171–180 of 324 posts
This is a horrific example of perseverance porn These people were exploited which is terrible. That the nation that exploited them was still more desirable to them than their former home is also terrible. That all they got in return for being exploited was what they were initially promised but decades later is terrible Everything presented here is terrible
This is a horrific example of perseverance porn These people were exploited which is terrible. That the nation that exploited them was still more desirable to them than their former home is also terrible. That all they got in return for being exploited was what they were initially promised but decades later is terrible Everything presented here is terrible
"Everything" is a bit uncharitable. There are people in that story who, when they found out about a historic wrong, did something about it. That's not terrible. There are people who are inspired by that act of doing the right thing, and have gone on to be partisans for righting similar wrongs. That's not terrible. That it happened is terrible. Ignoring the good that was done so that we can wallow in the bad is also t…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Everything" is a bit uncharitable. There are people in that story who, when they found out about a historic wrong, did something about it. That's not terrible. There are people who are inspired by that act of doing the right thing, and have gone on to be partisans for righting similar wrongs. That's not terrible. That it happened is terrible. Ignoring the good that was done so that we can wallow in the bad is also t…
The ratio of good vs. bad is what is terrible. The USA is severely lacking empathy.
"Their promised benefits were not even brought to a vote until 2008, when most of the happy men I saw that day were dead."
55 years after the "promise."
The title of the article has the same tension with its content as
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._(song)#Them...
There's also a certain similarity to the reflex reactions to the title overwhelming the perception of the subject of the work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Everything" is a bit uncharitable. There are people in that story who, when they found out about a historic wrong, did something about it. That's not terrible. There are people who are inspired by that act of doing the right thing, and have gone on to be partisans for righting similar wrongs. That's not terrible. That it happened is terrible. Ignoring the good that was done so that we can wallow in the bad is also t…
The ratio of good vs. bad is what is terrible. The USA is severely lacking empathy.
It's easy to just roll over and say everything is terrible. That's what happened to the people in this story; nobody was willing to try and do the right thing. Then, someone did. It's important to acknowledge the evil, but it's also important to hold up the good and say "Do this. You can make a difference."
Don't roll over and accept the evil as inevitable. It's not.
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It might be worth considering that murdered-on-tape-in-broad-daylight is at the extreme end of the spectrum of violence - both direct and indirect - that minorities experience throughout their lives. Otherwise you might end up with the belief that a black person's experience of the USA is only 0.0005% different to that of a white one's.
I think the point is that, though police violence is terrible and should absolutely be corrected, trying to summarize the United States with it is incredibly reductionist.
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I think the moral of the story is that America is flawed, however, it eventually does the right thing, as well as other great things. And that's why it engenders so much love/hate. I think it's very relevant to today's events, where people wants to "cancel" a person, just because of one or two things they did wrong (which may have just been the norm in their days). This is a slightly disturbing trends, as we can supp…
defeated Nazi Germany Correction: helped defeating Nazi Germany. Compare the number of American soldiers who fought in WW2 to the number of Soviet soldiers.
In general, the final granting of citizienship in this story seems mostly symbolic, similar to the exoneration of Alan Turing, just that at least some of the ill treated are still alive. It's good it happened and it should be encouraged to make amends for past wrongdoings. But it needs to be accompanied with a change in attitude. Otherwise, it's a hollow gesture, like a child saying sorry after hitting someone, because it learned there won't be consequences like that.
I think that's where peoples onlook on this differ. Is it a symbol of a nation going forward, internalizing the values it claims to build upon - or a mostly meaningless gesture in a system that hasn't really changed and would do it all over again.
Personally (as an outsider perspectice), I feel the US is changing, but the forces are pulling in many directions and it's slow. The current US seems to pay lip service only to human rights but embraces it for propaganda, I hope it works someday and the citiziens will hold its own country accountable to that.
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I think the point is that, though police violence is terrible and should absolutely be corrected, trying to summarize the United States with it is incredibly reductionist.
Maybe. Or maybe the point is that for some people systemic racism isn't just another abstract problem that doesn't really affect them every single day of their lives.
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What me and my family talked about today is that, as immigrants, we are so sad how much the "native born" people of the US hate their own country. They seem to never waste an opportunity to remind others of their disdain and it is more and more visible these days e.g. in big news media or on Twitter. Makes me sad and I hope this can change.
I feel like I might get downvoted for this, but a large part of it comes from a sense of guilt about clearly being the most successful and powerful country in the world. When nearly everyone else on earth constantly gives you shit (while also trying to enter...) many people here have started accepting those foreign perspectives and seeing themselves as spoiled and privileged. I can remember this being true from when…
And this to the rest of the world is typical America arrogance. I am sorry to be blunt, but I have to call it out.
I won't debate that the US is the most powerful country in the world. But 'most successful' is very debatable. I have been in the US often, and found that most Americans are far less well off than in other Western democracies. Most Americans have very few vacation days, poor healthcare, and are in a spot where losing their job means a large probability of falling into poverty. Plus your political system (democrat or republican) completely fails to serve most citizens.
To add to the offense, the nationalism instilled in many Americans makes it so that they believe that these are not failings of the system. After all, everyone can live the American dream, and if you do not make it, it is your own responsibility rather than that of the system that puts most people at a large disadvantage.
I would never even consider moving from Nothern/Western Europe to the US. Canada, maybe. Australia, New Zealand, possibly. But never the US.
As a father, a husband, a former soldier and an American, this brings a tear to my eye. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” - Lincoln As an American I feel we are bound not by our failures of past moral…
What me and my family talked about today is that, as immigrants, we are so sad how much the "native born" people of the US hate their own country. They seem to never waste an opportunity to remind others of their disdain and it is more and more visible these days e.g. in big news media or on Twitter. Makes me sad and I hope this can change.
It's easy to feel self-righteous when your opposition "hates".
I guarantee you someone out there thinks that I hate America, just because they extrapolate a whole set of beliefs from one thing I've said.
There are people out there (probably on your Nextdoor, because they're certainly on mine!), angry about BLM protests. Angry about the chaos. Angry about statues. Angry about violence. Angry about looting. People saying "if these protestors get in my way, I'mma run them over in my truck." People saying "if you want help defending your business, just say the word and me and my bros will come back you up". People saying "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." People like our president. Advocating extrajudicial execution of American citizens. Do they hate America? Why or why not?