[I have already discussed on the Left in the United States is really pretty "center Right" in the global scheme of politics. But for the sake of this piece, we will consider the Democratic Party the "center Left." Although I find this problematic, I just have to accept it. Considering the Right (GOP) is farther right then the DNC, we will consider the Democratic Party to be "Left."]
Yesterday, I mentioned that I was not happy with Adsense, displaying ads such as Newsmax and anti-minorities links. I logged into Facebook yesterday, and there was an advert to “remember in November” to “stop Obama and Obamacare.” I don’t have a problem with allowing the Conservatives to advertise their views. Quite contrarily, I agree with it. Everyone should be given a venue to espouse whatever concept they wish. (I did go to UC Berkeley, and even enjoyed the elderly, black man that would scream “Jesus wants you to be a racist!”, the man who would scream about the Jewish Armageddon that was about to descend upon us, or the man with the anti-petrol sign that would just say to everyone “Your mother loves you.”) But, I see these massive campaigns against the Democratic party, and all leftists. Someone is feeding the Tea Party a steady stream of propaganda (Fox). On the left, there is no cohesion.
You have the center-Left Democrats, that support a more Keynesian economic platform, than a Hobbesian “Free Market.” You also have various Socialists, Communists, Marxists, Anarchists, and whatever other “Left” leaning ideology you can imagine. None of these groups work together. The Democratic Party wants no association with Ultra-Left ideology. So, everyone left of center ends up a “marginalized fringe.”
Farther, there is no cohesion within the Ultra-Left. The Socialists won’t work with the Marxists or the Communists. The Black Nationalists won’t work with any other Socialists, Marxists, Communists, Anarchists, etc. It all goes on, because everyone gets hung up on minutia.
The problem with this is that many of the primary goals of ALL of these groups is the same. Fair labor rules, fair market regulation, equality under the law, equality in the workplace, elimination of poverty, healthcare for every citizen. (These are just key issues, but I find there are many, many more commonalities.) Do the Marxists want to marginalize the Latinos in America? Surely not. If anything, the Marxists and Socialists care just as much about fair labor rules for Latino/Chicano laborers as any other group, maybe more. Do the Marxists or the Socialists promote racism? Obviously not, how is that equality under the law? Do the Anarchists support any inequalities at all? Not in my experience. Do the Democrats want more social stratification? Less aid to the poor or impoverished families? Does the DNC want less fair workplace environments, hiring policies and legal treatment? I highly doubt it.
All of these groups have a common “enemy.” I do not use “enemy” as a loaded term. This is not a war. This is not about violence, or any physical means of attack. Its an ideological enemy. Conservativism believes in aristocracy, class stratification, unfettered corporate progress and a “free market.” EVERYONE on the left opposes these things. Why can’t everyone on the Left stand against these things? Why can’t the DNC ask the rest of the Left for support? Well, there is one reason.
McCarthyism, and the Cold War in general, did a number of the American psyche and created memes against keywords. As soon as the word “Socialist” or “Communist” is espoused, the Tea Party loads their guns. The pundits on Fox and Friends decide to launch an all out attack to tear them down, and the DNC ultimately loses votes. I understand this problem and empathize with it. But, I really need to say, “so what?”
Pay for advertisements to explain that you don’t care if it is considered “socialist” to do something, because it is what is fair. Explain that your goal is govern, not run a business. Our rights are not a corporate “mission statement.” There is no profit motive for guaranteeing equal rights under the law, the freedom to assemble, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, etc. Get the Anarchists and the Socialists and the Communists and everyone else in the Ultra-Left to support you. Any Socialist or Marxist can explain plenty of things FOR you. They will be the first to point out they are anti-fascism. (Fascism is far right – this is a fact, and as debatable as gravity.) They will also be the first to point out they are not Left Liberals. They also can be valuable allies.
To everyone else on the Ultra-Left: Stop fighting over ideological bullshit while your primary goals are being squandered. If you truly believe you are right, would you rather convince the Democrats that you are right, or a Tea Party rally? Who is going to benefit you more? If you want to promote Black Nationalism, is that ever going to happen with the GOP in power? With the Tea Party roving around Virginia with loaded weapons? If you are a proponent of a Socialist economy, are you ever going to convince the Far Right this is plausible? Would you rather they be in charge? Your lack of support for the Democratic Party is only hurting you, and everyone else. Your fragmentation only farther marginalizes you and makes you irrelevant. You are becoming your own worst enemy.
This is a track from the new album from the Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) Album “Punkara.”
I figure, this is probably the best “first song” to put up here.
When I get a referral link, I’ll put one up.
Does anyone have any preferences regarding purchasing music online? iTunes, Napster, Whatever? Do any of you still purchase music? (If you do not, which I cannot condone, I hope you at least attend shows or buy merchandise of the artists you like. They can’t survive on pure enjoyment alone.)
Being noticed by Lawrence Auster brought a few of his followers to this site. A few debates on “race” ensued. What made me curious was his use of the current social-political environment of South Africa to perpetuate the “white fear” agenda. But, I don’t want to really talk about South Africa. What I find concerning is the American concept of “race.” It is not limited to America, but this is where I’m limiting my concern for today. I feel like most people in the United States think “race” or racial classification, is something it is not. (I also do not believe that this blog entry will actually change that, but I’m still doing it for my own sake.) I can start with my conclusion: The social concept of race is not scientific, but does exist as a social classification.
In taxonomy, “race” is used to describe subspecies. All human beings are homo sapiens sapiens. There is no genetic basis for racial classification. I don’t know how many times I have to state this, but apparently, I cannot be overstated. Many people believe human “races” are as different as dogs and cats. Not only is this unfounded, science actually contradicts it. Through genetic mapping, we know that majority of the world population has any variation of “racial genetic makeup.” This has become an alarmingly popular topic recently, as President Obama comes from “mixed parentage.” I read several articles, a few on the Huffington Post, mentioning President Obama “denying his white ancestry” or similar topics. Well, what about the rest of Black America? On average, African Americans are genetically 30% to 60% African. Do they get to claim to be of “mixed parentage” as well? And what of White Americans who have more then 40% African genetic markers? What if someone is 30% Asian, 50% European, and 20% African? I could also go into the fact that these physical traits are not clustered. You can have two siblings with the same parents and two different noses, but the same brow. I really don’t want to go into genetic clustered traits and clines and all of that.
Quite simply: genetics are not like mixing paint, they are more like playing roulette.
**I stated in the original entry that I would edit and update this entry when I had some time. Since, it has already received comments, I felt I should make time, to truly represent myself and this site.**
I saw Carl Hancock Rux stated that he was looking for the entymology of the term “post-racial.” (Spell check recognizes Entomology but not Entymology.) I was curious myself, and started a simply search query. I ended up on this blog entry, on “A View From The Right.” The tagline for the site is “The passing scene and what it’s about viewed from the traditionalist politically incorrect Right.” The blog is authored by Lawrence Auster. So, if this is a “View from the Right,” this is why I don’t consider myself either “Left” or “Right.” I had to look up Lawrence Auster, after a few pages of reading. I admit that I did not know who this man was prior to finding this site. Once again, the Southern Poverty Law Center beat me to classifying this man’s persona as it should be classified.
The entry that led me to this site was on a blog entry entitled “What is Post Racial America?“ I thought, “this might be interesting, I’m curious myself.” Well, Auster goes on a rant about minorities, specifically non-whites, and blames them for all of the racial issues in America. He states that post-racial is not here because of minorities refusal to accept white supremacy. (That is what I took away from it.) There was not one mention of any racist acts or issues perpetrated by whites in his entire entry. I would be remiss if I were to do the opposite, and simply blame White America for all of America’s racial issues. Still, who was it that classified “race” in America? Who drew the lines? Who set up the levels of privilege based on “racial” classifications? Anyway, the whole point of this long boring story is the few interesting points it raises.
I perused a large amount of the site. Let me say that the front page of the site appeared very similar to Stormfront. Everything is slanted against everyone and anyone who is browner than Anglo, but especially those of African diaspora. Almost every story is one regarding Blacks and/or Muslims (in a negative light). This is not just “politically incorrect.” It’s racist propaganda. (It is politically incorrect, because it isolates such a large voting base, there is no way you can achieve any level of success in this representative government.) Sorry, Larry, you are just a racist. You can hide under any umbrella you wish, like “traditionally conservative.” (That would make you a Democrat, wouldn’t it? Since the Republican party was traditionally the part of equal rights.) You can even hide under the guise of being an idiot. I am being a bit brash, but it is because I’m just tired of this racist rhetoric hiding under the guise of being an “unpopular truth” or a “conservative opinion.”
So, Mr. Auster, do you mean Conservative as a supporter of an aristocratic monarchy with subjugated peasants and surfs? Then, yes, you are a Conservative. So is Kim Jong Il, apparently.
