I definitely think the key idea/message to take away from that (in terms of hope for the future) is that while all the racists, bigots, misogynists, etc. voted for Trump, a significant portion of the 60,261,913 voters were not racists, bigots, misogynists, etc. There is no reason to adjust the social or cultural aspect of the Democrat party to pull these voters back, only the attitude and actions towards corporations, trade, and the middle class. Something that can be referred to as moving back to the left and away from the center.
If the Democratic party attempts to sway back these voters by adjusting their social and cultural ideologies, whether or not they move back to the left fiscally or stay where they are, it will no longer be the party for me.
Oh, I agree. I remember when I first read it, it seemed plausible but I was optimistic for the best. Looking back it was pretty much exactly what happened to the letter.
True, but I think it’s a crucial distinction that this is also true in the Americas, as well as in the West. Conflating the two is a sneaky imperialist tactic which flies under the radar of many.
Sure, but many proposed “solutions” to classism seem to reenforce the more basic problem of the motivations behind having and furthering a classist society in the first place. By classifying people according to capital, we would be making capital a part of personal and cultural identity. In a culture where capital itself is a rigged game, this gives those some elites undeserved influence over people’s lives and cultural narratives.
Much of the ostensible purpose of the industrial revolution was to make work more efficient and reduce the need for toil. 150 years later, there is a society with people fighting for the privilege of busy-work which buys into the system of their disenfranchisement, rather than using this time to do the more important work of creating culture itself. The so-called “working class” should be serving and paying among themselves, with their own measure of capital, rather than clamoring to be exploited by the system of the so-called elites - who function as parasites while creating negligible real wealth. Nobody who is put into power over other people will fix it, because the paradigm of power over people instead of power of the people is the underlying problem.
“The West” has traditionally referred to Western Europe. That’s why I was saying that claiming that the Americas are a European culture is an imperialist notion. I too have encountered quite a few who include the US and/or other parts of the Americas as part of the classical West - but it is contentious to some, who see the Americas as having their own distinct cultures and traditions.
ive always seen our foreign policy as an economic ( and sometimes security ) issue.
to me it seems we undermine africa, and the middle east, and venezuela because it’s the best way to extract resources, and to enrich powerful people. we’re nominally friendly with a place like turkey - despite their government - because they’re a throughway, not resource rich.
where folks like those in the bush administration can use racism to further their agenda, they do. but their goal isn’t white supremacy.
im saying this poorly, but it feels to me like our foreign policy is based on short term interests, and while racism bends those interests, the policies arent primarily about race. ( and this differs from trump, imo. )
that’s just my take. im still to process a lot from close friends who see no difference between trump and clinton, because they feel both are racist, one’s just more explicit about it than the other.
It’s a valid point, but…the agenda that they’re furthering is “let’s loot every country we can, which just coincidentally all happen to be full of non-white people”.
That coincidence isn’t coincidental; it took centuries of work to create that situation. Imperialism and racism have a very tangled history.
I can see where you’re coming from, but I’m going to say that while there is not an overt white supremacy, I do think that outcome matters. Impoverishing the largely non-white world is an effect of short-term, economic thinking which leads to a sort of white supremacy, even if that’s not the explicit goal.[quote=“Wanderfound, post:1059, topic:89005”]
Imperialism and racism have a very tangled history.
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Race is a social construct. We do well to remember that. Hence it’s slippery and how it is defined in the hands of the people with the most political and economic power.
Has that been getting much coverage in the states? I know it’s a grab bag of shit regarding herr drumpf’s policies at the moment but at the other end of that policy i see journalists, writers, artists, film makers… When you have the apparatus of a surveillance state at your disposal then anyone is a potential enemy.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
This has been covered, what hasn’t been covered is we know President Trump will expand the number of illegal immigrants by undoing immigration reform and EOs and then target them too.
I was just about to edit my post to link to your version of ‘first they came…’, it could do with many more views.
The newsnight thing… i saw that and had to wonder how Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie could sit there with such composure. What an utterly ignorant prick. What racist things has he said?! Sit down, fella, this will take a while.
