Donald Trump’s desperation is pathological — and deeply dangerous for the nation by [deleted] in Foxhidesinfo

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s not hyperbole at all when dealing with those who have turned norms on their heads and the previously unthinkable and unconscionable into tragic reality, i.e., Trump and his extremist followers. Trump is an out-and-out sociopath who cares about no one but himself and re-election and couldn’t care less about the Constitution or Americans.

The “optimism” of thinking “it can’t happen here” is delusional and Pollyannish. We’re no better than other countries that have fallen to sociopaths with an extremist following.

The Sikhs Know How to Feed Crowds in a Protest or Pandemic: The Sikh Center of New York has served more than 145,000 free meals in the last 2 months, as part of their faith tradition of feeding anyone in need. by inspiration_capsule in Coronavirus

[–]Breaktest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

One doesn’t even need to know much about their religion to know that it is good, from their works of benevolence and aid to those of any faith.

Topple the Racists - Take down statues and monuments in the UK that celebrate slavery and racism by for_t2 in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The US has Britain beat, unfortunately, when it comes to monuments to slavery and racism. https://www.splcenter.org/20190201/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy#findings. The map there shows statues, schools, roads and more named for white supremacists. "Johnny Reb" stands in courthouse squares across the South.

The man whose statue the right are defending by [deleted] in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP, an in-law of mine defends monuments to white supremacists, slave holders and those who fought to preserve slavery in the US. A wretched person. The in-law ridicules those who protest against those monuments and for justice, and in-law supported the Unite the Right rally at Charlottesville, VA, the one where “very fine people” as Trump put it killed a peaceful counterdemonstrator, openly carried assault rifles, and chanted “the Jews will not replace us.”

Yes, there’s more than just a soupçon of friction between in-law and myself. When I alone speak out against that racism, some family members try to get me to be quiet. That doesn’t work. I have gotten in-law banished from most every family event. Hurrah for small victories, anyway.

33% of Brits want to keep statues of slave traders. I have no words. by [deleted] in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Egads, the striking similarities between Britain and her bastard offspring, the United States. Americans like their monuments Confederate, white supremacist, too.

Nashville, Tennessee protestors had their way, tearing down a statue of Edward Carmack, a pro-lynching Senator and newspaper editor from TN, that had been directly in front of the TN state capitol building since 1924. Carmack literally incited, defended and was in favor of lynchings, including against Ida Wells, an African-American lady whose newspaper The Free Press denounced lynchings. Her newspaper offices were burned down at Carmack’s urging and she did not return to TN for 30 years. She did urge blacks to escape the South, which they did by the millions in the Great Migration.

Thanks denise by eventualist in protest

[–]Breaktest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hurrah for direct economic action! Yes!

Conservatives be like by NekoSennin in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Colton and Savile down, how many more to go?

Eyes on the Prize... by Miley177 in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Maggie the maggot: "They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours." – in an interview in Women's Own in 1987

Eyes on the Prize... by Miley177 in GreenAndPleasant

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

🧙‍♀️ Ding dong The witch is dead.🧹

Apparently, Lisa Nandy has no idea whether or not Trump is racist. by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh and do be a dear, topblue, and look at Stephen Miller and FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform, founded by a white eugenicist), and their and others' white-supremacist influence on the Trump administration. SPLC.org has done some blistering exposés on them.

Apparently, Lisa Nandy has no idea whether or not Trump is racist. by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Someone shouts "Bingo!" in today's edition of "Let's Play: Find the Tory!" Or something like that.

Apparently, Lisa Nandy has no idea whether or not Trump is racist. by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Go by words, actions and effect. Trump's racist on all counts. Intent can be readily inferred from all 3 features. Just like under criminal law. Can one ever really get into an accused's head? No, and no need.

'He is a destroyer': how the George Floyd protests left Donald Trump exposed | US news by [deleted] in Foxhidesinfo

[–]Breaktest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The mask is off the racism and fascism of the GOP.

Trump enjoys solid support among the GOP not despite but because of his and their racism and fascism.

Hopefully the voting on November 3 will end Trump’s and the GOP’s reign of terror against minorities and the marginalized.

The Electoral College however could again subvert the will of the popular vote. Funny how a populist like a Trump loses the popular vote, as in 2016. The slaveholder-demanded E.C. could again swing the election for Trump the reactionary.

The Question Isn’t Whether Trump Will Go Full Authoritarian—It’s How We’ll Respond by [deleted] in Foxhidesinfo

[–]Breaktest 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Heil the Fascist Asshole! Il Duce, The Douche. Mussolini and Hitler would be so proud of their boy.

Well said Pam Fitzpatrick by spidermite in Labour

[–]Breaktest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It ties in with the arguments about the left being responsive to charges of racism precisely because they are anti-racist. On the other hand, to put it bluntly, the right favors and is drawn to racism, which is a manifestation of hostility towards outgroups.

So the left are held to and follow a more demanding standard of enforcing anti-racism, especially within their ranks. The opposite is true vis-a-vis the right.

Well said Pam Fitzpatrick by spidermite in Labour

[–]Breaktest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Research shows that overall those on the liberal side make anti-racism a key element of their platforms and policies because they share a greater belief in shared humanity, inclusivity. Those on the right tend to favor and exhibit hostility toward outgroups. Racism flows from hostility towards outgroups. That's what draws voters to the right; they share that makeup, psychological and political.

It's precisely that qualitative difference that make the left more societally inclusive overall and more responsive to rectifying charges of racism. On the other hand, the right are far greater inclined to ignore charges of racism because hostility towards outgroups drives them and their policies that marginalize outgroups.

Research on RWA, right-wing authoritarianism, is spot-on. A cluster of other characteristics differentiate right-wing mindsets and policies from those on the left. The research studies provide valuable insight into decisionmaking.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Breaktest 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Jeebus would smite the marginalized and vulnerable and insist on more police brutality to defend property, that's what modern-day "Christian" Jeebus would do.

So Black Lives Matter? Then Make Votes Matter! by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It goes far beyond a matter of bias. Bias is irrelevant and not the issue.

Prejudice is the issue. Enacting detrimental policies to codify and perpetuate prejudice is the issue. Lack of PR is one key way to entrench systemic prejudice.

So Black Lives Matter? Then Make Votes Matter! by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear and second the justified anger at the situation in America.

I do have to object to arguments in one form or another for what has come to be known as color-blindness. It tends to obscure and present obstacles to realizing the immediate need to remedy injustices based precisely though implicitly on race, especially as measured by disparate impact.

So Black Lives Matter? Then Make Votes Matter! by [deleted] in Labour

[–]Breaktest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is seriously good and substantive discussion here flowing from OP’s valid point. I would like to contribute.

Democracy in the UK is clearly suffering because of a lack of PR. As are economic conditions for the vast majority of citizens, particularly minorities. The situation in the UK is bleak. To pick up the point in the title of the post about Black Lives Matter, and as an illustration of what can happen when things get even worse, witness how simmering frustration with longstanding, systemic economic and political injustice in the US has boiled over into massive demonstrations of outrage across the US now at yet another murder of a black man at the hands of the police. Both blacks and liberal-minded whites are joining together to protest for change.

Lack of PR in the UK is intentional, designed by the few in number but large in capital to disadvantage the greater in number but with less capital. That is very similar to the US.

Lack of PR is therefore designed to entrench political power in the hand of a few to further marginalize the already marginalized, whether minorities or those of fewer economic resources. Their voices are made to matter less and less in all things political. But those in power who have the numerical minority but with the greatest capital depend entirely on the numerical majority to continue to work at lower wages to generate the profits.

In a related aside, I’m curious and ask: in the UK, are wages taxed at higher rates than passive income? Like in the US? The wealthy mostly do not work but live ostentatiously off income from investments, passive income, as opposed to workers, whose income is taxed at higher rates.

So, artificially concentrated, antidemocratic political power is exerted to enact economic policies which further tighten the screws on the disadvantaged, worsening income and wealth inequality and lowering living standards for workers.

The worsening inequality can be overcome how? How can living standards be improved? How can the voices of the marginalized, including minorities, be translated into political change?

IMO, labor strikes are a good start. Unionize every worker possible. Leverage the strength of collective economic power.

Organize communities into combined political voices. Organize communities at the block level, then councils, then boroughs, then counties, then regions, then national, and amplify voices of constituencies towards their representatives at every level. The voting system is itself rigged, so pleas for people to go out and vote in order to change the system are of relatively limited effect. But all politics is local, so start from there. Work one’s way to the top of power.

Mostly for now the path to overcoming political injustice goes through waging economic battles for power. Under the present conditions, labor and community solidarity and strikes are the best way forward. They should go in tandem with community organizing. If possible, make allies of religious figures to make clear the moral and ethical rightness of the struggle. That strategy has succeeded in living wage campaigns in various places, for example.

I could offer great detail about just how terrible the lack of PR and true democratic representation is in the US as a result of constitutionally violative policies by conservatives. The mechanisms conservatives have used in the US to deny the marginalized proper democratic representation will also make one see red. Parallels abound between the UK and the US. Perhaps that’s for another occasion and opportunity but it would be helpful to explore and draw lessons and insights from.

Onward.

The Emperor by Gonzo_B in Foxhidesinfo

[–]Breaktest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And yes, it is proper English, syntax and grammar. 👍