White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election

[rocks 494]

i have come to the conclusion that if someone votes republican it is for one of two reasons. either they don't think they should pay their fair share of taxes or are badly educated.

It's sort of true. The Republican party has its support base mainly among

1) the "soccer mom / joe sixpack" types who tend to be anti-choice, anti-gay-marriage, NRA card-carrying white christian conservatives, and

2) "the powers that be" - a group of very wealthy and powerful people whose views drive American policy. They have interests in keeping a conservative state at home and an aggressive imperial force abroad.

charles, you don't think you belong to one of those groups?

this is a different position than your earlier post........

no, it isn't. either you are;

1) poorly educated

or

2) don't think you need to pay your fair share of taxes.

Well I don't know about Charles, but I belong to neither group.

I'm anti-religion (Dem), pro-guns (GOP), pro-choice (Dem), pro-gay-marriage (Dem) and anti-tax (GOP).

I'm against all sorts of government handouts, except for the elderly and disabled (GOP).

I'm pro-Israel (both Dem and GOP?)

I want a smaller government and support an aggressive imperial force abroad (GOP).

I'm against the Patriot Act and the surveillance state (Dem).

I want to secure the borders (GOP), but I'm against the aggressive enforcement of immigration laws (Dem).

It's 6 vs 6 so far... call me undecided.

i'm anti-religion affecting the government (dem), i care about the environment (dem), i think welfare is a good idea (dem), i'm against unions though (gop)

i think it is normal to not agree with everything either side say. that would be like being married and not ever having an arguement

i guess my original point was targeted at die hard republicans who won't budge on anything, rednecks. there's a lot here (in the deep south). i don't think for a second that anyone who comes on here falls into that category.

Edited October 7, 2008 by rocks

[Heracles 417]

lol, ok. if you want to get #######, my family were persecuted by catholics, chased out of their own country and forced to be refugees. it is still not comparable to slavery, racism and black oppression... do you suffer racism due to being australian? in paris if you are black you can't even get a cab. and lets not start talk about aborigines.

The whole point was that this is not a pissing contest on who was suppressed more. There are not too many races in the world who have lived an easy life. The only difference with AA is that they where pretty much the last to be subjected to it.

[Peikko 1,575]

You believe that sincerely, don't you BY? Education...

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

Well I don't know about Charles, but I belong to neither group.

I'm anti-religion (Dem), pro-guns (GOP), pro-choice (Dem), pro-gay-marriage (Dem) and anti-tax (GOP).

I'm against all sorts of government handouts, except for the elderly and disabled (GOP).

I'm pro-Israel (both Dem and GOP?)

I want a smaller government and support an aggressive imperial force abroad (GOP).

I'm against the Patriot Act and the surveillance state (Dem).

I want to secure the borders (GOP), but I'm against the aggressive enforcement of immigration laws (Dem).

It's 6 vs 6 so far... call me undecided.

pro religion, guns, choice, gay marriage, anti-tax. 3 gop 2 dem

agreed on handouts, israel, smaller government and aggressive force abroad - 4 gop

neutral to slightly positive on patriot act, so gop

secure borders aggressive enforcement of immigration laws - both gop.

so i pretty much come down on the side of gop overall.

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

i guess my original point was targeted at die hard republicans who won't budge on anything, rednecks. there's a lot here (in the deep south). i don't think for a second that anyone who comes on here falls into that category.

i've met quite a few "rednecks" (which btw i consider to be a disparaging term) who are strongly democratic.

[mawilson 2,133]

Are you anti all tax? Or just that tax which leads to 'hand out' programs?

I'm anti-tax-hike-on-those-who-make-more-than-$250,000.

[rocks 494]

lol, ok. if you want to get #######, my family were persecuted by catholics, chased out of their own country and forced to be refugees. it is still not comparable to slavery, racism and black oppression... do you suffer racism due to being australian? in paris if you are black you can't even get a cab. and lets not start talk about aborigines.

The whole point was that this is not a pissing contest on who was suppressed more. There are not too many races in the world who have lived an easy life. The only difference with AA is that they where pretty much the last to be subjected to it.

like i said neither of our stories are comparable to black oppression simply because now it is not an issue. i don't get grief for having protestant history and you don't for being australian (i hope hehe). racism is still rife though.

and what about aborigines? i said i wasn't going to mention it but the whole "stolen generation" thing was sadly still happening until very recently. i don't think the problem is about how recent it was, although it does play a part in it.

[Peikko 1,575]

Are you anti all tax? Or just that tax which leads to 'hand out' programs?

I'm anti-tax-hike-on-those-who-make-more-than-$250,000.

Fair enough - I wasn't trying to be quite that nosy though

[rocks 494]

i guess my original point was targeted at die hard republicans who won't budge on anything, rednecks. there's a lot here (in the deep south). i don't think for a second that anyone who comes on here falls into that category.

i've met quite a few "rednecks" (which btw i consider to be a disparaging term) who are strongly democratic.

you think it's disparaging? have you been to the south? just an hour ago i saw a truck drive by with the word REDNECK across the windshield. it is very very common here, people are proud of it.

[Heracles 417]

like i said neither of our stories are comparable to black oppression simply because now it is not an issue. i don't get grief for having protestant history and you don't for being australian (i hope hehe). racism is still rife though.

and what about aborigines? i said i wasn't going to mention it but the whole "stolen generation" thing was sadly still happening until very recently. i don't think the problem is about how recent it was, although it does play a part in it.

The aborigines are a different story. Yes they got the short end of the stick when England took over the continent. The Australian government is doing and has done a lot to assist them integrating into Australia and improving their living standards. Culture cannot be changed overnight though. For example, they have had to designate large remote areas as dry zones to stop the huge problem of alcohol abuse facing their community.

This is something which cannot happen in the United States due to this or that freedom or "constitutionally protected right" being violated. Hence why nothing changes here. On top of that anyone who speaks up against the issues facing inner city African American communities is branded a racist. Just the other day I read how a teenager was strangled at school. We have people here saying that lack of education is the problem. WRONG! The rampant and uncontrolled crime wave is the issue. You can give a kid all the money and facilities in the world to get an education but if they cannot go to school or live in a safe area, they are never going to get an education. I don't know of many people who would be concerned over algebra rather than surviving the day.

Edited October 7, 2008 by Aficionado

[HAL 9000 96]

I do think rocks oversimplified his/her conclusion. Potentially it should be taken as a joke?

With any conclusion, one should consider that its a personal decision.

I wouldn't call Charles dumb nor would I challenge the notion that skirting taxes is unfair- unless you are one of the few wealthy members of society in that top 2-5% of the earning pyramid.

it's her. and ya, take everything i say with a pinch of salt. this is an internet forum after all. and i definitely never called him dumb. i did ask which group he thought he belonged to, but i was being sarcastic. obviously there are exceptions to what i said, i was mostly being inflammatory. back home i would probably vote for the conservative party but not here, so ya, i know there are exceptions

That's cool. Just beware that many folks of the conservative mindset tend to have a predilection to overgeneralizations that sometimes aren't really there...

[HAL 9000 96]

like i said neither of our stories are comparable to black oppression simply because now it is not an issue. i don't get grief for having protestant history and you don't for being australian (i hope hehe). racism is still rife though.

and what about aborigines? i said i wasn't going to mention it but the whole "stolen generation" thing was sadly still happening until very recently. i don't think the problem is about how recent it was, although it does play a part in it.

The aborigines are a different story. Yes they got the short end of the stick when England took over the continent. The Australian government is doing and has done a lot to assist them integrating into Australia and improving their living standards. Culture cannot be changed overnight though. For example, they have had to designate large remote areas as dry zones to stop the huge problem of alcohol abuse facing their community.

This is something which cannot happen in the United States due to this or that freedom or "constitutionally protected right" being violated. Hence why nothing changes here. On top of that anyone who speaks up against the issues facing inner city African American communities is branded a racist. Just the other day I read how a teenager was strangled at school. We have people here saying that lack of education is the problem. WRONG! The rampant and uncontrolled crime wave is the issue. You can give a kid all the money and facilities in the world to get an education but if they cannot go to school or live in a safe area, they are never going to get an education. I don't know of many people who would be concerned over algebra rather than surviving the day.

When you treat issues in an all or nothing fashion, nothing gets done.

[IAMX 3,055]

I'm anti-religion (Dem), pro-guns (GOP), pro-choice (Dem), pro-gay-marriage (Dem) and anti-tax (GOP).

I'm against all sorts of government handouts, except for the elderly and disabled (GOP).

I'm pro-Israel (both Dem and GOP?)

I want a smaller government and support an aggressive imperial force abroad (GOP).

I'm against the Patriot Act and the surveillance state (Dem).

I want to secure the borders (GOP), but I'm against the aggressive enforcement of immigration laws (Dem).

It's 6 vs 6 so far... call me undecided.

Naice. I don't even group myself with either, but just for fun..

Pro religion [not religious myself, but see it better that many are religious, just wish they'd not enforce it on others] (GOP)

Pro Guns (GOP/Libertarian) with heavy restrictions on them (Dem) .. plus an aggressive vehicle-like annual registration to ensure responsibility and liability, and thorough background to prevent certain recidivists from attaining them

Pro restriction of religion and government collusion (Libertarian)

For financial aid education or government subsidizing post-high school education (Socialist)

For universal health care for every single citizen who pays taxes if able to [i.e. working class, children, students, elderly, disabled] (Socialist)

Pro don't-give-a-sh!t-about-Israel, and pro don't-give-any-money-to-them-without-something-in-return (none)

Pro secure the borders (GOP)

Pro rigid/aggressive enforcement of immigration laws (GOP)

Anti-surveillance/security state (Socialist/Libertarian)

Pro gay marriage (Dem/Socialist/Libertarian[except Barr])

Anti PATRIOT Act (anyone but GOP)

Anti Iraq War (Dem/Socialist)

Pro choice (Dem/Socialist/Libertarian[again, except Barr])

Pro tax and heavily pro oversight/transparency (Socialist)

[HAL 9000 96]

Pro human here. Nuff said.

[mawilson 2,133]

Pro human here. Nuff said.

What's that?