Random Politics Thread

[Doctor Cringelord]

We need to abolish race - spiked

Abolishing race doesn’t mean that we should ignore racism, however. It simply means that we should consistently argue against instilling race with meaning – positive or negative.

 

[Kephalos]

We need to abolish race - spiked

I can't agree with that statement. Abolishing race would mean that "race" however defined have no meaning for the opportunity to obtain the benefits or shouldering the burdens of living in society. Nothing to do with a positive or negative evaluation.

 

[Red Herring]

We need to abolish race - spiked

This pretty much sums up my long-held position on the matter.

Abolishing race doesn’t mean that we should ignore racism, however. It simply means that we should consistently argue against instilling race with meaning – positive or negative.

It is a - harmful - social construct. You can't ignore it while it still causes so much damage (which is why "color-blindness" right now is pure priviledge), but the long time goal should be to do away with it completely.

 

[ceecee]

 

[Lark]

This pretty much sums up my long-held position on the matter.



It is a - harmful - social construct. You can't ignore it while it still causes so much damage (which is why "color-blindness" right now is pure priviledge), but the long time goal should be to do away with it completely.

Well ethno-nationalism and racism suck, although you could believe that and it wont save you from actual ethno-nationalists or racists who could give a shit what you think.

It just doesnt make sense to respond to something foul by adopting just another variety of foulness.

I'm a fan of impartiality or universalism rather than racism. Any sort of groupthink stops you getting a proper measure of things.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I’m totally in favor of cultural appreciation and to some extent cultural pride, but too often people confuse the idea of culture with that of race. And I don’t advocate any sort of cultural superiority. IDIC

 

[ceecee]

More please...

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania workers vote to unionize | News | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper

 

[ceecee]

This is Piotr Patkowski, Poland’s deputy finance minister.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

This is Piotr Patkowski, Poland’s deputy finance minister.

He looks 12 but he's 29. I can't find much about his politics but judging by what I've found about the party he seems to belong, they are probably pretty garbage. I'm sure [MENTION=4347]Virtual ghost[/MENTION] could tell me more.

 

[Red Herring]

There are regional elections in two federal states here in Germany today (elections of any kind are always on sunday to make voting easier for people). Here are a few tidbits that might be weird or interesting to Americans:

Voter participation has been going down in both states, from about 70% to about 64%. About two thirds of all votes are mail-in votes.

In Rheinland-Pfalz the SPD (center-left) will probably keep governing as leader of a coalition with its governor Malu Dreyer, who has an approval rating of 80%.
In Baden-Württemberg, the Greens will likely keep governing with the center-right as junior partner. The Greens here are relatively conservative and work surprisingly well with the center-right. The far right apparently got 11.5%, more than their current rating in most other Western states but only half of what they usually get in the East.

Angela Merkel, about to leave office after 16 years as chancelor, has an approval rating of 64%.

And no, a high aporoval rating does not mean that people will vote for a popular politician's party. It means that people differenciate between the person and the party. For example, I never voted CDU and don't intend to ever do that but there are several CDU politicians I openly recognize as competent and of integrity.

Basically, almost every party can work across the aisle with almost every other party. A notable exception to this is the far-right which keeps drifting away from social mainstream and often flirts with conspiracy theorists and science denial (over here only the far-right questions corona or climate change, not the center-right or any of the other parties)

 

[Virtual ghost]

Voter participation has been going down in both states, from about 70% to about 64%. About two thirds of all votes are mail-in votes.

How do you know this ? I mean the polls are closed this early ? (or this aren't the final numbers)

 

[Red Herring]

How do you know this ? I mean the polls are closed this early ? (or this aren't the final numbers)

First numbers came in 52 minutes ago

 

[Lark]

I actually wonder if the deep versus pale green debates are more significant than I've previously thought.

I also wonder if the deep green movement's "eco-brutalism" or "eco-fascism" were in fact that movement becoming a vassel or vehicle for some other older thinking.

 

[Jaguar]

Magazine’s cartoon of Queen Elizabeth kneeling on Meghan Markle’s neck sparks outrage – Daily News

I'll bet it did.

 

[Lark]

Magazine’s cartoon of Queen Elizabeth kneeling on Meghan Markle’s neck sparks outrage – Daily News

I'll bet it did.

I am not surprised as that is a shite drawing, if people are going to try and make a point with drawings they ought to be at least good at it. That hardly qualifies even as a cartoon.

 

[Jaguar]

“Charlie Hebdo is a racist rag and has been for a very long time,” wrote Aurelien Mondon, a researcher on the far right at the University of Bath.

Where's our French fellas? EcK and Blackmail.

 

[ceecee]

Nursing home deaths spike after private equity acquisitions, study finds - Vox

Private equity acquisitions of nursing homes is a pressing topic: Total private equity investment in nursing homes exploded, going from $5 billion in 2000 to more than $100 billion in 2018. Many nursing homes have long been run on a for-profit basis. But private equity firms, which generally take on debt to buy a company and then put that debt on the newly acquired company’s books, have purchased a mix of large chains and independent facilities — making it easier to isolate the specific effect of private equity acquisitions, rather than just a profit motive, on patient welfare.

Researchers from Penn, NYU, and the University of Chicago studied Medicare data that covers more than 18,000 nursing home facilities, about 1,700 of which were bought by private equity from 2000 to 2017.

While nursing home deaths suddenly matter to the right when COVID policy and Democrats are in play, this study was well before. They didn't care then, they won't care post COVID and until for-profit health care is obliterated, it will continue.

 

[Jaguar]

He's racist.
She's racist.
They're racist.
It's racist.


My CD collection is racist.
My coffee is racist.
My lawn is racist.
My landscaper is racist.

The whole world is racist.

 

[Jaguar]

And stop shooting Aslans down there in Atlanta, you crazy bastard. Are you done for the evening?

 

[Coriolis]

The whole world is racist.

To some degree, we probably are. We all grow up steeped in the prejudices that surround us, which vary in scope and degree based on culture and circumstances. The best we can do is to try to be aware of how this colors our impressions of people, and be ready to override it with the reality of who that person is as we see them in action and get to know them.