tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640145456028209512.post4954764395045106220..comments2018-12-03T15:40:24.366-05:00Comments on American Activities: The Great ComeuppanceThomas Kaempfenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02748498150084160324noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640145456028209512.post-28594530637773472632016-06-12T14:46:54.317-04:002016-06-12T14:46:54.317-04:00Three steps, two ideological and one programmatic:...Three steps, two ideological and one programmatic:<br /><br />1. Liberals and minorities must accept that the only constructive solutions are color-blind, built upon our shared American culture, not upon antiquated, unsound notions of race. We must move past policies like affirmative action that divide us and embrace ones that express and reinforce our already-existing unity. For 40 years liberal policy has amounted to racial separatism (with just enough tokenism to assuage white liberal consciences).<br /><br />2. Conservatives must accept that racism still exists and still powerfully undermines the prospects and lives of minorities. And they must accept that all of us, our entire country, has a responsibility to constructively address that. Current conservative policy toward blacks ranges from malign neglect to active hostility.<br /><br />3. There must be public programs whose goal is to bring blacks into the mainstream, culturally and economically. I'll admit I'll have to leave this quite vague, and since the demise of the War on Poverty there have been precious little policy proposals aiming at this goal.<br /><br />But 1 and 2 make clear why 3 will probably never happen. Both liberals and conservatives are so stuck in their ideological cocoons and self-serving animosities that there's almost no chance having such genuinely constructive policy. Thomas Kaempfenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02748498150084160324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640145456028209512.post-89890751388045269852016-06-12T12:52:55.201-04:002016-06-12T12:52:55.201-04:00Very good post. However, regarding:
"They rej...Very good post. However, regarding:<br />"They rejected the heroic and hard task of assimilating blacks into the American mainstream and settled instead for the cheap tokenism of affirmative action. "<br />What are your ideas on how to work on this issue?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06885919547675345002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640145456028209512.post-14047776023249541692016-03-13T00:18:31.786-05:002016-03-13T00:18:31.786-05:00Nice. Good variation on the "oh no, we've...Nice. Good variation on the "oh no, we've created a Frankenstein and can't control it" narrative, which is a cliche at this point. I see the hope you're espousing for a "genuine" populism (if only the angry white guys could acknowledge they have something in common with the occupy people and vice versa, etc.). Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath. CallidusNominehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16102834619850980227noreply@blogger.com