The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Disneyphile]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I don't think you are a racist. I don't think that everyone who supports the law is a racist as they are typically portrayed.

And I don't think everyone who supports the law is racist.

It's a sad situation that hopefully will work itself out, but it just seems that it's too extreme and flawed.

As for imported stuff and all, it's gradually getting better as people are made more aware, and more folks are buying directly from the artists or from fair trade vendors. For example, I bought two head scarves from a street booth today that sells stuff made by his friends and family in Peru. I actually paid $5 each for something I paid $12 for at the spa a few months ago. The latter was in a nice package, and I'm betting the spa made a nice profit, and the dealer they purchased it from made a decent profit as well, and the artisan barely made anything. Cutting out the middleman might be a good key to supporting more families worldwide. Who knows.

I wish farms were subsidized more in order to pay better. But, at least the illegals do have a chance to make a little something, whereas back in their own country they wouldn't even have a chance to make that. They really do help our country in a lot of ways. It would just be better to work with them on a solution than against them.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Disneyphile

I wish farms were subsidized more in order to pay better.

Man, I hope not. We already subsidize farms to the tune of $16 billion a year (many of which are designed to keep produce prices elevated) and that is just direct subsidies not even including the fact that we pretty much give away grazing land and water. It is probably true that those most subsidized are the least likely to have any interest in elevating wages.

It is one of the great sillinesses that we subsidize agriculture to keep prices stable and elevated and then subsidize poor people so that they can afford to buy it. But sadly, being opposed to the current structure of subsidization is generally something politicians are only willing to do when they have no actual power to accomplish any change.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I don't think you are a racist. I don't think that everyone who supports the law is a racist as they are typically portrayed.

The majority of people who support the law are not racist. However the law carries a not insignificant potential to aggravate incidents of racist behavior, and to be enforced in a way that increases the likelihood of law abiding citizens running into difficulty with legal authorities simply because of their race.

ETA: to complete the thought - while the majority are not "racist", a large portion are ignorant of, or willfully ignoring, the racially charged reality of enforcing the law as written, which may not make them "racist" but does mean they are contributing to a deterioration of racial relations (I hate the term "racial relations" but I can't think of a better way to phrase that right now).

[Strangler Lewis]

The problem with outrage against the law is that it will lead to a push-back where Arizona thinks, "You know, all we wanted was to be able to campaign for reelection by saying we voted against the Mexicans. But you want racism? Here we go."

I don't get that upset about racial profiling. It either makes sense, or it doesn't depending on the magnitude of the problem. It didn't make sense with internment camps. It doesn't make sense to be randomly strip searching white grandmothers at airports. It doesn't make sense to be randomly hassling middle eastern passengers either given the rarity of terrorist incidents. Whether it makes sense in Arizona depends on the ratio of illegal brown skinned people to legal ones measured against the perceived harm caused by illegal presence, which, apparently, is not much since the crime has been declared a misdemeanor.

[wendybeth]

[scaeagles]

Well, BTD, if you would take the time to actually research it, you would find very similar polling data. Very similar numbers are all over if you would take the time to look.

[Gemini Cricket]

Speaking of polling and the news outlets in general, I have a huge distrust of the news media right now. It's been growing and growing in me. And that goes for Fox News and MSNBC. Big businesses deciding what is newsworthy... Sounds fishy to me. I find myself relying on the BBC more. (Not saying that they don't have biases as well, it just seems more credible to me.)

[alphabassettgrrl]

I like the BBC, too. I especially like how calm they are- just reporting the news, not putting color into it, not dramatizing it.

And I feel I'm getting actual news, not just what seems trendy to report. Not just what other stations are reporting on.

[scaeagles]

In terms of newspapers (onlne anyway), I prefer the British press as well.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

In terms of newspapers (onlne anyway), I prefer the British press as well.

What I like especially about the BBC online news is that they have sections in their articles that explain things. Like if it's a story about Arizona's new law, there will sometimes be a box in the article titled "What is the new Arizona law?" and they'll give you 101 intro to it. I like that.