Populist Reform of the Democratic Party

thx64536

(47 posts) Mon Mar 29, 2021, 11:41 AM Mar 2021

It's not all just about racism for black people

Since I am white, I probably have no license to talk about racism in this country. At least I am sensitive enough to realize how obscene and insane our country can be when governor Kemp of Georgia signs in a new set of Jim Crow laws under a painting of a slave plantation.

I would not want to be black in this country. It's bad enough I have a foreign sounding last name. I have only once personally experienced overt discrimination over the phone because of my last name. It was only one time so I can't imagine what it is like to be a black person in this country dealing with racism all the time.

And I could not imagine what it would be like to feel you might lose your life any time you get stopped by a police officer when driving. I have been stopped maybe 10 times by cops over the last 30 years for reasons mostly my fault. But the thought the police officer might shoot me during those times or that I should fear for my life never crossed my mind. I would absolutely hate it if this were the case. So I do have some empathy in understanding other people's unnecessary suffering.

That said, I just want to talk about what I considered to be just as big a problem as racism. It's being faced by all Americans regardless of race. There are reasons why 72 million people voted for Trump that go beyond racism. And I find these reasons extremely disturbing. My hope is anyone who is of color reading this post is able to appreciate this other problem.

I'm a big fan of Henry Giroux and his writings. I think he's spot on in his descriptions of our nation's problems and what our solution needs to be. These problems are being faced by all Americans regardless of race. I think sometimes, but I may be wrong, some of the problems Giroux talks about are interpreted through a lens of racism by people of color when it's really something different.

Here's one of his latest articles: "Threat of Authoritarianism Is No Longer on the Horizon: It’s Arrived in the GOP"

https://truthout.org/articles/threat-of-authoritarianism-is-no-longer-on-the-horizon-its-arrived-in-the-gop/

I love this quote from the article, "Under neoliberal capitalism, human connections give way to an ethos of individualism that views all problems as personal failings." I love the quote because I think it's accurate. But I also hate the quote for what it implies.

I can't solve the problems of the high cost of healthcare by myself. It's just so insulting when the message from society is all our health problems are from "personal failings." Yes, I get it that my health problems are from being overweight. Yes, I ate too much McDonalds in the 70s and 80s. But I don't think its my fault the price of an annual healthcare premium has doubled every five years for the last 30 years! I don't think it's all me at this point. I have no control over the fact I'm getting old. It's just so irritating to think my age is a "personal failing."

The problems with our country are not rocket science. The billionaires pay the lobbyists to entice the politicians to pass legislation creating cartels and monopolies in exchange for campaign financing. The system is rigged for creating cartels and monopolies. The system is tilted in favor of the billionaires and not the worker making the median wage. I think FDR best summed up our current problems in his 1936 acceptance speech at the Democrat National Convention:

"An old English judge once said: 'Necessitous men are not free men.' Liberty requires opportunity to make a living - a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.

For too many of us the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality. A small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete control over other people's property, other people's money, other people's labor - other people's lives. For too many of us life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness.

Against economic tyranny such as this, the American citizen could appeal only to the organized power of government."

For this other set of problems, probably equal to racism in this country, Giroux has a very novel and interesting prescription. His claim is the problem with liberals in this country is we do not know how to use language properly. He claims liberals need to be more sophisticated in their use of language. He claims we need to be just as good as the Republicans and conservatives when it comes to political propaganda.

Here's a very thoughtful discussion on this very topic:

Here's a good book Giroux wrote on Amazon on this topic for anyone who is capable of reading:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Nightmare-Facing-Challenge-Fascism/dp/0872867536

Anyway, I apologize if said something incorrectly or offensive. It is may sincere hope to see all of these problems somehow start getting solved for everyone regardless of the insanity of racism.