><br />That's not original to me. But I thoroughly agree with it. And the guy has put it much more succinctly than I could.<br />Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-54518880965653472742021-06-28T06:54:48.335+12:002021-06-28T06:54:48.335+12:00Keep getting tired of shit GS because what you do ...Keep getting tired of shit GS because what you do regularly is make oblique reference to viewpoints after others post with catch all words like conservatives. You too are fairly clear on your views, enough for me to categorise you as a follower of Marx from the number of references to him you make. That of course indicates no fealty, just good knowledge. <br /><br />I recall a recent event when you tried to pull academic rank over a blogger and Chris pulled you up. When I refered to you academic level you saw red, I pointed you back to Chris comment. You cant have it both ways, one rule for GS and another for the rest.<br /><br />On that note your regular expression "Jesus wept". It is a rather Alf Garnett expression given that I have noted some anti religious sentiment from you. But because you use it it must be OK. Nick Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12609312325425361413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-32989598140052337072021-06-27T21:46:27.174+12:002021-06-27T21:46:27.174+12:00Guerilla Surgeon - I have read CAPITAL, by Ka...Guerilla Surgeon - I have read CAPITAL, by Karl Marx - but forgotten what predictions of his have actually come true.<br /><br />Could you please enlighten me and us all on that ?<br /><br />Jens.Jens Mederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17304734497662325275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-89851748984325102922021-06-27T21:35:50.418+12:002021-06-27T21:35:50.418+12:00Don't get too involved in the counter-'arg...Don't get too involved in the counter-'arguments', GS. Tower of Babel is a good allegory of this multi=-media age. Depressing personally. And in every other way. Individualism is the wishbone in our throat that will kill us. sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-48094513241114124792021-06-27T12:44:20.645+12:002021-06-27T12:44:20.645+12:00Okay, two people have referred to me here as a &qu...Okay, two people have referred to me here as a "Marxist". Please define what you mean by Marxist, and produce evidence from my comments that I am a "Marxist". Or for Christ sake shut up.<br /><br />I will reiterate. Marx wrote stuff that predicted various things. I have enumerated them in the past but obviously no one has bothered to read them. These things have actually come true. So using Marx to analyse society is a legitimate way to try to understand what society is all about. It's not the only way, it might not even be the best way I don't know, but it's certainly a valid way, and has predictive value. I did at one time ask for people to show me a conservative writer who has the same or even some predictive value – no one bothered to reply.<br />And there's the same tired old reference to my so-called Soviet leanings. Please quote any of my comments that have even mentioned Soviet Russia let alone approved of it. I think you'll find very few on the first and none on the last. Is it somehow that you can't attack my ideas on the merits that you need to do this? Or is it somehow a knee-jerk reaction to anyone who questions conservative values? Because I'm still getting tired of being accused of all sorts of shit that I don't believe in without the slightest bit of evidence to show that I do. It's basically the sign of someone who has no actual arguments.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-15586474311973772522021-06-27T12:07:15.773+12:002021-06-27T12:07:15.773+12:00Well swordfish, a great post – ad hominem at its b...Well swordfish, a great post – ad hominem at its best. <br />1.I have never claimed to be the only person on this site with a university degree. And I wouldn't care if I was. I treat arguments as I find them. So maybe you could give me some evidence that I dismiss everyone who disagrees with me as right wing, alt right, conservative or "racist". I don't think I've actually ever called anyone on this site racist, except perhaps for whoever it was mentioned the PI people's "capacity for mindless violence". Which apparently can't be racist, because it's a "fact". <br />2. I usually stop reading someone's post when they use the word "woke" but I read the whole of yours. Which by the way is full of misapprehensions.<br />3. So please provide me with some evidence that I consider myself a lone progressive voice. That's nonsense, and if you'd hung around here long enough you'd know it was nonsense. There are a number of progressive voices on this site, fewer than I'd like, but there you go.<br />4. I cited the research on conservatives as a reply to you quoting research about the "woke". In a fairly light-hearted manner, but apparently you lack a sense of humour. <br />5. If quoting research makes someone pompous and narcissistic, you should maybe admit that you are also pompous and narcissistic.<br />6. You know nothing about me, which is probably why you describe me as "middle-class" and a "cultural radical". It would be nice if you could provide evidence for those two but I suspect you can't.<br />7. Not sure what a cultural radical is, but if it's someone who worries about the radical right getting rid of our freedoms then I guess I might be one.<br />8. I have actually expressed my disappointment with Labour abandoning its traditional base, but you obviously haven't bothered to read all my posts – fair enough but that doesn't give you the right then to suggest that I somehow approved.<br />9. It is the right that is the modern day danger to liberal democracy, not the left.<br />I'll forgo the pompous ad hominem attacks, perhaps you would be wise to do the same. I generally assume that absent the tone of face-to-face conversation, that I should give someone the benefit of the doubt when they use personal abuse. I don't think I'll do that in this case.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40588388870031160322021-06-26T06:58:28.116+12:002021-06-26T06:58:28.116+12:00First of Two Comments:
(1) I know it goes entirel...<b>First of Two Comments:</b><br /><br />(1) I know it goes entirely against the grain, GS, but <i>do</i> try to rein-in some of your more pompous & narcissistic tendencies ... especially your attempts to pull academic rank & your equally smarmy denigration of others' intellectual abilities or credentials (always, of course, with an eager eye on the audience) ... it makes you look not only highly pretentious but also more than a wee bit lazy & dishonest, desperate for a shortcut to an easy victory that you might otherwise be intellectually incapable of ... hate to break it to you, but you're not the only commenter here with a university or postgrad education, nor even the only one to have studied History past undergrad level ... not, I hasten to add, that such an education (particularly these days) necessarily enhances knowledge or expertise, even less so <i>common sense</i> & <i>competence</i> ... quite often it seems to produce little more than the ludicrous social snobbery, Utopian naivety & smug narrow-mindedness you frequently display).<br /><br />The fact that you so often come across as a dogmatist inhabiting a tight little ideological bubble, an elitist <i>Woke</i> fantasy-world divorced from concrete reality, renders your regular claims to intellectual superiority <i>particularly</i> absurd.<br /><br />(2) At the heart of your tendency toward bad faith argumentation, GS, is your relentless desire to dismiss & smear anyone outside your ideological bubble as <i>beyond the pale</i> ... right-wing, alt-right or most frequently <i>"conservative"</i> and even <i>"racist"</i>.<br /><br />Heading on back to reality for a moment (strap yourself in, GS, this could be a bumpy ride) ... there are sound reasons why many on the Left (including me) are opposed to the crude, cartoonish dogma that New Middle Class <i>Woke Cultural Radicals</i> like you lazily regurgitate ... not least ID Politics implicit abandonment of much of the Left's traditional constituency, subversion of the Left's core principles & overt attack on the main tenets of Liberal Democracy.<br /><br />[That's aside, of course, from the fact that everyone regardless of ideological leanings has a right to debate here without being smeared as nefarious in intent]<br /><br />This insular fantasy of yours that you're some sort of courageous lone progressive voice among the Bowalley Road commentariat ... single-handedly fighting a horde of <i>Reactionary Deplorables</i> ... has you triumphantly citing research about <i>Right-Wing Authoritarians</i> as if it's some sort of Game-Changing <i>Gotcha!!!</i> moment ... it isn't ... if you'd read my previous comment <i>calmly</i> rather than via something approaching a default <i>moral panic</i>, you'd have noticed I stated quite clearly:<br /><br />(Quote): <i>"Several recent scholarly studies in Psychology have found that the Authoritarian Woke (<b>like the Far Right</b>) attract more than their fair share of Dark Triad Personality types ..."</i><br /><br />So, yeah, both the <i>Woke Cultural Radicals</i> & the <i>Far Right Reactionaries</i> exhibit marked (& highly disturbing) authoritarian tendencies ... only one of those two ideological strands, however, is currently <i>hegemonic</i> ... the new official orthodoxy ... can you guess which one that might be, GS ?<br /><br />You see, that's the other thing, you accuse everyone else of being <i>"conservative"</i> and yet in terms of ascendant ideologies there is nothing quite as <i><b>ill</b></i>iberal as the censorious, controlling, authoritarian religious-like Cult you currently champion.<br /><br /><i>[second comment ... addressing some of GS's claims about CRT ... to follow when I have time]</i>swordfishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-71123938234438001332021-06-25T23:09:18.265+12:002021-06-25T23:09:18.265+12:00I must admit that it's quite something to enco...I must admit that it's quite something to encounter a creature like Guerilla Surgeon. A pure Marxist. From a debating POV he should - for all his tiredness at dealing with the racists that Chris Trotter allows to run free on his blog - be enjoyed as prize asset here. It's so rare to see one still living in the early 21st century. Tom Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17840988228699338463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-20618564982337181652021-06-25T08:21:32.230+12:002021-06-25T08:21:32.230+12:00GS, Im taking the piss about building theoretical ...GS, Im taking the piss about building theoretical models to describe what is blindingly obvious, and the consequent diving for cover when the blindingly obvious fails to fit the model. You being a follower of Marx should understand that from the real lived Soviet experience. Nick Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12609312325425361413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-24592712255295998212021-06-24T16:57:09.038+12:002021-06-24T16:57:09.038+12:00As long as CRT remains a debatable theory and does...As long as CRT remains a debatable theory and does not develop into a vicious hate creative ideology with advocates like a Hitler or a Stalin, lively discussion on it might lead to enough exposure and acknowledgement of realities and truth to arrive at a rational and widespread consensus on human affairs eventually. <br /><br />In view that regardless of race, faith or scientific speculation, all humans and life on Earth are still subject to the laws of Nature as given through the unalterable (?!) laws of physics (and chemistry etc.) -<br /><br />and (if) we wish to maintain the much capital investment needing comforts and prosperity of an orderly civilization - <br /><br />then would not any debate on human affairs become more useful by focusing on how to achieve a poverty-less ownership society or "people's capitalism" in a most effective and fairest way by and for all ? Jens Mederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17304734497662325275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-9882031091298736832021-06-24T08:55:20.193+12:002021-06-24T08:55:20.193+12:00Tom. I read those long before you posted them. It&...Tom. I read those long before you posted them. It's a tired old argument, but there is always someone who was willing to help demonise CRT. There are millions of black people in the US and hundreds of thousands of black academics/thinkers. Finding three or four that criticises CRT shouldn't be such a difficult problem, and of course the knuckle draggers of the right will always stress these rather than the majority. These people seem to think that just because they have made it, then everyone else can. That's not even close to critical thinking. And it self shows a kindergarten level understanding of how society works. The overwhelming majority of black Americans who actually think about this know that there is systemic racism. See – explained – simple. Except you're too blind to see it.<br />Interesting though how you people need to demonise something that's basically only taught at postgraduate level at universities. Fairly esoteric sort of subject as well. But then I guess you need to believe that racism either doesn't exist or is simply the actions of individuals. Then you can absolve yourself of the problem.<br /><br />Nick, sorry – no idea what you are driving at here you seem to have caught the conservative commenter lack of clarity disease.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-54179477296516139412021-06-24T06:42:52.012+12:002021-06-24T06:42:52.012+12:00Barron says Let's not waste time focusing on s...Barron says <i>Let's not waste time focusing on straw men and give credence to a sound method of analysis.</i><br /><br />I dont give credence to CRT as a sound method of analysis, it looks to me a straw man in its own right. By focusing upon race it loses credence because it becomes unidimensional, all encompassing. This takes primacy over all, in much the same way the "invisible hand" does to market fundamentalists. <br /><br />In taking such dominion CRT represents the latest academic fad in going down conceptual rabbit holes whilst ignoring the real world evidence. What is not real cannot be made real, the Emperor does not wear new clothes. Nick Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12609312325425361413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-27685113086002607222021-06-24T06:23:08.717+12:002021-06-24T06:23:08.717+12:00GS, you are correct authoritarians live on both si...GS, you are correct authoritarians live on both sides of the divide, but to label it as conservatives seems rather lame.<br /><br />People who have will fight to retain. People who dont have will fight to gain.<br /><br />If you force through a dispossession of something from somebody positions are swapped. To do so you need authority (force), to retain it you need authority (force). Who then is the radical, who the conservative? Nick Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12609312325425361413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-27318030586376249882021-06-23T23:06:10.301+12:002021-06-23T23:06:10.301+12:00It doesn't say all white people are racist. So...<i> It doesn't say all white people are racist. Some individuals might say this,</i><br /><br />Chuckle. Guerilla Surgeon, like every pathetic Marxist of the 1930's and every pathetic Maoist of the 1970's, continues to plug the whole, <i>that's not what the theory means, people don't understand it"</i> line of bullshit.<br /><br />Here ya go GS.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m66rcHzWaPU" rel="nofollow">Black Dad with two medical degrees blasts Critical Race Theory</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4OHxUwigY" rel="nofollow">Black Dad and his very cute little daughter sticks it to Critical Race Theory</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvCLubdeeRM" rel="nofollow">Black mother sticks it to Critical Race Theory</a><br /><br /><a href="https://nominister.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/his-plea-on-systemic-racism-will-be-ignored/" rel="nofollow">Black university professor sticks it to CRT</a><br />In that last case I'll quote from what he wrote:<br /><br /><i>But if the mantra is that what we need to do to solve black America’s problems is “get rid of systemic racism,” we’re in trouble. That analysis, be it explicit or tacit, is based on a third-grader’s understanding of how a society works. More importantly, that analysis does not help black people and often hurts us.</i><br /><br />A third-grader's understanding of how a society works. Yep. That's right.<br /><br />I invite "The Barron", "Guerilla Surgeon" and any other White Left Bwana's here to discuss why these "People of Colour" have a misunderstanding of CRT and how it's being applied.<br />Tom Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17840988228699338463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-41909292088081575432021-06-23T16:15:29.881+12:002021-06-23T16:15:29.881+12:00"They come ashore in Tahiti, theres the local..."They come ashore in Tahiti, theres the locals, Tahitians with a deep cultural unity and language, dark skins. The only initial similarity with the Anglos is that they are human too. The differences starkly obvious."<br />Not quite sure what you're talking about here Nick, but you realise that cultural unity and language are both social constructs right? And skin colour is noticeable but in effect superficial. Genetics might in fact be more important, but over thousands of years, humans have "interacted" and at the very least the physical borders between races are fuzzy. Race is almost always imposed on people from the outside, and I suspect it is largely if not completely a social construct.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-16573416945346066822021-06-22T22:01:15.678+12:002021-06-22T22:01:15.678+12:00Ups to Geoff and GS. What my (appalling) socialist...Ups to Geoff and GS. What my (appalling) socialist G. grandfather would call workers for 'T'Cause'. CRT is the real threat -- nup. Geoff is Apanui and GS has the good best pakeha ideas of the old Welfare State. The People need to concentrate on the main positive thing (solidarnosc) rather than about where the facts have or should fall. sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-1028051424322227342021-06-22T13:23:01.763+12:002021-06-22T13:23:01.763+12:00I get a bit antse when the term social construct i...I get a bit antse when the term social construct is used. Heres Wikis definition <i> A social construct is something that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists.</i><br /><br />So heres my ancestor floating around three centuries ago on a British ship with a uniquely Anglo crew, all white, same language, deep cultural uniformity.<br /><br />They come ashore in Tahiti, theres the locals, Tahitians with a deep cultural unity and language, dark skins. The only initial similarity with the Anglos is that they are human too. The differences starkly obvious. <br /><br />Do you think either party said, "Lets have some social interaction so that we can agree we are different social constructions? "<br />That would be to suspend the empirical evidence in front of their eyes, neither party was stupid and both knew who they were.<br /><br />Lets for the benefit of academics and social constructivists go forward a century or two where both Tahitians and Anglos are intimately informed of each other. Those Tahitians say to themselves, "We have known each other for a while, can we agree that our interactions with them allow us to suspend the objective reality of them being Anglo with all that comes with that, and bundle them up into a social construct based upon our interaction with them?"<br /><br />"To hell with that", cries one, "We know who and what they are. I don't need to agree anything!" Nick Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12609312325425361413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-89010256435192298392021-06-22T10:23:58.163+12:002021-06-22T10:23:58.163+12:00I might have guessed, another tired litany of peop...I might have guessed, another tired litany of people who don't actually understand what critical race theory is about . It doesn't in fact say anything about individuals, so it can't scapegoat the left's traditional working class. It doesn't say all white people are racist. Some individuals might say this, just as some conservatives might say that nonwhite people are less intelligent than white people or have a "capacity for mindless violence". I must say though I admire the conservative facility for seizing on a word or a theory and then demonising it. Unfortunately helped by you Chris. <br />Interesting, because– If we are going to be quoting research – James Kimmel has produced some that suggests that the authoritarian right have become addicted to anger. And of course there is Altemeyer's research on right wing authoritarianism which shows that "Right-wing authoritarians want society and social interactions structured in ways that increase uniformity and minimize diversity. In order to achieve that, they tend to be in favour of social control, coercion and the use of group authority to place constraints on the behaviours of people such as political dissidents and immigrants." There is of course Sinclair, Stanley and Seli, who postulate that conservative authoritarian figures don't actually learn from mistakes. That one rather resonates with me. There is also the classic right-wing authoritarian that suggests that right-wing adherents are characterized by psychological problems, such as deeply rooted anxieties and fundamental unhappiness. (Although to be fair that has been challenged.) And finally Suziedelis and Lorr, who conclude that " conservative attitudes and authoritarian values were essentially identical constructs."<br /><br />And it's not surprising given the amount of manufactured outrage we see on TV stations like Fox.<br />Perhaps eventually some of the commenters here will realise that there are authoritarians on both sides of the divide, and maybe just consider that they might be the conservative ones.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-14146650238715621162021-06-21T22:13:18.148+12:002021-06-21T22:13:18.148+12:00Hi David George and All.
Regardless of race, faith...Hi David George and All.<br />Regardless of race, faith and culture, the great and unchanging universal truth is, that wealth creation for poverty elimination and security reserves is physically impossible without savings or sacrifices at the expense of hand-to-mouth consumption potential<br /><br />Since Govt. Monopoly Capitalism (i.e. social/govt ownership of all the means of production) is too totalitarian and has not delivered very satisfactorily so far, and (excessively?) liberal, mixed capitalism is intensifying our socio-economic polarization into haves and have-nots -<br /><br />would not all serious racial and cultural inequalities and differences very effectively be overcome through a systematic effort towards at least a minimally meaningful level (or more) of wealth ownership by all citizens eventually ?<br /><br />And with everyone participating in creating and managing some wealth in addition to the educational wealth already owned by all in all civilized countries - would that not be also a more effective democracy, than one based only on a vote and no economic power or wealth ownership by many ?<br /><br />Jens Mederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17304734497662325275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-9573835110282897982021-06-21T19:50:58.000+12:002021-06-21T19:50:58.000+12:00"A scientist would quietly explain to the adh..."A scientist would quietly explain to the adherents of CRT that the whole concept of race – especially when conflated with skin colour – is deeply flawed." Well, a scientist might say that. I wouldn't know.<br />The modern European belief is that there are no absolutes. Everything is relative. Objectively, there is no such thing as race, class, gender or right and wrong. All the edges are blurry. Differences between things, and thus the identity of things, are only real to the extent that they are subjectively determined by the individual concerned. Because there are no absolute distinctions, generalisations are at best suspect.<br />I get that while in my view the distinction between species is pretty close to absolute (if you can mate with another being and produce fully functional offspring from that union then you are of the same species) some "evolutionists" might dispute this. <br />I get that while we can see differences in appearance between the various broad racial categories (skin colour, facial features and so on) and also in performance (Ethiopians tend to do well in distance running, Tibetans work well at high altitudes, Inuits tolerate extreme cold, Finns seem to make good rally drivers) the distinction between races is blurry and becoming more blurred in the modern era as races mingle and intermarry.<br />I get that if for some reason we need to know a person's race with some degree of confidence, then we have to ask them.<br />I get that we can normally identify a new born infant as "boy" or "girl" there are exceptions.<br />I also get that while there is a difference between worker and capitalist, most workers these days have invested capital and most employers of labour do some kind of work.<br />There are always exceptions. There are always blurred edges and indeterminate cases. But there are also sensible categorizations and reasonable generalisations about race, gender and class.<br />I do not choose to deal with difference by denying its existence or eschewing the benefits that can come from careful categorization and prudent evidence-based generalisation.<br />There are species, races, classes and genders and absolutes remain useful to us in every realm of human thought from mathematics to morality.<br />My attitude to them all is "whakaaro pai ki nga tangata katoa". In spiritual terms "Kahore he Hurai, kahore he Kariki, kahore he pononga, kahore he rangatira, kahore he tane, wahine ranei" which is not to deny the objective existence of race, class and gender, but to affirm that we rate all as equal in the sight of God.<br />Capitalist production seeks to commodify all its inputs and outputs. Part of that is the commodification of labour, and part of the commodification of labour is, ideally, the disappearance of distinctions of race. So to the capitalist also "Kahore he Hurai, kahore he Kariki" but for a different reason. To the believer, we are all one in God. To the capitalist we must be all one in the process of capitalist production and consumption. <br />However there is a catch. While every capitalist produces commodities, every capitalist desires to consume unique products. The handmade suit, architect designed mansion, original art works, private yacht, cordon bleu meals from the kitchen of a celebrity chef. The same contradiction is evident with respect to race. In the sphere of capitalist production it is decreed there shall be no such thing as race, but in the sphere of capitalist consumption the cry is for cultural diversity, world music, ethnic eateries and ethnic experiences across the globe. Ethnic and gender distinctions shall be suppressed in the interests of production and marketing and resurrected in the process of consumption. It is an irreconcilable contradiction.<br /> <br />Geoff Fischerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00509885628971898371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-72387586899668658292021-06-21T16:26:15.332+12:002021-06-21T16:26:15.332+12:00swordfish
...(although I'd say this ritualised...swordfish<br />...(although I'd say this ritualised public self-critique by White Allies almost certainly involves a self-interested element of Performative Narcissism & Prestige Enhancement as well)....<br /><br />Somehow 'virtue-signalling' comes to mind about these sensitive New-er Age woke activists. They arise sharply from formerly relaxed positions in the group, and reaching twice their full height tower over any recalcitrant bumble-footed person saying the 'wrong' and hurtful thing. greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-23686057539994577622021-06-21T16:11:29.396+12:002021-06-21T16:11:29.396+12:00Oh, and the kids are well aware of this crap too, ...Oh, and the kids are well aware of this crap too, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YWuD9RwJD4" rel="nofollow">like this recent speech by a 15 year old</a> at the district school board meeting for Rosemount High School (Rosemount is a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota). He explained in detail the racist indoctrination that was expressly designed to make a white boy like him feel like a piece of trash so that he would do whatever TPTB in the school wanted him to do.<br /><br />Or you can read <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YWuD9RwJD4" rel="nofollow">this letter</a> written by a high school student to his English teacher Dana Stangel-Plowe, who resigned earlier this month from Dwight-Englewood School in protest at the introduction of Critical Race Theory. The letter was released by John McWhorter, a Black professor of linguistics at Columbia university.<br /><i>Namely, my eighth grade English teacher taught us for the first two weeks about pretty much how awful white men are. For two weeks, I did not speak a single word in her class. My fellow white male classmates left the classroom every time feeling the same way. For lack of a better word, those teachings made me feel like horse shit, like worthless scum undeserving of living.</i><br />Tom Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17840988228699338463noreply@blogger.com