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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:02 PM
Original message
My Rant / not for the faint of heart

America was built on genocide and slave labor, and still enjoys the fruits of slave labor TODAY, at home and abroad.

Some of you may think that this is a hateful thing to say, or is an Anti American view point, it is neither, IT IS THE UGLY TRUTH!!!!

To say anything otherwise is revisionist history and blasphemous.

e.g. "This country was built on Christian values"

"This country was built on liberty and justice"

Give me a break.

There are plenty minorities that are picking fruits and vegetables in America
TODAY that are being exploited.

Plenty of minorities that work for below minimum wage in the restaurant industry, construction industry and cleaning industry that are not WORKING the system.

American companies really get medieval on non white countries though. They build their
factories in Mexico, China, India etc etc ...

Why do American companies only use non white workers for their slave labor?

Why aren’t American companies going to Russia or Yugoslavia and using their peoples for slave labor?

Nike has Chinese people making their shoes in appalling conditions, earning a slaves wage.

Same thing in Mexico, that’s why they all come here. It’s better for them to be exploited by an American company in America, than an American company in their own country.

America really did a number on African Americans.

Desegregation in public schools only happened 40 years ago!!! That’s within our lifetime, and we expect minorities to be on par with European Americans?

When un educated Europeans came to this country,
It took two to three generations for a family to become middle to upper class.

One generation worked all their life in a factory, as a result, they were able to buy a home.

The next generation inherited the family home and didn’t have to worry about paying the mortgage or paying rent. This enabled the following generation to have more advantages and so on ….

Those days are gone and the leap for a poor un educated families is bigger than ever before. There are no factories to work a lifetime at, higher tuition costs, housing costs ect …

What about Asian Americans, how come they do so well in this country?

Well, recent Asian immigrants that come to this country already come with a good education and/or profession and/or already come from money.

So they are more on par to compete with European Americans.

What is the equivalent of the ghetto or barrio in the Asian community?

There is none. They all live in middle or upper class homes, and asian teenagers
Drive souped up Honda and Acura racing cars ala fast and furious.

So to compare Asian immigrants with African Americans or Latinos is an unfair comparison.
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RandomKoolzip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:11 PM
Response to Original message
1. White people are used for slave labor all the time...
I'm a caucasian and a cook, making very little money. There's what's called the "working class" here in America, and it includes white people too. It's not just people of color who are being exploited.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. By slave labor, I mean earn below minimum wage.
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 01:19 PM by Bushknew
Yes, they are caucasians that earn below minimum wage in the restaurant industry; however, some ( at all) waiters make up for it in tips.
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lisafromstlouie Donating Member (70 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:15 PM
Response to Original message
2. Hey, I'm poor, I'm white, but I don't blame America.
I got pregnant and quit school. I'm going to go back to school so I can go to college and make money. I don't blame America for my situation. If someone wants to make something of themselves, all they gotta do is go to school, study hard, go to college, study hard, get a job, work hard, and so on and so on. I don't understand your rant.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:23 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. Good luck with
day care, student loans, and finding a decent job with even basic health benefits that pays enough to buy a house.... If you'd ever travelled abroad to ANY other western country, and see their lifestyles- with living wages, affordable housing, college health and dental already paid for, I guarantee you'd be blaming America.
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RandomKoolzip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #2
9. I wish it were that simple. I really do.
Unfortunately, not everyone was created with the ability to make shitloads of money, and furthermore, there is a finite amount of wealth in this world anyway, with those who hoard at the top (about 1% of the population) kicking the bottom 99% off the ladder of success every chance they get; the prohibitive costs of daily needs, the prohibitive costs of education, the primitively greedy healthcare industry, the poor state of public schooling, high and unnecessary taxation (the profits of which fall into the coffers of "civic planners" and assmunchers bent on building football stadiums instead of good public schools), the prohibitive cost of housing, the seemingly unmoveable cap on wages which prevents people to save money, ineffective public assistance programs, lack of jobs, racism, classism, the lack of anything resembling a "future" in most working class people's lives, the repeal of the earned income tax credit (now itself repealed - whoopty shit!), the easy appeal of drugs as an escape from a life of pain, squalor and drudgery, mental problems caused by poor diet and toxic air....."work hard, study hard, get a job..." whatever. It's a fuckin scary-ass world, lisa. The fact is, I'm not "blaming America" (hmmm... sounds like freeper terminology to me, admins) for the fact that I'm not rich, but it's certainly not like I have an advantage just because I'm able to read and write and operate a computer. There is simply a shrinking job market out there for the disadvantaged, and with Bush at the wheel it's getting a lot worse by the day. Saying that you can get by just by working hard (I work pretty fuckin hard everyday, two full time jobs for the last six years!!! Where's my pot of gold?) is a generalization and indicative of a person who sees only one side of the story.

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RandomKoolzip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Oh yeah, and good luck with school.
I got into college on scholarship (my family was pretty poor). After three years of college, my financial aid ran out, and I had to resign. I had to enter the food service industry to make a living and I've been here ever since ( it was 1996 when I left school) Let's see how you do with a curve ball like that.
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Syn_Dem Donating Member (505 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:18 PM
Response to Original message
4. You make several valid points...
However you forget that America is best represented through its people, not just its corporations and government. There have been countless times that American regardless of ethnicity have show compassion to each other, things I have seen, things I have read about. Its true that we have wronged many times throughout history, but then again there are just as many times that we have done good through history as well.

P.S I'm an Asian teenager and I do NOT drive around souped up Hondas or Acuras.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. I'm an Asian teenager
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 01:30 PM by Bushknew
No offense was meant, but Republicans often compare Asian immigrants with African Americans and Latinos without considering the wealth and education of their parents.

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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
sirshack Donating Member (680 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #8
14. teenager...
...continue to educate thyself
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linazelle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 03:45 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. Sorry but education is not THE total answer anymore
There is a shrinking job market as was stated by someone else here. Add to that the inherent prejudices associated with stereotypes and bigotry and you still have a problem--which I really don't think we have a clue as to how to solve it.

Affirmative action is a double edged sword--helping minorities but heaping on more stereotypical baggage.

Ultimately, there has to be some growth, some new job markets created which hopefully, will absorb all those who are educated but that just isn't possible now. It would be wonderful to have zero percent unemployment.
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linazelle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 03:47 PM
Response to Reply #14
17. Sorry but education is not THE total answer anymore
There is a shrinking job market as was stated by someone else here. Add to that the inherent prejudices associated with stereotypes and bigotry and you still have a problem--which I really don't think we have a clue as to how to solve it.

Affirmative action is a double edged sword--helping minorities but heaping on more stereotypical baggage.

Ultimately, there has to be some growth, some new job markets created which hopefully, will absorb all those who are educated but that just isn't possible now. It would be wonderful to have zero percent unemployment.
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sirshack Donating Member (680 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 04:06 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. I just meant....
...in relation to his view of history....
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TLM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:37 PM
Response to Original message
10. You know, I do not think I've ever met a lazy asian...

I think that Asians, in general, have a much stronger work ethic culturally. I mean the Japanese have a word for death by over work.

They die because they work themselves to death, and Americans die because we clog our arteries with double bacon cheese burgers.


The same way the American dream works, it also works in reverse. We work hard to make a better life, and then once we have it, we don't have to work so hard. So the next generation, and the one after that get less and less driven to work as hard but they want more and more stuff. So somebody has to work hard.

We want to achieve and consume and obtain, so we no longer want to work so hard. We work hard as a means to an end, not as a way of life or a philosophy of establishing self-worth and self-esteem.

So once we get there, we're done. Whereas some of these immigrant workers and migrant labor, they have a very strong family support mechanisms and a drive to work hard to care for their family.


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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 01:40 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. I think class makes a difference. Mexicans have tradtional extended
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 01:41 PM by Classical_Liberal
families too. Mexicans don't come to this country with college educations, or middle class backgrounds. The model ethnic groups stuff does hurt. The Asian immigrants of the turn of the century didn't either, and they had a hard time.
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ieoeja Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 03:27 PM
Response to Original message
13. Reordered for Consistency
America was built on genocide and slave labor, and still enjoys the fruits of slave labor TODAY, at home and abroad. Some of you may think that this is a hateful thing to say, or is an Anti American view point, it is neither, IT IS THE UGLY TRUTH!!!! To say anything otherwise is revisionist history and blasphemous. e.g. "this country was built on Christian values" or "this country was built on liberty and justice" Give me a break.

America was built on both actually as the United States was the first country to expand the British/German concepts of democracy and individual freedom beyond the aristocracy to the common man. The battle to enfranchise an even larger portion of the population has existed since America's inception beginning with Jefferson calling for the repeal of slavery in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.


There are plenty minorities that are picking fruits and vegetables in America TODAY that are being exploited. Plenty of minorities that work for below minimum wage in the restaurant industry, construction industry and cleaning industry that are not WORKING the system.

I have some poor white people you need to meet. My non-minority brother was a migrant worker as a young adult. And truck farming is a very common summer job for a large portion of the white teenage population in rural areas.


America really did a number on African Americans. Desegregation in public schools only happened 40 years ago!!! That’s within our lifetime, and we expect minorities to be on par with European Americans? When uneducated Europeans came to this country, it took two to three generations for a family to become middle to upper class. One generation worked all their life in a factory, as a result, they were able to buy a home. The next generation inherited the family home and didn’t have to worry about paying the mortgage or paying rent. This enabled the following generation to have more advantages and so on ….

Those days are gone and the leap for a poor un educated families is bigger than ever before. There are no factories to work a lifetime at, higher tuition costs, housing costs ect …


Now I have some immigrants you need to meet. The real father of the kid who sometimes calls me dad was the Mexican-American son of two Mexican immigrants. He did manual labor right up to the time he died, but every one of his siblings are middle-class, white collar professionals. And the Mexican farmer who bought the home next door to me ten years ago had up to thirteen wage earners living under the roof at one time. I got news for you, even if you're getting paid shit you can pay off a mortgage in less than a decade if there are thirteen of you getting paid shit. And several of the kids are actually doing quite well already. Of course, a lot of people did better last decade. (remember peace and prosperity way back then?)


What about Asian Americans, how come they do so well in this country? Well, recent Asian immigrants that come to this country already come with a good education and/or profession and/or already come from money. So they are more on par to compete with European Americans. What is the equivalent of the ghetto or barrio in the Asian community? There is none. They all live in middle or upper class homes, and asian teenagers drive souped up Honda and Acura racing cars ala fast and furious. So to compare Asian immigrants with African Americans or Latinos is an unfair comparison.

It is true that the Asian experience in the United States has typically not been quite as bad as that of Africans or Latinos. And in more recent times it has even been positive. It amazes me how many IT managers see/hear an Asian and leap to the conclusion that they are dealing with a software genius. But as I say, these are relatively recent developments in the treatment of Asian-Americans. Historically they were treated more like other immigrants, getting the lowest paid jobs as cleaners, cooks, etc.


American companies really get medieval on non white countries though. They build their factories in Mexico, China, India etc etc ... Why do American companies only use non white workers for their slave labor? Why aren’t American companies going to Russia or Yugoslavia and using their peoples for slave labor? Nike has Chinese people making their shoes in appalling conditions, earning a slaves wage. Same thing in Mexico, that’s why they all come here. It’s better for them to be exploited by an American company in America, than an American company in their own country.


You seem to have forgotten that the former communist countries in Europe were formerly communist. As someone with considerable international business experience I can assure you that those countries STILL have labor laws that make it look "medieval" right here inside the United States. The reality is that American companies go to poorer, minority populated countries because (1) workers will happily work for less money because there is less wealth available in their country and (2) those countries have fewer laws respecting labor rights. If you have a problem with this I suggest you take it up with the leaders of those countries. You seem to be bashing American CEOs for the actions of Hugo Chavez or Vincente Fox.

And what happened to all Asians coming from money? Do only wealthy Asians emmigrate?

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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 05:42 PM
Response to Reply #13
22. Ieoeja
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 05:43 PM by Bushknew
<<truck farming is a very common summer job for a large portion of the white teenage population in rural areas.>>

I’m sure truck farming is hard work, but somehow I think the immigrant picking strawberries is working harder. Plus, the immigrant is being exploited, these teenagers are not.

<<The reality is that American companies go to poorer, minority populated countries because (1) workers will happily work for less money because there is less wealth available in their country>>

And then they all come here because it’s better for them to be exploited by American company in America, than an American company in their own country.

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HalfManHalfBiscuit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 03:40 PM
Response to Original message
15. Holy shit. I just had a heart attack.
I guess I should have heeded the warning.
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Dude_CalmDown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 04:05 PM
Response to Original message
18. I'm Appalled!!!!! What the hell do you have against
Honda and Acura?
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:00 PM
Response to Reply #18
23. Nothing
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 09:00 PM by Bushknew
: - )
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 04:07 PM
Response to Original message
20. Unfair?
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 04:09 PM by jiacinto
Not hardly. Do you remember internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Acts, and other acts of discrimination against Asians? Research how Asians were treated in California.

As for your "Blame America First" rhetoric that's offensive. Why don't you move to a third world country in Africa and then come back and tell me how bad America is. I would love you to go to a place where you have no civil and political rights. Then you can complain about America.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 05:24 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. Jiacinto
Jiacinto wrote:

<<Do you remember internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Acts, and other acts of discrimination against Asians? Research how Asians were treated in California.>>

Jiacinto, do you remember that the US government apologized and gave reparations to
Japanese Americans?

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/internment1.html

<<In 1988, the U.S. Congress passed legislation which awarded formal payments of $20,000 each to the surviving internees—60,000 in all. This same year, formal apologies were also issued by the government of Canada to Japanese Canadian survivors, who were each repaid the sum of $21,000 Canadian dollars.>>

<<As for your "Blame America First" rhetoric that's offensive. Why don't you move to a third world country in Africa and then come back and tell me how bad America is.>>

You sound just like a dittohead. Why don’t you recognize the slave labor of Mexican
farm workers in the USA TODAY!!!?
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:05 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. I am not a dittohead
But I refuse to join the "Blame America First" bandwagon. As I said, if you are not happy with America, why don't you move to a third world country in Africa or Asia and then tell me how bad this country is.

I do agree that there have been bad moments in America's history, but I am not going to focus on the negative aspects of this country.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:15 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. and since he talked about reparations to Japanese Americans
How is he only focusing on the negative things about America? German Americans got short shafted during WWI, and the Irish were badly treated too. They aren't presently. Thus it is not he same.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:20 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. In some cases Asians are still treated horribly
Saying that they aren't victims of discrimination is being dishonest. I just don't understand why some DUers "Blame America First". As I said, if they don't like here or think America is so bad, why don't they move to some third world country where they can really see what oppression and slavery are really like?
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:31 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. He talked about something America did Good
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 09:35 PM by Classical_Liberal
Your just knocking strawmen. Some Asian Groups have the same problems as blacks and Central American immigrants, particularly Laosians and Cambodians. Namely, not coming from the middle class where they are from, and not being from educated families. Jews experience this too, and Catholics do in the South. The difference relates to whether that group is primarily middle class, and has a hard time getting into college. The Chinese, the Japanese, and the Jews don't presently suffer economically or have trouble getting into college. It is simply silly to ignore the class equation, or the fact that the bigotries against the different groups have a different charater.s I am sick of people using right wing slogans as a substitute for debate. Maybe I think their view is too negative, butit doesn't mean they don't have a point that should be addressed.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. In some cases yes
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 09:35 PM by jiacinto
But not all Asians are like what the original poster says. I think you are making a quite large generalization here.

What I hate, though, is the "Blame America First" position that I see here from time to time. Yes America has not always been perfect or upstanding. But at the same time, compared to many other countries, I am proud of America and its history.

Maybe the original poster should try living in a third world country. I would love him them to come back and say "how bad" America is. I really would.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. I am proud of some things not of others
.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:42 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. But why do people here focus on the negative more
than the positive?
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #31
34. I just saw a documentary of John Wayne. He was so disgusted
with the liberal Carter administration he wanted to move to Mexico and I kept thinking to myself how the freepers reacted to Bill Baldwin over the same mentality. Politics is the way you solve perceived problems. I think you knee jerk that people are antiamerican, when they rightfully point out hypocracy. American values aren't bad, but America often fails to live up to its promise.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. I know America isn't perfect
But compared to most other countries in the world I think we have it good here. Have you ever been to the third world? Go there and you will think differently.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:58 PM
Response to Reply #36
39. There are also many countries just as wealthy and free as us
Many of these countries have stronger unions and better health care for the poor, better education and less poverty. Why lower the bar? ss I live here. This is my home, and where my family is. I don't want to leave. I want to see improvement here. Your mentality says if we want to change things for the better we don't love our country. No improvements would have been made to our country if people never mentioned its problems.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #39
40. We should make things better
At the same time I am not going to run around and scream about how "bad" America is either. As for those other countries, such as those in Europe, it's not all what it is cracked up to be either. I've lived in Europe; and yes there may be national health care and stronger unions, but taxes are extremely high there. Also there is a lot of racism and bigotry in Europe toward minorities and immigrants.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #40
44. Well I think moderates are foolish if they think reducing poverty
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 10:10 PM by Classical_Liberal
will ever be cheap.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #44
45. It's not going to be cheap
At the same time people shouldn't be giving half or more of their paychecks to the government either.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:13 PM
Response to Reply #45
47. It can't be done without progressive taxation
which is another thing the other western countries have that we don't.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #47
49. Here is a big question, though
Do you think it's fair for some people to giving more than 1/2 of their income to the government? I don't.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:25 PM
Response to Reply #49
50. I think the middle class and poor pay to much and the
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 10:27 PM by Classical_Liberal
rich pay too little. What is the point since no one is paying anything approaching that much.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:36 PM
Response to Reply #50
54. I agree about payroll and sales taxes
You're right. But what often I hear from middle class people is how their taxes get them little services in return. My one issues is that many social programs, due to their low cutoff lines, prevent many people who need help from getting it.
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RapidCreek Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:42 PM
Response to Reply #49
56. they aren't giving it to the government.
They are giving it to the America which you claim to love so much. If you don't want to pay the taxes which make this country as great as you claim it to be, perhaps it is you who should go to a third world nation, Carlos.

Yes as a matter of fact...I do think it is fair for some people to pony up half of their income as taxes. It is those taxes which supply them with the national infrustructure and freedom required to make the kind of money they make.

RC
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Nederland Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:04 AM
Response to Reply #56
59. Bull
they aren't giving it to the government. They are giving it to the America which you claim to love so much.

Right now my tax dollars are going to a fascist right wing dictatorship bent on taking over the world. Don't give me this "giving to America crap". Where my tax dollars go depends entirely on which party is in power, and right now that doesn't please me too much.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #56
68. I don't support trickle down economics
But no one should be paying more than 1/2 of their income in taxes. I disagree with that.

Not all rich people are lazy armchair warriors who inherited their money. Many rich people worked very hard to become wealthy.
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MrPrax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:36 PM
Response to Reply #34
53. Was it Green Berets you Saw
I love that Duke line, 'Your what this war is all about'

I also loved the Duke when those 'weak-knee' Canucks protested against Amchitka test...'No country has the right to dictate to America'
Gladly the Duke and America let Canada continue...

"It is 25 years since Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver by a group of people who wanted to halt the planned US nuclear tests on Amchitka Island ."
http://archive.greenpeace.org/~comms/nukes/ctbt/sep24.html

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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:41 PM
Response to Reply #34
55. John Wayne
I’m glad many movies have been made about the holocaust, we should never forget
so something like that never happens again.

But, how many movies have been made about the American Indian holocaust?

Oh, wait a minute those are westerns, kill them Indians John Wayne, HEEEE HAAAAAAAAA!!!!
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #24
32. Would you have said the same thing to Martin Luther King?
<<But I refuse to join the "Blame America First" bandwagon. As I said, if you are not happy with America, why don't you move to a third world country in Africa or Asia and then tell me how bad this country is. >>

With that attitude where would we be now?
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #32
33. No I wouldn't have
Fighting for Civil Rights was a key battle. At the same time, though, I doubt MLK ever "Blamed America First" the way some people here do.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #33
35. Nobody says blame america first but the right
I am pretty sure King recognized slavery was apart of the founding of this country.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:53 PM
Response to Reply #35
38. Slavery was a horrible part of our history
Edited on Tue Jul-15-03 09:55 PM by jiacinto
I'll agree with that much. Still, though, and maybe I will get flamed for saying it, African-Americans have it much better here than they do in Africa all things considered. Yes discrimination and racism are still major problems but African-Americans have more opportunity here than they do in Africa.

Unlike many African countries, where anarchy and poverty are all over the place, African-Americans have much more options here. There is education, even if it is less than perfect. Better health care and better infrastrucutre than those other countries. AIDS isn't as rampant here as it is there. And there isn't the constant spectre of war and genocide that seems to dominate these countries all too much.

I am not saying that slavery was good--it most definitely wasn't and we still are suffering the consequences of it. But compared to Africa America is a much better place to live in.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #38
41. Africa is largely a hell hole because of the colonialism that
caused slavery. It carved Africa up into countries that make no sense ethnically or geographically. You could leave an go to a third world country rather than complain about low wages at walmart. Why don't you? Then you would see what is really like to be "nickle and dimed".
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #41
43. Again colonialism has created so many problems
A lot of the world's conflicts today stem from the 1700s and the 1800s. I agree that are some countries in Africa that don't make sense and shouldn't exist.

But African-Americans do have it better here than in Africa. I do think colonialism has caused a lot of the problems, but the leaders of this country are also responsible. A lot of Africa's problems are due to corrupt leadership and dictators.
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Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #43
46. Those countries were setup to be run by the viceroys of Europe
The dictators filled the void when they left. The mistakes of anticolonialism were in not redrawing the borders.
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jiacinto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #46
48. Foreign Aid
A lot of the problem also stems from foreign aid. The US has given foreign aid to bad dictators. I think the Cold war was really bad for the third world. The whole US-USSR Cold War negatively impacted these countries because often foreign aid was given to dictators who weren't "Communist" even though they were horrible leaders.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 10:39 AM
Response to Reply #38
57. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
RapidCreek Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #33
52. Carlos
Since you seem so fond of Freeper Jingoism, perhaps you can define exactly what "Blame America First" means.

RC

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Catt03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:25 PM
Response to Original message
27. Good Lord...
Sound like a you have decided to be a victim. tsk tsk get therapy.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 09:51 PM
Response to Reply #27
37. What kind of advancements would have been made if people did not protest?
What kind of advancements would have been made if people did not protest?
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:02 PM
Response to Original message
42. Blame America First

Republicans always talk about accountability and responsibility, there is
slave labor in the US today and generations of past slave labor DO have consequences
on the minorities living today.

Each generation gives a better life to their children, and generations of minorities were denied that opportunity.
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MrPrax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jul-15-03 10:29 PM
Response to Original message
51. Sadly this myth a few too many people believe
e.g. "This country was built on Christian values"
Finished reading about how Pat Robertson is encouraging Christains to pray for the deaths of the Supreme Court...
But I digress
One rumour that circulated in Japan in the Spring of 1945 was that the Americans were not bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki was because it had a Christian minority.
So many Japanese flocked there for protection...

:nuke:

I don't think your 'rant' goes far enough...

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Nederland Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 10:49 AM
Response to Original message
58. We are poorer for it
Parts of America might have been built by slave labor, but as a whole America is a much poorer nation as a result of slavery and its treatment of African Americans. The cost of slavery to this nation have been enormous, both in terms of blood and money. For you to claim that America "and still enjoys the fruits of slave labor TODAY" is pure igorance. Slavery does not increase wealth, it diminishes it.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:08 AM
Response to Reply #58
60. How can any fair mined person disagree with that statement?
<<For you to claim that America "and still enjoys the fruits of slave labor TODAY" is pure igorance. Slavery does not increase wealth, it diminishes it.>>

Thanks to globalization, American companies increase their wealth on the slave labor
of foreign works in foreign countries.

How can any fair mined person disagree with that statement?
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Nederland Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #60
61. Simple
Thanks to globalization, American companies increase their wealth on the slave labor of foreign works in foreign countries.

This statement is easily proven false. Just look at the US trade deficit with the third world--its huge. What that means is that America is not receiving wealth from the third world, it is sending it to the third world. The movement of production facilities to the third world make the US a poorer nation, not a richer one.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #61
63. Outrageous


<<What that means is that America is not receiving wealth from the third world, it is sending it to the third world.>>

America is increasing profits through using slave labor around the third world.

And American companies do not really improve the quality of life of foreign worker in foreign nations.
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Nederland Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #63
66. Look
If you want to continue to state unproven assumptions go ahead, but the facts speak for themselves. The US has a huge trade deficit with the third world. This is a fact. It is not an opinion, it is a fact. That fact means that America sends the third world more wealth than it receives. That fact means you are wrong. Get used to it.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #61
64. Outrageous


<<What that means is that America is not receiving wealth from the third world, it is sending it to the third world.>>

America is increasing profits through using slave labor around the third world.

And American companies do not really improve the quality of life of foreign worker in foreign nations.
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #61
65. Outrageous


<<What that means is that America is not receiving wealth from the third world, it is sending it to the third world.>>

America is increasing profits through using slave labor around the third world.

And American companies do not really improve the quality of life of foreign worker in foreign nations.
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DoveTurnedHawk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 11:37 AM
Response to Original message
62. PLEASE NOTE
There is none. They all live in middle or upper class homes, and asian teenagers Drive souped up Honda and Acura racing cars ala fast and furious.

I am leaving this thread unlocked because the discussion in it is mostly civil and it touches upon interesting and significant topics, such as race and class relations in the U.S. and the potential for division within the progressive community via so-called "heirarchies of oppression."

That said, please note our rules:

When discussing race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion, please exercise the appropriate level of sensitivity toward others and take extra care to clearly express your point of view. This will help avoid misunderstandings and undeserved accusations of bigotry.

It is absolutely inappropriate to stereotype all members of a racial group in a certain fashion. Not all Asian teenagers drive Hondas and Acuras. Not all Asian teenagers are into street racing. And certainly not all Asians live in upper or middle class homes.

Please take care to exercise as much sensitivity as you can in this thread. Thank you!

DTH
DU Moderator
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Bushknew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-03 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #62
67. DoveTurnedHawk

I apologize for the Drive souped up Honda and Acura racing cars ala fast and furious comment, my point was an economic one.

I should have just left my original question:

What is the equivalent of the ghetto or barrio in the Asian community?
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