Republicans obsession with blocking the $600 jobless benefit is EVIL.

[pat_k]

Republicans obsession with blocking the $600 jobless benefit is EVIL -- and grounded in racism.

The notion that people who receive unemployment are happily not working is insane.

If people are only motivated to work by deprivation, why does Satya Nadella work? He and his descendants would get along fine for the foreseeable future on the wealth he has amassed. Why does Larry Culp, or any other person of great wealth, work? By the Republicans' logic these people would all be sitting on their asses.

I think their obsession is solidly grounded in racism.

My theory:

When they think of "the unemployed" they envision a black or brown person -- someone they don't see as fully human. Someone not endowed with the basic human desire to find a rewarding way to contribute and build a better life for themselves and their family.

No "those people" must be forced to work. The only thing for them is some menial job that pays so little it's a struggle to keep their heads above water (because if they got their heads above water, they would stop working).

Some core beliefs of the antebellum south are alive and well in the hearts of these EVIL people. They've gained power through voter suppression, gerrymandering, and a host of other tactics that undermine the expression of the REAL will of the people. They are hellbent on abusing that power to ensure "those people" don't get anything that could ease their circumstances. "Those people" must be forced to work. If not by whips, by deprivation.

The Trump administration has exposed an ugly truth. 40% of Americans are evil, racist, fucks. Five years ago, I would have put the number at 25%, with another 20% victims of the right wingnut noise machine (but redeemable). Now it is clear. We can write off 40%.

The more I think about it, racism is also at the heart of our inability to implement universal health care. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the demographics of the European nations that implemented universal healthcare were overwhelmingly white at the time they implemented it.

In our multicultural society, there is a basic -- and racist -- resistance to giving "them" a "freebie." It's not explicit, but it is there.

We've got to turn this around. Write off the 40% and work like hell to engage the other 60% in redeeming the nation for us all. Basic income. Reparations. Quality education. Universal healthcare. . . step by step toward a just society.

[LizBeth]

1. Unemployment will end Dec 26. I would be good with three hundred, I would be good with a simple

extension. I just have not been able to get a job that was not front line of covid. I can go back to old job, but dealing with 80-100 people in a small unventilated room doesn't work for me.

[pat_k]

3. I often wonder if the people blocking extension or any additional benefit. . .

Last edited Thu Oct 8, 2020, 11:14 PM - Edit history (1)

. . . are simply completely devoid of empathy?

They seem to be very concerned about helping corporations -- with the supposed goal of saving jobs. But I don't think it is the people or the jobs for them. I really think the right wingnuts are somehow "broken" -- that they lack the ability to actually empathize. So your plight, and the plight of millions of others, just doesn't "register."

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
-- Atticus Finch
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

[LizBeth]

4. Thank you pat, for simply hearing.

[pat_k]

6. Stay safe!

My heart is breaking for you.

I am incredibly fortunate. I've worked from home for years. Things are "lean" (the projects I was working on were killed or put on hold) and I'm running up some credit card debt, but there are some potential projects on the horizon. If even just one comes through, I'll be able to pay down the debt. If not, it's more debt, but at least I've got some "room" on the cards to stay "afloat" for a while.

[LizBeth]

7. The best to you too. I hope they come thru. !!!

[Blue Owl]

2. This should be the death blow for the GOP

It sucks in the short term, but if it means the end of the GOP then it'll all be worth it in the end

[crickets]

5. K&R for the post and the discussion.

[pat_k]

10. Thanks crickets!

[area51]

8. It wouldn't surprise me if racism was at least part of the reason

why we don't have universal health care.

[pat_k]

9. Yes. It's my belief it is a BIG part.

Many laws enacted over the past several decades that benefit some segment of the American population include "loopholes" designed to exclude Black Americans and/or Native Americans. The "loopholes" / exclusions / limitations have taken many forms, but some of our biggest advances have a "poison pill" embedded. (Like the clause in the 13th amendment that continued slavery "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted" This was exploited to enslave hundreds of thousands for years, "convicted" of bogus crimes. . . and continues today. There is BIG money in uncompensated prison labor. But. I digress.)

It just wasn't possible to design a "universal health care" solution with such loopholes. So the truly universal proposals didn't "fly" with those who were convinced this or that "undeserving" group needed to be excluded.

I do not believe that all opponents of universal health care are motivated by deep-seated racist impulses, but I have come to the conclusion (for which I have no proof but my own observation) that the campaigns against it have been so successful because they tap into a "them" vs. "us" mentality we have not yet put behind us. (If "they" get healthcare, you will "lose." )

I think this mentality is grounded our history of enslaving, dehumanizing, and treating black people as objects, not people. The racist attitudes against black and indigenous people are still operative -- and have generalized to whoever the white racists define as "out groups."

Most arguments against against positive change include promoting of the notion "If they win; you lose." There are no "win - wins" in the racist / right-wingnut / misogynistic / anti-LBTQIA / Trumpian mindset.

Like it or not, this sort of thinking is very "white." Compared to the people who built the most advanced ancient civilizations (with the "cradle" of civilization being Egypt/Kemet) we white people were late-comers to the game. Where we did establish ourselves, our guiding principles were generally independence, competition, and exploitation. Most other advanced civilizations operated under principles of interdependence and cooperation.

In the US, we have a unique opportunity to reinvent ourselves, incorporating values and governing principles that draw the best from all the various cultures in this world.

Fighting for, and ultimately implementing universal healthcare will be a BIG step on the road to redemption.