Topic: A level playing field
no photo
Tue 09/06/16 08:53 AM
Edited by Unknow on Tue 09/06/16 08:57 AM
I'm constantly seeing comments made about Blacks seeking "handouts" and being too lazy to work for what they want. In my opinion, it's nobler to ask than just take. Were they not the ones who worked the cotton fields and numerous plantations from dusk til dawn? Attention is brought and commented on with derision when Black Folks make a stance against these injustices. Scorn is poured on them for merely having "had enough". Since being granted their "freedoom" any attempts by them to organise and create a stable and more equitable life to that of their White counterparts has been quashed but many choose not to concede this fact. Overseers, Apartied, the eradication The Black Power Movement.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

A speech made by a man who himself owned slaves????

With that quote in mind and what I've already made reference to. How does one justify this?

http://www.ebony.com/black-history/the-destruction-of-black-wall-street-405#axzz4JU6gi1ee



msharmony's photo
Tue 09/06/16 05:21 PM
Edited by msharmony on Tue 09/06/16 05:23 PM
My experience is that we are a country where capitalism is worshipped over all else

those who are of a class to pay taxes ('taxpayers') matter, those who need taxpayer money to survive owe their survival to taxpayers and live how taxpayers dictate they should


two mothers can do the exact amount of work, cleaning laundry, doing dishes, cleaning house, running errands, tutoring children, doing hair, cooking meals

but the one receiving funds from a husband for sustenance, is a wonderful mother

the one receiving anyone elses funds is 'lazy' and getting a 'handout'


one woman can go sit on her behind all day in air conditioned office answering phones but earning income

another can be home all day doing all the previously mentioned 'mother' jobs and therefore not earning income

they are not seen equally, they are not treated equally,

its just the culture where your human value is equal to your taxpayer status,,,,



I believe this is one of those things that keep a divide for the haves to worrk hard remaining the haves with disregard to the have nots who are so obviously just not working hard enough or are plain out inferior in character and lazy


and for the have nots to continue resenting the haves for this stereotype they feel placed upon them every day

the only way this ties to race, really, is that blacks have unfortunately been delegated to status of have nots for so much of american history,, and many see civil rights era as some magical wand that just wiped away inequality

so everyone assumes and demands to remain 'equal', and anything to reverse the historical disadvantage, is seen as unfair 'reverse discrimination'


hardly anyone justifies slavery, or jim crow, or the other atrocities upon minorities, most just ignorantly believe that there are no lingering affects that need to be addressed anymore,,,


its easier to believe its simply the character of the individuals, than concede that it could have anything to do with the history of the country

Lpdon's photo
Tue 09/06/16 05:26 PM

I'm constantly seeing comments made about Blacks seeking "handouts" and being too lazy to work for what they want. In my opinion, it's nobler to ask than just take. Were they not the ones who worked the cotton fields and numerous plantations from dusk til dawn? Attention is brought and commented on with derision when Black Folks make a stance against these injustices. Scorn is poured on them for merely having "had enough". Since being granted their "freedoom" any attempts by them to organise and create a stable and more equitable life to that of their White counterparts has been quashed but many choose not to concede this fact. Overseers, Apartied, the eradication The Black Power Movement.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

A speech made by a man who himself owned slaves????

With that quote in mind and what I've already made reference to. How does one justify this?

http://www.ebony.com/black-history/the-destruction-of-black-wall-street-405#axzz4JU6gi1ee





whoa

IgorFrankensteen's photo
Tue 09/06/16 06:16 PM
I have observed that the greatest impediment to even begin to solve problems in this area, has been the insistence on the majority of the loudest voices, that we address the problem WHOLESALE ONLY.

That is, both critics and defenders of a given group, stubbornly ignore the tremendous and subtle complexity of the problems surrounding such an issue, and then feign surprise and dismay when their call for all-or-nothing responses and results, leads only to equal and opposite resistance from everyone else.

At least part of this behavior, I attribute to the way that the story of the evolution of things like race relations has been told to everyone. There has been a great emphasis, I think erroneous emphasis, on the role of RIGHTEOUS POSTURING AND DECLARATIONS. The famous quote the OP mentions from the Declaration of Independence is a classic example of this. Lots of people have solemnly repeated the stirring words, either to praise their ideals, or to claim a uniquely American ascendancy because of them, or as here, to point out the irony that they were written by someone who clearly led a rather contradictory life.

The very modern concerns that the OP introduces his post with, are NOT directly related to the historic ones that he juxtaposes with them. The motivations of the people involved are very different, and that is why an attempt to use the historic words and concepts to fight them, isn't effective.

Among the things which have to be recognized, in order to make functional progress on issues related to this, is that there are a LOT of people involved with the arguments here who are USING racism as a sort of "front" concern, in order to hide or disguise their real motivations and goals. At the same time, opponents are pretending to buy into the false racism argument, again because they have other concerns entirely, but also think that if they pretend that their real concern is racism, that more people will listen and take them seriously.

We have politicians who are actively, though VERY indirectly ENCOURAGING the idea that racism is the immediate problem, because they want to gain power for themselves, in order to make changes to government which have nothing at all to do with how everyone relates to one another.

But as long as both sides conspire to make sure that the argument remains focused so narrowly on the most angering worries, the deceptions will continue to be ignored, and no progress will be made.

Just my opinion, based on observation and historical, philosophical, and psychological studies.

msharmony's photo
Tue 09/06/16 06:20 PM
Edited by msharmony on Tue 09/06/16 06:23 PM
we have many attributes, positive and negative, in America

problems are always 'immediate' for those they impact

but there are so many in america, that only some are covered at any given time,.,

I agree that solutions are like weight loss,, you cant fix overnight what took a lifetime or a national history to develop

no photo
Tue 09/06/16 10:51 PM
comments made about Blacks seeking "handouts"
In my opinion, it's nobler to ask than just take

"Handouts" generally refer to government subsidy through social programs.

Government gets its money via taxes.
Taxes and tax laws are ultimately a gun to the head of citizens.
"If you don't pay up, bad things will happen to you. But don't worry, by paying your fair share you don't have to pay attention to the military looking guys in the back room!"

You seem to be saying something akin to "It's more noble to ask the cop to extort the butcher than slaughter a cow yourself."

I mean:
two mothers can do the exact amount of work, cleaning laundry, doing dishes, cleaning house, running errands, tutoring children, doing hair, cooking meals

but the one receiving funds from a husband for sustenance, is a wonderful mother

the one receiving anyone elses funds is 'lazy' and getting a 'handout'

"Do the exact (same?) amount of work?"
So the (stay at home?) mother with the husband isn't doing any work on her relationship with her husband? No work supporting familial bonds? And the husband isn't voluntarily giving money for its own offspring, as part of a complete family?

Single mothers and housewives do nowhere near the "exact amount of work."
There's a huge difference between getting money from the government and money from a husband.

"two women can do the exact same amount of work during sex, the woman whose pimp busts in and robs the john is a prostitute, but the woman whose husband pays the bills is a good wife! Double standard!"


Inherent in the husband vs. government handout, or nobility of asking for government handout ("Were they not the ones who worked the cotton fields"), ideas is a sense of entitlement.
Of simply accepting government is entitled to the money it gives away, and the people ruled by government are entitled to a piece of government money.

With that quote in mind and what I've already made reference to. How does one justify this?

One doesn't have to justify it unless one is responsible for it and put on trial.
At most one should learn something from it.
Maybe one should condemn it and try to avoid repeating it.
At best one should try to explain it.


msharmony's photo
Tue 09/06/16 11:23 PM
exact same amount of work is pretty self explanatory

the analogy applied to them doing the same amount of 'work'(physical exertion)


women get child support that can support their family in divorces, women have husbands who are never home, women have all types of situations where they dont physically exert themselves to 'maintain' their husbands relationship

Im speaking only of what the woman is physically doing

whether the finances come voluntarily or not has nothing to do with valuing their 'work'

no photo
Wed 09/07/16 01:01 AM

I have observed that the greatest impediment to even begin to solve problems in this area, has been the insistence on the majority of the loudest voices, that we address the problem WHOLESALE ONLY.

That is, both critics and defenders of a given group, stubbornly ignore the tremendous and subtle complexity of the problems surrounding such an issue, and then feign surprise and dismay when their call for all-or-nothing responses and results, leads only to equal and opposite resistance from everyone else.

At least part of this behavior, I attribute to the way that the story of the evolution of things like race relations has been told to everyone. There has been a great emphasis, I think erroneous emphasis, on the role of RIGHTEOUS POSTURING AND DECLARATIONS. The famous quote the OP mentions from the Declaration of Independence is a classic example of this. Lots of people have solemnly repeated the stirring words, either to praise their ideals, or to claim a uniquely American ascendancy because of them, or as here, to point out the irony that they were written by someone who clearly led a rather contradictory life.

The very modern concerns that the OP introduces his post with, are NOT directly related to the historic ones that he juxtaposes with them. The motivations of the people involved are very different, and that is why an attempt to use the historic words and concepts to fight them, isn't effective.

Among the things which have to be recognized, in order to make functional progress on issues related to this, is that there are a LOT of people involved with the arguments here who are USING racism as a sort of "front" concern, in order to hide or disguise their real motivations and goals. At the same time, opponents are pretending to buy into the false racism argument, again because they have other concerns entirely, but also think that if they pretend that their real concern is racism, that more people will listen and take them seriously.

We have politicians who are actively, though VERY indirectly ENCOURAGING the idea that racism is the immediate problem, because they want to gain power for themselves, in order to make changes to government which have nothing at all to do with how everyone relates to one another.

But as long as both sides conspire to make sure that the argument remains focused so narrowly on the most angering worries, the deceptions will continue to be ignored, and no progress will be made.

Just my opinion, based on observation and historical, philosophical, and psychological studies.


False racism?

rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl

no photo
Wed 09/07/16 01:29 AM
Edited by Unknow on Wed 09/07/16 01:37 AM
The very modern concerns that the OP introduces his post with, are NOT directly related to the historic ones that he juxtaposes with them. The motivations of the people involved are very different, and that is why an attempt to use the historic words and concepts to fight them, isn't effective.

OK. Let's bring things up to date.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401990/25-African-Americans-thrown-South-Carolina-restaurant-white-woman-complained-feeling-threatened.html

As for my choosing to quote Jefferson, I could have chosen others, it was multiple choice. Henry Berry addressing The Virginia House of Representative, Abraham Lincoln, I could go on.

Dodo_David's photo
Wed 09/07/16 04:29 AM
the eradication The Black Power Movement.


Oh, look. A straw-man has shown up again.

IgorFrankensteen's photo
Wed 09/07/16 04:43 AM


I have observed that the greatest impediment to even begin to solve problems in this area, has been the insistence on the majority of the loudest voices, that we address the problem WHOLESALE ONLY.

That is, both critics and defenders of a given group, stubbornly ignore the tremendous and subtle complexity of the problems surrounding such an issue, and then feign surprise and dismay when their call for all-or-nothing responses and results, leads only to equal and opposite resistance from everyone else.

At least part of this behavior, I attribute to the way that the story of the evolution of things like race relations has been told to everyone. There has been a great emphasis, I think erroneous emphasis, on the role of RIGHTEOUS POSTURING AND DECLARATIONS. The famous quote the OP mentions from the Declaration of Independence is a classic example of this. Lots of people have solemnly repeated the stirring words, either to praise their ideals, or to claim a uniquely American ascendancy because of them, or as here, to point out the irony that they were written by someone who clearly led a rather contradictory life.

The very modern concerns that the OP introduces his post with, are NOT directly related to the historic ones that he juxtaposes with them. The motivations of the people involved are very different, and that is why an attempt to use the historic words and concepts to fight them, isn't effective.

Among the things which have to be recognized, in order to make functional progress on issues related to this, is that there are a LOT of people involved with the arguments here who are USING racism as a sort of "front" concern, in order to hide or disguise their real motivations and goals. At the same time, opponents are pretending to buy into the false racism argument, again because they have other concerns entirely, but also think that if they pretend that their real concern is racism, that more people will listen and take them seriously.

We have politicians who are actively, though VERY indirectly ENCOURAGING the idea that racism is the immediate problem, because they want to gain power for themselves, in order to make changes to government which have nothing at all to do with how everyone relates to one another.

But as long as both sides conspire to make sure that the argument remains focused so narrowly on the most angering worries, the deceptions will continue to be ignored, and no progress will be made.

Just my opinion, based on observation and historical, philosophical, and psychological studies.


False racism?

rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl


Nope, you didn't get what I was trying to get across at all.

no photo
Fri 09/09/16 04:55 PM
Sorry if I've not gotten the message. Would you care to be more concise?