tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post834996976872056114..comments2024-03-29T05:33:43.878-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Hate: It Breaks My HeartOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-66289083750689323802019-09-11T07:58:51.256-04:002019-09-11T07:58:51.256-04:00Well, Annamaria, there are lots of white well-educ...Well, Annamaria, there are lots of white well-educated people who voted for and support Trump. Look at the Senate. Look at Fox TV. Have you heard any millionaires, billionaires, corporate heads, bankers, Wall Street moguls criticize Trump's racism and xenophobia? Even misogyny? Not really.<br />Two neighbors voted for Trump, women. I was shocked. One waved away the misogyny stuff; it was the tax cuts she wanted. The other one is an anti-vaxxer and I think anti-science. I haven't discussed it more.<br />It's a dilemma. The Dems aren't making people happy by limiting debates on the climate crisis, a major issue for everyone.<br />Meanwhile, people are losing health insurance due to the whittling away at the ACA since Trumpism took over. <br />There is a lot more to discuss on this and it will come out. If the economy tanks, there goes Trump unless he can wiggle his way out of it.Kathy D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18418720666849497808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-26203724995343524272019-09-09T16:29:40.399-04:002019-09-09T16:29:40.399-04:00Here is the Washington Post's analysis of the ...Here is the Washington Post's analysis of the South African xenophobia issue. It's pretty clear that the current leadership has a lot to answer for also. And other African countries are starting to call them on it.<br /><br />https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/09/whats-behind-south-africas-xenophobic-violence-last-week/?wpisrc=nl_cage&wpmm=1Michael Sears (of Michael Stanley)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09886295534214542834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-83352429980789036092019-09-09T15:55:09.021-04:002019-09-09T15:55:09.021-04:00Stan, how terribly sad! Th oppressed double punis...Stan, how terribly sad! Th oppressed double punished. There is a US. corollary. As I am sure you know, many of the immigrants to the US come to us as Brain-Drain people with advanced degrees that they earned in tuition-free countries. Whereas the children of unemployed coal miners and any other disadvantaged American would have to go into heavy debt to get an undergraduate degree. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-82125313121350683792019-09-09T15:53:13.381-04:002019-09-09T15:53:13.381-04:00I wasn't clear, I wasn't referring to thos...I wasn't clear, I wasn't referring to those under-educated-because-they-couldn't-afford-the-time-or-money-to-get-educated people. I was referring to the folks today who've somehow made it through high school and are still unwilling to apply the brains they have to the problems at hand. It doesn't take Einstein to realize that DJT is (was) a very bad choice (for anything...). Yet, somehow, a dump-truck load of idiots came to the conclusion that he WAS. And, now, they get interviewed on TV, and say, "Wull, I voted for him last time, but I sure ain't going to THIS time, because...[insert choice of ruined jobs, healthcare, etc. that has resulted] In my mind, it's not a lack of education that lead to this contretemps, but rather an unwillingness to LOOK beyond their nose, voting (as usual) with their emotions rather than their REASONING.<br /><br />"Laziness" was perhaps the wrong characterization, perhaps "blind, mule-headed stubbornness" would be closer, but either way, it boils down to not LOOKING at the way the world works, how people work/behave. It's something that pretty much anyone is CAPABLE of, regardless of their IQ, you just have to watch the people around you instead of gazing at your navel all the time. But far too much of the population seem unwilling to do that.<br /><br />I agree that they have the right to vote. It doesn't mean I like the fact that they are one-issue voters who allow themselves to be manipulated because of that. I yield on the word 'lazy' (although I think it does apply to the use many of them make of their brains). Perhaps "small minded" might be more accurate, in the sense that they rarely look beyond their four walls.<br /><br />Ack, these are the kinds of things that take a few hours and several bottles of wine (or glasses of beer or fruit juice or your beverage of choice) to discuss.<br /><br />Sigh.Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-80657883265356281132019-09-09T14:09:15.505-04:002019-09-09T14:09:15.505-04:00I think you really are my sis, raised as I was in ...I think you really are my sis, raised as I was in Western PA ... and educated in coal country. Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-69042837899696221112019-09-09T13:55:12.806-04:002019-09-09T13:55:12.806-04:00One of the problems in South Africa is that immigr...One of the problems in South Africa is that immigrants from other African countries are better educated than many South Africans - for a variety of reasons, most of which are tied to the apartheid legacy. So South Africans hire the immigrants over locals; and immigrants successfully start small businesses. I cry for the locals who were shafted by our previous government and are now being shafted by the influx of better-educated immigrants. Although I understand the frustrations, I cannot condone the violence to persons or property. However, it sometimes take this sort of protest to change things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-21631276768101521552019-09-09T11:54:29.289-04:002019-09-09T11:54:29.289-04:00I think we disagree here for the very first time i...I think we disagree here for the very first time in these precincts, EvKa. I see the lives of those men much differently. For some, choices were eliminated pretty much when the sperm hit the egg and they inherited average IQs and then were born into a world of meritocracy without the requisite potential for higher education. I doubt very much that, when they had jobs in coal mines or steel mills, those swing voters were what you would call lazy. Undereducated, very likely, but that is very likely not their fault. They left school at 16 and went down the mine, like their fathers and uncles before them. Because that’s what men “like them” did. Other ambitions were to them as unicorns are to us. Myths only fools thought were real.<br /><br />At the very least, we must all understand that—even if we hate them for their lack of get up and go—they have the right to vote. And they very likely will. If we want a different President next year, we will ignore those “lazily-good-for-nothings” to our peril. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-9451065372856116902019-09-09T10:58:17.810-04:002019-09-09T10:58:17.810-04:00I agree, I hate hate. But I hate laziness even mor...I agree, I hate hate. But I hate laziness even more. If you're lacking in intelligence, okay, it's hard to make good choices. But when you make bad choices, letting your emotions sway your decisions without thinking things through, when you choose not to do things you know you should do, just because it takes a little energy, when you fail to learn from history, then YOU are the problem, and YOU are causing problems for everyone else. You're not being stupid, you're being an idiot for letting your laziness ruin the future like a turd in a punch bowl. Most people are smart enough to make better decisions, they just can't be bothered.<br /><br />"Swing voters" always cause my teeth to ache. Learn to think, to evaluate, to reason. It's not that hard.Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-36503417116927121992019-09-09T10:40:22.112-04:002019-09-09T10:40:22.112-04:00Yes, but I worry about all the myriad losers if Ag...Yes, but I worry about all the myriad losers if Agent Orange wins again.Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-52462770580979914662019-09-09T09:24:10.351-04:002019-09-09T09:24:10.351-04:00I fear you may be right. I have a "hedge"...I fear you may be right. I have a "hedge" bet on the result - that Trump will win. Then I win either way!Michael Sears (of Michael Stanley)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09886295534214542834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-78272578817854739322019-09-09T09:14:55.868-04:002019-09-09T09:14:55.868-04:00Not depressed exactly, Michael. But afraid about ...Not depressed exactly, Michael. But afraid about the next election here. Many of my friends, like me passionately progressive, are attacking Democratic hopefuls from the left. The way they did Clinton in the last election. Others say they will not vote for another man. Or white person. But, my untutored view is that, like the last time around, it will be the likes of those unemployed coal miners, the natural allies of the Democratic Party, who will decide the election. Swing voters, we call them these days. They need to be considered. Heavily. But many passionate Democrats do not see that our party has to appeal to them, bring them back under the tent so to speak. I am worried that the Dems will run a candidate that ignores this reality. Scary!Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-49090078753339591842019-09-09T04:46:11.338-04:002019-09-09T04:46:11.338-04:00So true, Annamaria. I'm depressed that you, al...So true, Annamaria. I'm depressed that you, always positive, are discouraged.<br /><br />Sadly, we see it in South Africa too. Bad enough the ill feelings - often hate - between races, tribes, groups. We are now suffering through a wave of xenophobia where - like your grandfather - anyone who is foreign, or associated with foreigners, is a target. Attacks, looting, burning. Ten people are dead already. A good friend who is a (white) doctor and has his rooms downtown - where he treats mainly blacks at low rates - had his rooms burnt and lost everything. They lost their doctor.<br /><br />Why the hate? I think, like your coal miners, when you have no job and no hope you need to search out who is to blame. The answer is usually whoever seems to be doing okay, is different in some way, and is reachable. Maybe no one is to blame. Or worse, you yourself are to blame. Those are not acceptable answers for many people, however.<br />Michael Sears (of Michael Stanley)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09886295534214542834noreply@blogger.com