jennypenny wrote:Let's suppose I completely agree that people voted for Trump because they are racist. Why do you think this is suddenly an issue? Did 60 million people just wake up this year and realize they are racist? People scapegoat when their backs are against the wall. If they weren't suffering economically, they wouldn't be looking for a scapegoat. We all know that bad times give rise to baser instincts. A normally honest person will gladly steal to feed their hungry child, and in that situation most would empathize.
this + 1000.
in brute's opinion, liberals are making in a huge mistake in moralizing their politics. yes, it leads to very passionate supporters. but it is based on a mistaken mental model of human consciousness.
racism isn't caused by moral failure, it is caused by lack of inoculation. the reason urban liberals are less afraid isn't because they're "better" humans, it's because they more exposure to brown/black/yellow/red/green colored humans with funny clothes.
if racism is viewed as a moral failure, and apparently it can't be shamed or trained out of those dumb red humans in the midwest, then the only solution is total annihilation. that's the strategy currently pursued by liberals. it's a pretty bad strategy, because the red humans have all the guns and all the food and, let's be honest, all the country. and as of the election, they additionally have the white house and congress and the senate.
in brute's opinion, liberals with moralizing identity politics are similar to past religious moral doctrines. when the church says x and y behavior are caused by moral failure, are morally bad, and must be shamed or punished, there is no positive-sum way out of the situation. inherently morally evil humans must be annihilated or at least suppressed.
turns out that was a pretty incorrect assumption - there is no such thing as "moral character" of humans. humans are very much context-sensitive animals. like JP said, if a human can't feed his kids, he'll think stealing is just fine.
the solution is not to create The New Order of Liberal Identity Politics with an inquisition. this strategy just failed dramatically.
the solution is slow inoculation of the dumb red humans in the midwest to whatever it is they're afraid of.
racism can't be beaten out of humans. but it can be slowly drained when they can get a ride to the auto shop from their muslim neighbor, or when they send their kids to the same school as a Mexican family. brute has pretty much zero fear of muslims because he grew up with muslim neighbors, had crushes on their daughters, admired the cool older boys with their fancy sports cars, and received bribes in the form of absurdly sweet candies in plenty. it's hard to be afraid of one's own baby sitter.
moralizing is not wrong in the moral sense, it is wrong in the scientific sense. there is no basis for the concept of human moral character. it's simply a false view of reality. thus, the shaming and suppressing won't work.
and good luck with the annihilating when the other side thinks the 2nd amendment is more American than apple pie.