Election Temperature

Sapp.....you have definitely lived in many different areas. For myself I have lived here because my life is here. Everyone has a story and a reason for where they are.

"I still have my American right to my opinion or have you denied me that right."

Everyone has a right to their opinion.

What you don't have is a shield from other's opinions.

So if you say stupid shit, other people will express their opinion that you said stupid shit.

See how that works.

jC555,

You make an assumption about me saying that my reading is very selective.

In truth, I have 5000 books in my home in bookcases in the basement, a large upstairs room, my bedroom, my office at home and I have 1000 more books in my office at work.

I also listen to a wide range of music:: rock, classical, blues, country, jazz, some rap and some punk. The blues music of African Americans such as Bessie Smith and Nina Simone and the blues poetry of Langston Hughes and the essays on the blues and stories on the blues by James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison have given me a perspective on being black and blue in the USA compared and contrasted to my personal experience of being a white male from an upper middle class background.

(Social class gives us privileges as does the male gender and whiteness.)

My reading and listening and my love of film too has given me my best chance to do something that is impossible: feel what it is like to live in another skin (or gender or sexual orientation) than my own.

I’ve lived in NYC, SF, Los Angeles, New Haven, Connecticut after growing up on a dead end dirt road in the middle of a small town of 3500 people in rural NJ that was 97% white. It’s cool to live in different places, different cities, different neighborhoods within Los Angeles.

I like trying to understand the experiences of people much different than me as a way to learn.

My reading and interaction with people has not been selective.

I will never know what it is truly like to be inside the skin of a person of color. I do know much better what it is like to live in the skin of a middle class white man

Ever try imagining living in the skin of a person of a different race than your own in Alabama or NJ or LA?

Houston, it does not work like that

In the 40s and 50s, america was the only undestroyed nation, so it became an industrial powerhouse and a world power. Everyone wanted american products like GM, Ford, RCA, and Zenith. Eventually the americans got wealthy, fat and happy. They became less hungry and started slacking off by time the 60s arrived.

But america told Germany and japan they can't rearm, and in exchange, they got preferencial trade treatments so the Germans and Japanese went on to manufacture great products in the 70s and 80s like Bosch, Hitachi, Mercedes and Toyota. By the 90s, They were wealthy, fat and happy, just like the americans.

The south koreans capitalized on that. They were hungry, so they used their preferencial trade agreements with the us to produce cheaper products because they did not have the high salaries of the Japanese and germans. They brought us Hyundai, LG, and Samsung, and their quality surpassed the Japanese brands that started dying. The market was flooded with Korean products in the 90s and 00s

Now the Koreans got wealthy, fat and happy and became less motivated, and the Chinese picked up the ball. They flooded the market with products in the past 20 years and given their size, it will go on for a few more years.

However, they will eventually get to the fat and happy state too, and will slack off like the rest, and and someone else will pick up the ball, perhaps India?

You see the point? It's a circle that will never end. Your industries left because you got fat and happy and someone hungrier stole them from you. You want them back? You need to be hungry (possibly literally) first!!

Sapp.....my bad. I should have mentioned it was a article and not a book. I will listen to the song. I think people outside the south honestly think we have no interaction between black/white. I can assure you that we do and probably way more than others do. I don't have to getthat through a book or song though

JC555,

I don’t find it cool for you to allege that I am dishonest.

I searched the Prager book on Amazon I found his book making a case for antisemitism but not the white fallacy book

I just Googled Dennis Prager and the title of the book and only found a Facebook post by Prager on The Farce of White Fragility.

You asked me, I believe, about my experience of white privilege and I answered with some care based on my personal experiences of it.

Did you read it? Did you miss it?

In these forums we are all often making arguments, trying to persuade.

Trust me, I sense very quickly when I met someone or read a post where I know that person has in my view a closed mind that I will not open or change no matter how many facts I give.

I do feel however that while people may have closed minds, they may not have hearts closed to kindness and empathy and that they do have hearts that get angry at unfairness and injustice.

My anecdotes about my experience is about what I have felt and experienced as a white man.

More compelling would be to read stories and memoirs by African Americans about their life experiences and only a stone cold heart would be deaf to the prejudices and disadvantages they have faced that I’ve had the white privilege of avoiding or never facing.

You should try listening to Blues music if you don’t do it.

I love listening to country music too. It’s very emotional, like the blues, and it feels as if the music and lyrics can take me under the skin and into the soul of the musician, who is usually but not always white and from a works much different than my own, but I feel a connection

Do me the favor: Look on YouTube for the song by a Black female Country singer called “Black Like Me.” Let me know what you feel listening to it.

Moe and respectfully China is not our friend . They are so wound in our country we are almost like part of China. China respects no IP and I personally have delt with that . You have probably heard this before ,but I am originally from Ohio . When a little kid at the Ohio State Fair a guy gave me a book . ( None Dare Call it Conspiracy ) It scared me a kid to death . But he explained someday Asia will control all mfg , Europe will control all banking and finance . The Americas will control research , development and Service. I remember the guy telling me all people across the world will make the same amount of money. This would prevent all wars and we will be ruled by small groups of people. Sounds like Sci Fi , but it stuck with me.

Moekathy.....I am 10 years younger than you. You sound anything but educated. Ironically my father retired from the UMWA.

What are you going to do? Grab your guns and start a coup?

You are a dwindling minority. It's like shot animal trying to raise his head one last time before expiring.

You are stuck in the past and want it to come back. America has long moved on past you. The principles you advocate have long been unacceptable, and have gone by the wayside, along with coal and fax machines. They are not coming back.

This is why most of those "Trumpsters" are OLD white uneducated people!

Do you finally get it?

Funfor2.....yes lots of mad people on both sides. To me our biggest concern is how divided we are. This country is split in half. We have politians who are power hungry to control and do everything to destroy the other side. So it all spills over to the public and we start hating each other. Social media is a huge contributor to it all. Starting with myself I have found myself participating in it. We have lost being civil at times.

@Moe , I respect you what policy would you change or improve on . Everything is on the table . Not trying to argue but you have named nothing . I think the MER is better now then in years ...but I disliked GW.

Sapp....you can goggle it and should find it. I think you have very selective reading and I doubt you could not find it honestly. You seem more intent on getting me to agree with your beliefs.

@JC , There are a lot of mad people and it will be interesting .

I would start with a complete review of all Trumps executive orders and policies and see which ones need reversing.

Hire decent knowledgeable folks in the right positions, fire the likes of Pruitt.

Take covid more seriously

Fix the cluster fuck Trump had created in the middle east.

Deal with China in a more adult way

Moekathy.....you say people who don't need to be talking politics will stop. I doubt 74m people will just go away and bow so you can have piece of mind. That is laughable.

JC555,

I just looked for that Dennis Prager book on white privilege but could not find it on Amazon.

Is it self-published.

I did see another book he wrote entitled: “Why the Jews: The Case for Antisemitism”

That’s not a promising title and a recommendation for Prager.

Indeed, it’s horrifically ugly.

Does his “Fallacy of White Priivlege” make a case for white supremacy and slavery or it is tempered just by advocating going back to segregation?

Please give us a break from such stuff before I puke in disgust.

Note: I wrote my own short book—or a long post here—on the reality of white privilege based on my personal experiences of it.

Did you ignore it or miss it or did it leave you too befuddled?

Moekathy......let's see Trump did not win and yes the Republicans lost Congress. All cabinet positions will change so what cronies will it take a couple of months to get rid of? Sounds like an uneducated person asking someone to debate something that is not really debatable. Lol

Haters will Hate! I have expressed my opinions and some folks here seem to be upset. In the America I remember everyone had the right to express their opinion. I respect your opinion, that’s all I expect from you.

@Moe , government policy wise what would you like to see. The Democrats control everything so nothing is off the table.

Sovtrump lost the elections and republicans lost congress. It will take a few months to cleanse all his chronies from their positions, and reverse the bullshit policies, but we will get there.

Once this takes place, the folks who have no business talking politics, will stop talking politics and we will have peace of mind again.

Before anyone opens their mouth and say things, start training yourself on asking yourself the question: "Am I educated enough on this subject to discuss or debate it?" If the answer is "not sure", then silence is golden!

Erotica, Socialism!

LoveLust:

When you charge Obama with conspiring with China to bring Covid 19 to America, it should be more than an opinion.

Your opinion needs some facts and reliable journalism or citations to back
It up, otherwise your opinion as expressed just stinks with prejudice and ignorance and cruelty

J. Just my Alabama opinion. I still have my American right to my opinion or have you denied me that right. Damn!

@Lovelust

You are old enough to remember this . . .

I remember this starting in 1975.

It was always a projection that in 20 years SS and Medicare would be bankrupt and you will not get your benefits.

That was 45 years ago.

The republicans still have the same chart ready to show you today.

Here is the fact that is so simple, it gets heads to explode.

Since SS came about, SS has taken in more money than it has sent out.

We are now at 85+ years of this being true.

What makes you think it will change in the future?

Sap, criticize me if you like. Just my opinion. Just wait.