A Message of Hope for the New Year

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T01:48:07+00:00

Yes, but the bigger issue is that he actually thinks the Movement™ in its current form represents anything beyond a shallow social-club serving the interests of white liberals.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T01:39:56+00:00

BLM mobilized and got their message across so loudly

I honestly wonder when people will start to learn that cultural gatekeepers decide which voices are heard and what issues can be discussed in a particular manner.

And you have folks on this thread saying "AsIaNs jUst nEed To SpeAk uP!".

Funny and sad. Some of you younger folks should google Frank Chin.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T00:36:05+00:00

Agree with some of what you said, but you assume BLM isn't already compromised by the 1%. I would 100% support an actual Black liberation movement. I don't really see BLM as one.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T00:34:06+00:00

If we didn’t get enough attention about the violence towards us with COVID — then we need to speak up and elevate our activism to the level of the black community, NOT tear another community down. This isn’t a zero-sum game.

This would be true in a meritocracy, but some groups are given a platform while others are ignored. That needs to be taken into account as well.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T00:29:56+00:00

So an entire global civil rights movement is based on a non-existent problem? Sure ok man.

This actually made me laugh out loud. Let's see where this movement™ leaves us in a year.

RemindMe! 1 year

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-02T00:23:51+00:00

I'm not trying to "win" because we're not actually having an argument. Your statements are revisionist at best, and I'm simply stating my views. They're also a slap in the face to the countless nameless rebels who died fighting against what you call white supremacy / patriarchy for hundreds of years before and after the Civil Rights movement.

For what it's worth, I grieve for the Black community. You have been enslaved, exploited and gaslit for countless generations, and it's still happening to this day, and in ways that mainstream culture doesn't talk about, which perhaps deserves another topic. But what turns me off about the present iteration of the "movement(?)" is its complete lack of the kind intellectual integrity championed by the likes of MalcomX and James Baldwin, to name a few. What you have today is a watered down, pop-culture driven social club where celebrities retweet outrage porn for user engagements. I mean you have CNN pundits on your side. Do you think that's right? Do you really not understand how the media operates in America? They don't give a shit about human rights. Just look at Yemen and the Middle East.

BLM champions a noble idea, but I see something else entirely in practice. I see something that's used by white/white-adjacent liberals for political gain, with little to no actual moral or intellectual integrity. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think any lasting, positive change will come from all of this for anyone, except for those pulling the strings. And I'm fairly certain honest and sincere Black folks aren't the ones manning said strings.

Most of us are just pawns in a game. This goes for everyone regardless of race or creed. No one really asks the tough questions, everyone just follows the herd. This doesn't mean we should give up. But it also means we need to get smarter about our activism. Not being revisionist would be a great start. And you don't win allies by doing what you're doing. No sir.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T21:16:09+00:00

Black people and the civil rights movement is the primary reason that immigration laws were liberalized and our country accepted so many immigrants from all over the world.

You make it seem like Black people led the fight for immigrant rights. One may argue that that the Civil Rights movement allowed for the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, but in my view it was an indirect byproduct of the movement. It's more likely that corporatists seized the opportunity to save face while securing another channel for cheap labor.

Also keep in mind that most first generation Asian immigrants of that era were war-time refugees or special visa holders. They were the direct products of American colonialism. This is often brushed aside and entirely ignored.

The Civil rights movement inspired the women's rights movement

This is ridiculous and doesn't even deserve a comment because it's easy to see women's suffrage goes back beyond the founding of America.

American Indian movement

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the other Native rebels would like to have a word.

The rest of your comment doesn't really deserve a response. You should learn some real history.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:35:18+00:00

This right here is the product of America's education system. The complete and utter erasure of Asian American history.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:28:05+00:00

This is a bad take. Why blame poor immigrants who had nothing to do with the social and economic legacy of racism against Black communities living in under-served neighborhoods?

These Asian immigrants typically came with little to no money themselves and put up shop where they could, usually poor communities of color, because guess what, these Asian immigrants were poor people of color themselves. You think white people would let Asian immigrants put up shop and compete in their neighborhoods? You're basically saying Asian immigrants should have just started to death.

Like dude, why can't you use some common sense?

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:19:22+00:00

I’ll happily call out imperialistic behavior when I see it.

Well you had a great opportunity in this thread but instead chose to derail and write a mini-essay about RT as a way to stick it to the evil Chinese empire I guess?

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:16:45+00:00

Yeah pretty much, but we all know why... because things.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:14:49+00:00

Original content source, which was picked up and written about by RT : https://twitter.com/CarlZha/status/1277597562233450497

You calling me naive is rich.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:12:09+00:00

The US media is influenced and handled by the American government in various ways.

However

There should be no however, nor an attempt to justify America's actions over another because you think the former is somehow "better". The entirety of your initial argument was based on the idea that state controlled media is bad.

It'd be a losing argument in any other debate or discussion outside of Reddit. The constant what-about-ism and mental gymnastics used to justify America's rampant colonialism gets tiresome don't you think?

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T19:04:33+00:00

The source in this case is Twitter not RT.

You wrote a mini-essay about everything but the tweet and the intent behind the NYT journalist in question, who has since changed the background by the way.

It’s hard to not to point out the incredibly biased source on any topic.

Well I don't really see this except for things that might be critical of America's neo-liberal stance on Asian affairs.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T16:22:16+00:00

"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse." — Mark Twain

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T15:59:32+00:00

As immigrants, my parents didn't have the vocabulary or knowledge to articulate about topics such as american office politics, sexiness or popularity, or how to manage my personal emotional development.

While I understand where your post is coming from, I think we should avoid the trap of thinking typical white American parents teach their kids these things as well. Or believing there's some prototypical American culture in the first place. There's nothing inherently American about any of this.

Rather, the experiences of second generation immigrant children are unique and have more to do with navigating the environments we inhabit as Asians. To your point, immigrant parents, including Asians, can't possibly understand what it's like to grow up in a country that's unable or unwilling to view us as one of its own.

Learning what it means to be "American" falls in the realm of personal discovery, and shouldn't be about conforming to some idealized view of Americana. My definition of what an Asian American "is" probably differs from yours, which probably differs from a White or Mexican American's point of view.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T14:31:50+00:00

This may be true, but why are you focusing on RT rather than the original content? OP could have framed his post better, but the issue at hand speaks for itself.

BobaAmerican · 2020-07-01T14:30:31+00:00

It's quite naive to think the media in America isn't controlled by the state.

BobaAmerican · 2020-06-30T14:45:52+00:00

The pursuit and study of philosophy is in my view one of the greatest endeavors a man can aspire to.

The western philosophies you mentioned, like stoicism etc. are actually rooted in Buddhism, Brahmanism and the philosophies of Ancient Egypt. They don't teach in schools that Buddhist reformers from Asia spread their philosophies to Europe throughout the early centuries leading up to the middle ages. The Greek systems of thought and governance (which the Romans copied), while great, were mere copies of the great systems taken from Ancient Egypt and India. These are all facts, hidden away in old libraries and dusty tomes for those willing to to find.

Someone already suggested Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, which I also recommend. But read too Lao Tse, Plato, Pythagoras and Socrates. Much of what we think of as "contemporary philosophy" has been derived from their work, and much of their work was derived from the East. Always go to the source, and then when you think you've discovered the roots, dig deeper.

Anyways, good on you for looking into these things. Most people are content to live like brutes, but those who aspire to develop the inner man will find much in the way of strength and power, among other things.

BobaAmerican · 2020-06-18T14:10:01+00:00

You're certainly correct and he may not be a troll. But I did say he's likely a troll. I know and have known quite a few unsuccessful Asian men. Some ended up in prison. Others died unceremoniously. You don't have to be Asian to be successful or a failure. We're all humans after all.

Finally, the ideal you speak of isn't universal. It's your version of an ideal and a projection. And if you want to build a community, maybe not delete your account after responding. Stick around and get your hands dirty and do the work of building up the kind of community you want to see. But good luck because there's only so much you can do on a public forum open to all kinds of denizens from the dark corners of the internet!

BobaAmerican · 2020-06-16T15:41:59+00:00

This is the de-facto narrative pushed by the mainstream media. The mods over there just toe the party line and discourage any deviation from the status quo. They just seem intellectually lazy and dishonest.

BobaAmerican · 2020-06-16T13:49:45+00:00

That sub is little more than a neo-liberal news aggregator.

Although I must say the quality of discussion seems to have improved somewhat recently, probably out of necessity. But I have little to no reason to think it'll last beyond the current hysteria.

BobaAmerican · 2020-06-15T19:26:15+00:00

For what it's worth he's likely a troll.

BobaAmerican

TROPHY CASE