General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: About "white supremacist liberals" [View all]haele
(12,646 posts)And I understand that most activists tend to react to a problem statement.
My view the current culture that is approved by the established power structure in this country is pretty much uniformly white, reactionary, hyper-sexual, and pretty much categorizes and then rates or puts a price on everything and everything. American society is increasingly Manichean, and pretty much everything that isn't easy or "perfect" is disposable, which re-enforces the position of those in power.
This is pretty much the problem statement in a nutshell.
I work to change this as much as I can, through support, through example, through acts.
While I recognize that being born into a position of relative privilege to be able to indulge in my curiosities and interests, where I don't have to worry that my skin color is the very first thing that people will notice from a distance when they see me - before they even come close enough to interact with me, I can also understand that people who don't have that privilege have a justifiable right to be angry that there is this difference.
I'm not going to support purported anarchists who would potentially replace one tyranny with another. I don't like blood in the streets, not from the cops who are protecting the status quo, and not from nihilists who want the world to burn because they're not in charge.
Y'know, I'm by no means racially illiterate; but I will say I'm not "racially experienced". I am aware of the difficulties that a hierarchal power structure places on people who don't look like those in the position of power, I'm also aware of how f'n selfish people are about their privileges, the differences - and similarities - between cultures across the world (especially when it comes to "strangers" or outsiders), and how history works when people are segregated by class, race, and other "tribal" indicators (religion, etc). I'm not butt-hurt when people call me privileged in some ways, because - I am. Doesn't matter if I had ancestors who owned slaves or not. I live in the US and I'm white.
All this being said, I'm a white lady who doesn't fit in with the supremacy, but I suspect that I would be escorted against the wall right next to a confederate-flag toting payday lender/house flipper with just as glee by the ladies purporting to represent BLM who hogged the mic at the Saunder's event. How different are they from the PTB?
So, I would still like to see a bit more conversation from these nihilists that goes past the statement of the problem, and into what really is being represented, and how best to make improvements to get past the institutionalized white supremacy and the entrenched power structure.
What do they see for the future? How do they see government working? Do we break it down into splinter groups and clans, or are we a cohesive whole? It's easy to say "fight the power". It's far more difficult to be responsible with power once you get it.
Personally, I would like to replace this culture with a culture where people are encouraged to work through difficult barriers and boundaries, to think outside themselves, where quality of life is not measured through quantity of celebrity or costs, and to be curious and find happiness with things and people who are different. That people can live their lives and not worry about being insulted, denied, or killed because they're "different".
That's a future wish, and it doesn't take away from "Black Lives Matter" - because BLM is now. A reaction to a social cancer we have to deal with now.
But dealing with problems we have now doesn't mean we have to make working on a future the enemy, does it? Can we do both and respect both? Or do we have to tear down all of the now and rebuild from scratch, then work on a future?
Or am I just being too old and wanting my own privileged comfort too much?
Go ahead - I've got a big butt, I can take it. But I would like that discussion.
Haele