Comments on: Palin Dromemord Nilap

By: Dain

Dain — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:15:04 +0000

Why is representation in political spots any kind of indicator of a lack of, or excess of, racism/sexism? Asian Americans are badly represented in politics proportionate to their numbers in the polity but hardly oppressed generally speaking, if oppression is defined as somehow deficient in socio-economic power. They “do” rather well.

A racial group can be simply uninterested in political activity and simultaneously without an anti-statist philosophy.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:54:37 +0000

not having passport until last year I guess she travels to the lower 48 by plane, not car. Would you say the same if they had secured the top position in the mafia? Yes, of course I would. Surely it is better for “gender and race equality” that black and female persons be dissuaded from taking up such immoral pursuits and not encouraged in them however? If the lower representation of women and minorities in the highest political spots were the result of women and minorities being disproportionately antistatist I'd say hurray. But when they're just as statist as the rest if the population but still don't get into the top spots, that shows that society has a racism/sexism problem in addition to its statism problem. Any diminution in the racism.sexism problem is a good thing and worth cheering for even when it's not accompanied by a diminution in the statism problem (and of course vice versa).

By: Paul Coulam

Paul Coulam — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:00:43 +0000

“The status of Obama and Palin is no advance for liberty, but it is an advance for race and gender equality.”

Why is a place in a hierarchy of a criminal gang of a black or female person an advance for race and gender equality? Would you say the same if they had secured the top position in the mafia?

Surely it is better for “gender and race equality” that black and female persons be dissuaded from taking up such immoral pursuits and not encouraged in them however?

By: scineram

scineram — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:01:30 +0000

I like her foreign policy experience and not having passport until last year. If hopefully McCrazy gets a heart attack or whatever you might have a president who does not know or care about what other countries do.

By: Black Bloke

Black Bloke — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:42:57 +0000

The thing to keep in mind though is the fact that the state or ruling class does not derive ex nihilo, or exist in a vacuum, as Roderick and Charles have said in other contexts the state is mutually supported by other oppressive institutions or behaviors (e.g. the patriarchy, racial hierarchy/white privilege, etc.). In other words the state is supported by the attitudes and beliefs of the people. If the state is finding that it is able remain successful even with a black man, and a woman, it represents a watershed shift in the attitudes of the people, the very people and attitudes that support the state.

I’ll have to do more thinking on this topic, so forgive me if I don’t make the most sense in the above.

By: Bob Kaercher

Bob Kaercher — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:03:23 +0000

“The status of Obama and Palin is no advance for liberty, but it is an advance for race and gender equality.’

But in this context, equality of what? Equality of power over others. I don’t know if the prospect of a black man or a woman being as privileged as any white male bureaucrat to initiate violence against the rest of us is really such an advance for racial and gender equality in principle.

The prospect of President Obama bombing Afghans or Vice President Palin helping President McCain overturn Roe v. Wade is hardly any victory for racial or gender equality to which I could even give a half-hearted cheer.

By: William H. Stoddard

William H. Stoddard — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:58:43 +0000

I rather like the thought of Michael Palin as the vice president. Perhaps the United States could also acquire a Department of Silly Walks. (It wouldn’t be a Ministry in this country. . . .)

By: Chris Baker

Chris Baker — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:05:24 +0000

I’m very intrigued by this pick. This woman is about as un-DC as you can get. Keep in mind that she comes from the state which has probably has the most significant secessionist movement of all 50 states.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:47:24 +0000

Yeah, what BB said is about right. More broadly: liberty is a good thing, and race and gender equality are also good things. Liberty and race/gender equality are connected by various thickness relations (and have often been violated in tandem), but are not identical. The status of Obama and Palin is no advance for liberty, but it is an advance for race and gender equality.

By: Black Bloke

Black Bloke — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:58:30 +0000

I’d say that the only thing that’s cheering is that it represents a change in priorities for the ruling class. Rather than seeking out women and racial minorities as special targets for oppression, they are now beyond that and have embraced them as worthy to join them in ruling over the remaining oppressed people. For someone who keeps in mind the monstrous past injustices levied against the former groups (i.e. women and blacks) by the ruling class, it is a mildly cheering fact to behold this, but ti’s still cold comfort to one who wants no ruling class at all.

I suspect that Roderick might say something like that ^^^, and if it’s not, it’s now what I’ve just said.