I've been doing a lot of thinking of late upon my topic. If your and American or follow our news you already know why. For some reason we can't seem to stop some white folks from killing unarmed black folks. We can't even get the police to stop shooing unarmed black, men women and children. When at trial they receive injustice upon injustice and we have come to seem a nation without mercy. For justice is the first mercy the many give to the few. So my questions are not idle questions or theoretical. My thoughts on this have great urgency for me...there is blood upon the floor, blood in the streets. Everything I have learned about living a good life, a spiritual life tells me that "That's my blood out there." They are slaying people akin to me. Not by color but by human need. Pure science scratches her head when we talk of race. Science has no idea at all What we are going on about. For science there is no such delineation between people as race. For Science there is only species, there is only one species of man. Homo Sapiens. When a man has two dogs one black and one white you may account him a complete fool if he thinks he can judge between them on that basis. Why? Because the color of their fur is literally the shallowest possible way to judge a dog! It tells you nothing of him. Not even the health or quality of his fur. When a man or woman passes judgement on the basis of "race" we know at once! we know at once we hearing from one whose judgment is more than faulty. It is in fact the shallowest lest perceptive and most worthless view possible. The color of someones skin tells me their color and not one damn thing more. People show more sense when judging dogs and cats. As far as I can see (Always a limited view) The desire to make such unnecessary and arbitrary distinctions between us can only come from a verity of low motives and twisted thinking. A racist will always feel left out no matter how many hoods dance around midnight fires. They have divided humanity in their minds our side/your side. So have cut themselves off from the possibility of union. Well they have each other. No they don't. They condemn them selves with one drop of "Colored blood" Blood they can accept readily enough in transfusions betrays their "purity" if it comes to them by way their own grand mother or grand father. Thank the lord for hypocrisy without it we would have to find a new basis for hating our fellow men and women. Because when you stare at racism long enough to see the smoke settle, behind the bullshit there is just a flimsy excuse to hate ones fellow man. Or at the very least the willingness to push a man down on the false assumption than it will rise you up. The racist has yet to learn that it is a thousand times better in the moral universe to be a slave than to be a slave master. I could show and feel more sympathy for their moral plight but they won't stop shooting my brothers.
Humanity displays some prejudices that a dog or cat or garden slug don't waste time with. Our capability to do harm to ourselves seems unlimited. Racism is getting worse in our country and we have only ourselves to blame for it. I so wish I was colorblind all the time. It's what is right and fair. But being a puss bucket full of hate for everything and myself comes naturally. Argh.
I think this has been festering since the Civil war. When the South stood up for southern right to enslave. To rape and to murder, to enslave one's own children. When Southern "gentlemen" abandon the beds of their wives. To make their money as seed bulls by raising their children as slaves. The South is still trying to excuse the worst evil ever done to man. Still trying to pretend they fought for something noble. That their virtues were ignored. Racism still exits in our country because there are those raised in it. and their are those who raised them in it. Think on the charter of one who raises their children in a a twisted lie of racism. I'm not clear what the argument could be. White is superior to black because white committed itself to evil for the sake of money? White denied heir own children if they their color said they were worth something on the auction block? How feeble the confidence of such people that they fear a level playing field. A fair vote, equal schooling, a fair trial. They should think on this. If there is only justice, mercy and love in heaven. Why would God ever let you in. So you enslave the black angels? I don't think so. Their are millions of ex-saves in heaven.Men and women who lived and died carry "The white man's burden" of evil upon their backs. But not one slave master. Or it wouldn't be heaven would it? We are brothers and I weep that there are those who do not know this. Those who will never let go of this evil and return to the family of man. Where we, black and white wait for you and pray for your redemption. Slavery cannot take from one the power of forgiveness. But slavery enslaves the slaver in chains that may never be opened except by setting another free. Set us free that we may set you free and walk this road together as it was meant to be.
I agree, it's correct to blame our Southern history. However, we had slavery in the North for 400 years as well. While it's convenient and easy to blame the South, we are ALL guilty. How many times I prayed that history was reversible and if I only could go back in time and murder every slave trader... Murdering the prejudice within myself seem impossible. Thank you my father's side of the family. NOT. My paternal grandmother once nearly foamed at the mouth while explaining to me how awful Black people were. Seriously. I knew as a five year old that she was WRONG. I sincerely wish that that was the only moment in my life when I was exposed to insane hatred and prejudice.
Harking back to slavery is a lazy way out. Racism isn't only white man's problem, as seems to be increasingly the narrative in the USA - everybody is capable of it, and everybody who as travelled widely has been on the receiving end of racism in some form or other. We also need to recognise that the instinct to segregate and define "us" and "them" is hardwired into humans. Prejudice of any sort isn't only about skin colour - the colour is a shorthand for a collection of stereotypes defining somebody's expected appearance, smell, habits and behaviours, language, and ultimately their ability to fit in with whatever we define as "us". Even if we get past skin colour, our instinct towards prejudice still runs deep. Tell me that the working classes and aristocrats don't have particular stereotypes for one another, or Americans and Canadians, or Republicans and Democrats. Tell me what purpose borders, passports, visas and immigration controls serve, if not the assessment that certain humans are deemed unworthy of living where we live. We will not successfully combat racism unless and until we acknowledge that it's a universal behaviour, that our past attempts to combat it have themselves perpetuated racism, and that the standards by which we judge racist behaviour are equally applied.
Cats are solitary animals. Wild dogs are pack animals that in nature would gleefully attack dogs from a different pack that wandered into their territory. Domestic dogs have been infantilised, so never really develop true pack instincts. Humans, like many other primates, form social clusters of families, and are both hierarchical and territorial. You can see the roots of human prejudice in the behaviour of our simian cousins. We should be able to transcend our animal instincts, but first we have to recognise them for what they are.
To say that racism is not universal would be...racist! LOL Everything from rape to patricide no doubt finds it's first expression in the caves we first inhabited. We use a mental shorthand when ascribing traits from the individual to the group we perceive that individual to belong to. When meeting strange people of whom we have no knowledge, our lives may depend upon properly processing any data we are able to collect. A fearful situation. The pressure is really on the find defining things that put our minds at ease. I think we to easy grasp at anything that might ease our discomfort in not knowing what to expect. In many ways raciest remind me of our ape ancestors. One bad snake bite and we fear all snakes One bad apple and we refuse all tomatoes as poison. This lack of clarity on the part of whole big bunches of people can be and is handed down and accepted without examination. It becomes cultural truth that the other is to be feared because they do not do as we do, a condemnation all by itself. So as rule stupidity and fear guide us to a raciest outlook. but politics find a use for racism and milk that cow every day.
We have a fundamental disagreement. That we have difference that can stand between us does not mean we must allow them to. Within a nation when one group oppresses another it is ALWAYS due to low motives. We pay women less. Why? Aren't they mothers and wives? Why would men support such an injustice. MOST men don't. Employers do.Employers and the supremely stupid. Nobody else. You see the rich as another class of people. If they were people they would be family and they are not. They are the degenerate rich. They are by nature oppressors. Who use every division they can create to keep us from taking back what was always "ours" If we all shared in racism, it would not be racist, it would be human nature. Human nature seeks union where ever it may be found. We come together where ever we can. We put aside whatever divides us... and we create nations. The rich would have us believe that we owe them something because they are rich...We do and revolution is a cyclic thing, it's always just a flash point away.":O} We will have union and we will have created that union. We can do this as we are all people who need union to flourish. Mankind is still in her baby days. Still in need of guidance. still prone to temper fits. "This to shall pass." Only the cyclic does not pass but rather evolves., one bloodied step at a time. we make our peace with one another. and find each other in our shared grief. This grief is good. For when we sorrow we change. and in change we come to joy in one another. What is, will not always be, has not always been. In early cities men came together from every where and prospered. Until a rich men divided them. This is how cities fall by inward division. Race is but one of many excuses for those who wish to hate. It has no reality of it self, skin color does not a race create. Race is but another lie the rich and stupid created to divide us one from the other. We agree that we must recognize the lie before the truth may prevail. We don't look at the skin of those we love except in admiration. Humans have no hardwired need to fear or hate each other, we must learn these things. Some folks fear dogs. That doesn't make a dog bad. It just means we have a fearful person in our mists. Phobias can be remedied. in this case by introducing them to a good dog. Experience "Can" topple racism...if we let it.
Divide and conquer is the operating rule of government by the rich, for the rich and of the rich. And they giggle at the suffering of poor people, poor people aren't "people" as they see it. We near a point of no return. If the powerless don't organize to become powerful soon I think it will become impossible because the huge surveillance state may become all seeing. They've already turned the police against the little people. The police see the rich as their masters, even though the man in the street pays their salaries.
We need only realize that we the people are powerful beyond measure and then act to preserve our selves. We have no need of the rich and they are completely helpless without us. It is we the people that sustain their wealth a power. We should stop doing that.
Isn't it something that we tend to see the wealthy as very necessary for our survival? "Sir" William Gates, "Our Sainted Majesty" Donald Trump. They rig the game and the propaganda machine to work very well for their interests.
I find it quite ironic that you deny humanity to humans, and seek to partition us, while in the same breath stating that "we come together where ever we can." You are still part of the top 10% richest people on the planet. By which definition of rich do you seek to divide us? I am in the 1%. Is it permissible to hate me, and not you?
I seek union among all who recognize our shared humanity. I don't waste my time on negative emotions. How ever I do state my case emotionally from time to time. "we come together where ever we can." Ah when was the last time you saw the billionaire class reaching out to humanity? I account myself among the poor of my country. Is that no longer poor enough for you? ":O} I account the rich among the enemies of mankind because they are. It is not the fact they have money, it is how they use that money as power to accrue more at the expense of all of nature and mankind. That I see and recognize evil in the world without having to go looking for, does not make me a supporter or perpetrator of evil. I won't hate and I don't hate you for doing well. I wish you prosperity. But if you pursue your well being without concern for your neighbor,How should you neighbor regard you as a friend? "If you see your neighbor struggling Help him with his load And don't go mistaking paradise for that home across the road. Bob Dylan "I pity the poor emergent who wises he would have stayed home who uses all his money to do evil and in the end is left so alone." Bob Dylan As with all things; It's not where you are or what you have, But rather how you are there and what you do with it. Universal equality is not possible for mankind nor is it needed. All that matters is that outer rank be determined by inner worth and that inner worth is the only criteria for outer rank. If this axiom were to be followed the rich would have to see themselves as the protectors and beneficiaries of man kind. Their wealth not their own but rather a sacred trust kept in service to all men. And surely you have noticed that they do not. They do not see the poor as brothers in need of aid. They see them as slaves. to be bought and sold at their whim. So No Idon't think I should hate you or anyone and I don't. But I truly despise the behavior of the rich, Throwing parties for themselves alone by the pool while the world starves. I do not as you assert make divisions between men. I Recognize those divisions as preexisting and brought about solely by the rich. So we still brothers":O}
Universal equality is to be desired, imho. We'll never see it, yet we aren't doing enough to achieve it. Just the opposite, and I ask why do we let this continue? Guilty as self charged. Yet I'm not inert in this struggle.
Equality among men cannot be attained for a very simple reason. Most men and women are complete fools. Just look at what they value and who and what they lend their support to. Then there is a fairly large minority who will do anything to anyone to get what they want. the very definition of evil. This speaks to moral equality. Now we must address ability rather than worthiness. To be worthy a man must embrace all that is good and fight evil where ever it is encountered. This is the moral burden each man carries to his grave. Ability has no moral compass, Knows no alliances to the Good. Ability is given to good and evil men alike. If one encounters one twice as smart or twice as able this tells one nothing concerning that persons morality. Ability can accomplish. This is all we know of one with ability. We know nothing concerning what Ability wishes to accomplish.For that we must look to our experience of that individual. The I-Ching tells us that if we want to know what anyone is like, Weather a person is an inferior man or a Superior man we need only look upon who and what he bestows his care. It is further said that the sage bestows his care upon Superior men in order to care for all of mankind thought them. The simple truth is that we are not born into equality. Men very as to disposition as well as inner worth, up rightness and a capacity to love. These are separate things. A loving heart is no guaranty that one will be intelligent. Intelligence cannot give love it may not have. Each and every person I have come to know in this forums is a infinity better man than Trump. That is not a problem, that is the way of men, Good and evil, intelligent or stupid, courageous or cowardly. These are qualities men share at very great disproportion. i.e. Some men are great beyond our ability to assess. Some men live in admiration Of Hitler. While regrettable this is not a great problem for humanity or human progress. Here is what cripples us on our journey. When Superior men are pushed out of the places of power that inferior and evil men might thrive at the expense of all mankind. Trump is not a real problem as a general rule the law will out him in his evil and punishment will be rendered. That trump has gained power is unspeakably evil no matter how many fools and inferior men voted for him. Fools are always the first to pay for incompetent or corrupt leadership. When superior men rule inferior men are kept in check. They are somewhat improved by the preponderating influence of superior men, One does not proclaim oneself a racist while in the company of good men. As good men will shun his evil mindedness. Mankind knows no equality beyond what good men have given us. Good men have given us the Law. Where men in all other things differ as to education and talent Only before the law will we ever stand as equals. It is to the law and to the spirit that Good men cling. and in so doing bring about order through social justice, Trump himself is of ZERO consequence. There will always be evil men standing in the road to human progress. Trump as president is catastrophic. He is largely where he is because the voter forgot that men are not created equal. It matters who you give your allegiance to. This is no simple mistake alone the way. This is the highway to hell. We were never meant to be equals in our abilities or our fortunes. We WERE called upon to be just when we meet our superiors and kindly toward our inferiors. It is only when superior men are pushed from leadership that our inequality becomes our problem. "All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men should do nothing." We each have our gifts, every man must face his own defects to become who he is. To become who we are i the first step to greatness. So here we find a different kind of equality. Another way to measure a man. A man can be measured by his progress in becoming who he was meant to be. But this is not mankind's measure to take. For we cannot know this of ourselves or of others. We equally stand before Heavens judgement and all will be held accountable for what they became. I.e Did they truly become who they are. Or did they only please themselves or others in vanity? "Heaven treats all men as straw dogs." This means that we are all judge by the same law. Heaven has no favorites. The greatest of talents, the accumulation of knowledge or wealth, Battles won or lost mean nothing, Heaven judgement is simple as it is refined. Did you become whom you were created to be. And Baby, it's pass or fail! "It is better to do your own duty however lowly than to do the duty of another no mater how exalted." Be who you were meant to be and you will be received by that which intended your birth. All else is utter and abject failure. How can any succeeded at any thing if you fail to become who you are?
In addition to my previous post. It is my view that not everyone walking about in human form is a human being. It is my good fortune that I am not called upon to make that determination. But the Gracys and Trumps of this world really do seem to cry out for another classification. A creature that finds joy in bringing sorrow will never a human make. If you prefer to see this as merely a spectrum of humanity, i have no problem with that. But when no animal behaves in this way, causing pain to gain pleasure One doubts how natural trump can be. In nature where there is one there is most likely many. I suppose, for me, it comes down to weather we believe that becoming human is an obligation, not a birth right or a gift. So are there those who never had the opportunity to become human? I don't really know. I do know that many fail to behave in a human manner.
I should have been much more clear that I meant equality in income and worldly goods. This won't happen, yet the poor can be lifted through the loss of some of the wealth of the rich and powerful. The disparity twixt poor and rich has never before yawned this wide. Too few have nearly every soupçon of everything. And far too many barely have enough to breathe. Yes, it has always been so. But to such a mountainous degree is new. And unsupportable for long. The powerful believe that they deserve everything because they worked for it. This is not true. Inheritance and good luck are much more responsible.
