"It's helpful to bring that kind of "story problem" to the table to help make the abstract concept of oppression more tangible!"
Yep, definitely. "Oppression" like pretty much every word the culture wars touches, has become next to meaningless today. I don't think J even knows what he means when he says it.
"It's helpful to bring that kind of "story problem" to the table to help make the abstract concept of oppression more tangible!"
Yep, definitely. "Oppression" like pretty much every word the culture wars touches, has become next to meaningless today. I don't think J even knows what he means when he says it.
What I *think* he means is that he's internalised the views of the most ardent racists he's ever heard of, those views understandably make him feel "devalued", and he blames "oppression" for the doubts and insecurities those racist views cause instead of recognising that he's the one validating them. I should have pushed a little harder in asking him exactly *how* he thinks he's oppressed.
And yes, seeing past the fallacy of race means letting go of numerous other ideas like shared racial guilt or shared racial victimhood. The conversation around reparations very quickly stops making sense when you think in terms of race. Whereas if you think in terms of need, it's quite easy to figure out where money should be invested in order to help the maximum number of people.
The good news for reparations supporters is that black people *would* be disproportionately helped by any serious attempt to combat poverty. And rightly so in my opinion.
Again, so well articulated! A great question to ask - HOW are YOU oppressed - and also maybe WHAT have you done to address that in YOUR life? And YES, whatever we can collectively provide to reduce poverty and income inequality will help everyone live better lives. And maybe this is too Polyanna, but it could even begin to resolve the dangerous political animosity in the US that's partially fueled by the current confused paradigm around race that completely ignores the challenges of low-wealth white people.
Thanks for being one of the brave truth-tellers in our world community!
"It's helpful to bring that kind of "story problem" to the table to help make the abstract concept of oppression more tangible!"
Yep, definitely. "Oppression" like pretty much every word the culture wars touches, has become next to meaningless today. I don't think J even knows what he means when he says it.
What I *think* he means is that he's internalised the views of the most ardent racists he's ever heard of, those views understandably make him feel "devalued", and he blames "oppression" for the doubts and insecurities those racist views cause instead of recognising that he's the one validating them. I should have pushed a little harder in asking him exactly *how* he thinks he's oppressed.
And yes, seeing past the fallacy of race means letting go of numerous other ideas like shared racial guilt or shared racial victimhood. The conversation around reparations very quickly stops making sense when you think in terms of race. Whereas if you think in terms of need, it's quite easy to figure out where money should be invested in order to help the maximum number of people.
The good news for reparations supporters is that black people *would* be disproportionately helped by any serious attempt to combat poverty. And rightly so in my opinion.
Again, so well articulated! A great question to ask - HOW are YOU oppressed - and also maybe WHAT have you done to address that in YOUR life? And YES, whatever we can collectively provide to reduce poverty and income inequality will help everyone live better lives. And maybe this is too Polyanna, but it could even begin to resolve the dangerous political animosity in the US that's partially fueled by the current confused paradigm around race that completely ignores the challenges of low-wealth white people.
Thanks for being one of the brave truth-tellers in our world community!