Mind Maverick
ENTP 8w7 845 Sp/Sx
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Messages
- 4,770
Great...yet one more reason I'm glad I'm going to Europe once enough is saved up.Nationalism.
Great...yet one more reason I'm glad I'm going to Europe once enough is saved up.Nationalism.
It all depends on what you consider your baseline. Is white treatment standard, and blacks are disadvantaged, or is black treatment standard, and whites are privileged? It is the disparity that is important. The rest is semantics.I would honestly argue that this is relative to where exactly you are in society. As you well know, I've consistently held the belief that it is a two-way street and many black people are very racist as well. I know you believe in addressing one at a time being the best approach. I respect that, and perhaps you may be right, but I open-mindedly disagree, I guess you could say, for a number of reasons. Anyway, as for the quoted statement, thanks for the clarification. The angle I was coming from was simply that 'privileged' implies there's some sort of above-standard level benefit when there's not, it's just simply a normal, standard, basic human rights level of treatment. I've never disagreed with the fact that white people will, for the most part, have it easier in otherwise equal circumstances. I disagree with using the term that means "a special advantage, immunity, or right possessed by an individual or group" to describe something everyone should have. Standard isn't special, standard isn't advantaged - it's just simply how things ought to be for everyone. Most people are comparing two things: treatment of white people VS treatment of black people. In comparison to black people, yes, white people can seem privileged - but in comparison to how people should be treated, white people are not privileged. Everything is relative to comparisons. Make sense?
Trump signs order to push ‘patriotic education’ on eve of election
What does he mean by "patriotic education" even? As someone who thinks US is too US-centric and needs to be educated in a more global way, I don't like the sounds of it.
Somehow that doesn't surprise me, especially about Russia.I don't know about this order, but in Turkey, Russia, Hungary and Poland (and likely many other countries) the governments all passed laws and regulations forcing schools to teach a whitewashed, more flatterring version of history that glosses over the bad parts and glorifies the good ones. Controlling history books and what children are taught at school to boister patriotism and suffocate criticism is a popular move with certain forms of government.
In Poland they even made it illegal to say that they cooperated with the nazis. In Turkey you can get thrown in jail for saying bad things about the country or its history, even about sultans that have been dead for centuries. One company even got into legal trouble for saying their tea is better than the national drink ayran.
I think you're on the right track with this line of thinking but here is my philosophy on that. Being colorblind is the same as saying you treat everyone like white people.
My race isn't the problem. Yes, it's a social construct, it has no biological pros or cons. But just because it's a social construct, that doesn't make it not real. My race is a part of who I am, it's my culture. We are different. We have different experiences and different backgrounds and our race has a lot to do with it. Ignoring that would be would be ignoring who we are. The problem isn't my race, but how people treat my race.
This is why I advocate for 'safe spaces' or minority only communities. The US has a keen goal to homogenize everything and everyone and that requires dialing back the best parts of my culture so that it's consumable for a wider audience. I don't want that. Individuality is very, very important and if what makes me me has to be closer to what makes you you, then it doesn't make anyone anyone.
This would then transition into a conversation about cultural appropriation and how it can be both a good and bad thing, but that's another rant for another day, lol.
Reminds me of when the socialists in the eastern block were bricking pregnant women of capitalist empathizers, ripping out their fetus and hanging it outside the village. They were given weapons by the Russians during the Cold War and decimating families of capitalists all the way down from Russia, across the Mediterranean in Greece and Italy.I don't know about this order, but in Turkey, Russia, Hungary and Poland (and likely many other countries) the governments all passed laws and regulations forcing schools to teach a whitewashed, more flatterring version of history that glosses over the bad parts and glorifies the good ones. Controlling history books and what children are taught at school to boister patriotism and suffocate criticism is a popular move with certain forms of government. In Poland they even made it illegal to say that they cooperated with the nazis. In Turkey you can get thrown in jail for saying bad things about the country or its history, even about sultans that have been dead for centuries. One company even got into legal trouble for saying their tea is better than the national drink ayran.
Reminds me of when the socialists in the eastern block were bricking pregnant women of capitalist empathizers, ripping out their fetus and hanging it outside the village. They were given weapons by the Russians during the Cold War and decimating families of capitalists all the way down from Russia, across the Mediterranean in Greece and Italy.
It's not about the baseline, there is no true baseline, that's just a comparison thing like you said. It's about what should be standard, like I said, which is just what is 'healthy,' which is identified by things like science, history, psychology/sociology (such as what results in negative or positive impact, trauma, etc.), economics, and other evidence-based things such as these. No, it's not semantics. It's the US using words in stupid ways, once again, because "white privilege" doesn't match the actual definition of "privilege." This was my entire point when I wrote my initial post, and this is what threw me off about the term "white privilege."It all depends on what you consider your baseline. Is white treatment standard, and blacks are disadvantaged, or is black treatment standard, and whites are privileged? It is the disparity that is important. The rest is semantics.
The USA is so far from my own beliefs and views on a widespread level, like it's not just a matter of changing the American system for me. American society itself doesn't align with my own beliefs/views/things I support, and that's one reason I despise discussing American politics in particular, except maybe 1 on 1, among close friends who won't treat me like shit if they disagree. There is nothing I can do such as voting people out or in that would change anything for me, as society itself is pushing in directions I don't support when it actually does start to impact the messed up systems in place. There is 0 hope of me seeing the changes I want to see, but there are other countries who are already more synchronized with my views/beliefs, particularly some in Europe. In the USA if I even were to voice some of my views I'd be ganged up on in that typical "we're going to socially reform you, make you get on board with us" way that I'd never get on board with because I'm not a sheeple - when I change my mind it's because logical reasoning has led me to genuinely believe the alternative is better or more accurate, not because whatever I think isn't socially acceptable to think. Meanwhile, in Europe, many people are already supporting what I'm saying and have been for a while. Many people there see what I see, but not so much in the US. There is only a very small minority here.
My parents went to vote in Harris County, Texas, on Friday, and there was some armed civilian patrol group with rifles and Confederate flags just hanging out. Nothing happened thankfully, but it very well could have. Ashamed it happened in my city, too. Scary situation. This is why I'm nervous despite the polls being up 9 points in Biden's favor. Attacks on mail-in ballots, attempts to throw out or invalidate legitimate votes, attempts to (often successfully) close polling sites in minority and likely Democratic-leaning areas. I remain cautiously optimistic because of youth and early voting records being smashed across many states, but we shall see.
May these efforts at voter intimidation and suppression be in vain.
Have you considered a move to a different state that matches your values more closely? I was considering a move to Vermont or new Hampshire myself. Kind of hippy dippy, libertarian lefties, but less crazy and lower cost of living than California. Pacific NW also appeals to me, maybe Washington on Oregon. Vancouver sounds cool but I don't think Canada would have me.
Nah. The US in general doesn't align. The system is broken in ways the people won't push to change it. I'm just flat out moving to Europe as soon as I get my ducks in a row. I've already been researching, planning, etc. it's only a matter of refining the plans more and then saving enough to go.Have you considered a move to a different state that matches your values more closely? I was considering a move to Vermont or new Hampshire myself. Kind of hippy dippy, libertarian lefties, but less crazy and lower cost of living than California. Pacific NW also appeals to me, maybe Washington on Oregon. Vancouver sounds cool but I don't think Canada would have me.
That's just part of the way the system is broken. US politics come down to money, that's it. That's part of why the changes I want to see won't be implemented. Money, scams, and exploitation.I'd be in the Pacific North West as we speak fire and all...if I could afford to live there...
Nah. The US in general doesn't align. The system is broken in ways the people won't push to change it. I'm just flat out moving to Europe as soon as I get my ducks in a row. I've already been researching, planning, etc. it's only a matter of refining the plans more and then saving enough to go.