the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[Yeti]

Do you think racism is provoked by the Government to keep us from overthrowning them?

[rjs246]

Do you think racism is provoked by the Government to keep us from overthrowning them?

I think the government has already effectively prevented any sort of internal overthrow by disarming the population. The gap between weapons available to the government's armed forces and the weapons available to law-abiding citizens is so massive that no revolution is possible.

Racism is just a red herring. Only an issue at all because people refuse to let it go and accept that the only thing that keeps it alive is the fact that people continue to talk about it.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Only an issue at all because people refuse to let it go and accept that the only thing that keeps it alive is the fact that people continue to talk about it.

Talk about what?

[rjs246]

Bacon.

[Dillen]

There's been a farging ridiculous "wind storm" going on today here. As of right now it's 32-45 mph but earlier it was higher. This morning I was going to put the garbage can in the garage after I pulled the car out so it wouldn't blow any further away during the day. I find the garbage can 50 feet away and put it next to the garage. Pull the car out, get out, garbage is gone again.

Terribly interesting, I know.

[methdeez]

Do you think racism is provoked by the Government to keep us from overthrowning them?

I think the government has already effectively prevented any sort of internal overthrow by disarming the population. The gap between weapons available to the government's armed forces and the weapons available to law-abiding citizens is so massive that no revolution is possible.

Racism is just a red herring. Only an issue at all because people refuse to let it go and accept that the only thing that keeps it alive is the fact that people continue to talk about it.

Racism or prejudice about one social group by another is present in every single society that exists today, and I seriously doubt has ever not existed in one in the past (outside some really small ones).
Like rape and murder, it is one of those universal traits of humanity that we like to pretend are an abberation, or committed by 'sick' individuals, even though there has never a place or time in human history where they weren't present.

I don't think government has the slightest thing to do with it's origin, although, in places like South Carolina at least, it does seem to have some things to do with it's incidence and particular manifestation.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Remind me again what color your skin is so I can accurately critique your comment.

[rjs246]

Meth, are you suggesting that our natural state as humans is to discriminate based on race? Or is there some other criteria that you think people are born to dislike (religion, social status, weight, height, age, etc)? Or are you saying that we naturally just discriminate against anything that is different from what we are?

I'm not being an ass I'm genuinely curious. If it's natural for everyone to discriminate against everyone else then that opens a really big can of worms about what's right and wrong.

I'd prefer to believe that we cultivate these biases and that they aren't born into us.

Ugh. What is wrong with me. I need a beer.

[ice grillin you]

racism is taught....period

[methdeez]

Meth, are you suggesting that our natural state as humans is to discriminate based on race? Or is there some other criteria that you think people are born to dislike (religion, social status, weight, height, age, etc)? Or are you saying that we naturally just discriminate against anything that is different from what we are?

I'm not being an ass I'm genuinely curious. If it's natural for everyone to discriminate against everyone else then that opens a really big can of worms about what's right and wrong.

I'd prefer to believe that we cultivate these biases and that they aren't born into us.

Ugh. What is wrong with me. I need a beer.

I think it is natural for us to discriminate against others for something. If race isn't there, then people will find something else. Race is easiest b/c you can pick someone out by thier appeareance, class would probably be next easiest.
Maybe it traces back to humans natural, small clan structure. Maybe it has to do with creating your own  or your own groups identity through comparison against others.

Although IGY is issuing ultimatums, from knowledge presumably not avilable to the rest of us, it isn't really relevant to what I was asking.

I wasn't worried about the method of transmission from generation to generation, only that is transmitted, everywhere, always.
It's universality would make you think that it couldn't only be taught, but even if it is it must be important enough or ingrained enough for it to be always taught to a noticeable portion of people, everywhere, all the time.

In short, like rape and murder, it is an essential part of humanity, regardless of the morality that we assign to it.
It therefore must serve a purpose, as rape and murder do, for it to stick around.
Only if we understand that purpose, then maybe we can stop it.

Thank you, I will be here on this soapbox every Tuesday from 5-8.

[Diomedes]

Racism is taught/learned, but it's real easy to teach/learn it.

The best description I've found of the origins of racism in the United States comes from Zinn.  In short, slave owners, more or less of their own accord following self interest (rather than in a smoky back room conspiracy) figured out that the poor whites had as good a reason to war against the wealthy as the slaves did..so they hired the poor, hill country uneducated honkys to oversee the blackies, and as if the pay didn't distinguish it well enough, told them they were better than the blacks and gave them free hand over the slaves with the whip.  Hence "cracker" for low class uneducated piece of shtein whitey.
Before this period, slaves were simply property and as such, not worthy of the hatred we commonly associate with racism.  They were like chairs or cattle...sometimes you didn't like them but they were just property and that was that.
Racism has it's roots then in class struggle.  But like I said, it's realy easy to point the poor green ones against the poor blue ones, and after a couple rounds back and forth, who cares that we're all poor, now it's about race.

[rjs246]

Bulworth was a ridiculously self-indulgent movie with a few fantastic lines. Dio's post just reminded me of one of them: "Rich people have always stayed on top by dividing white people from colored people, but white people got more in common with colored people then they do with rich people."

Class rules everything. Race means nothing.

[ice grillin you]

theres poor white people because the sheer numbers require that some people be poor...theres poor mionorities because of institutional racism...when the same % of whites that are poor in this country comes even close to the % of blacks that are poor then it might be a class thing...same goes for avg age of death...property ownership...executive level job holders ect...

[Diomedes]

It ought to be a point of honor that few blacks have sunk to the level of corporate executive,  homeboy.

[phattymatty]

i'm pretty sure i should start smoking cigs again.  i'm turning into a huge pill head.