Racism Response Pt 1 – America as an Entity, End of Liberty, Are All Men Equal?

Posted by Daniel Yerelian on September 9th, 2008 filed in Thoughts

This is an exchange between two of our authors, Buck68 and Zach.  Buck organized his ideas/comments/questions regarding the “Racism” article into a series of points. Zach proceeds to respond to those points.

Buck68 -  Does “America” the nation, the group, the thing…live, act, do, think as one entity?  Or do individuals feel, think, do?  Sounds simple, obvious answer, already known… oft ignored or forgotten in what we say, feel, do.

Zach – This question cannot be answered simply and obviously I can only answer from my perspective.  The simple answer is yes, America the nation acts as one on a global perspective. But then we must consider the myriad prospective America’s.  The one that this group wants or that group wants.  We must also consider the wheel of progress and where it leads… inevitable?  We must also consider the American spirit and the perception of the myriad individuals who embody said spirit.  They each have their own interpretation of what it means to be an America, what America should do, and how it should be perceived in a global sense.  Some believe that questioning leadership, when appropriate, is fundamentally American and the essence of patriotism, while others believe unquestioning loyalty to the chosen leaders is what makes us truely patriotic.  Some believe America must demonstrate its prowess in the world through force, while others believe in the Rooseveltian motto, “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Certainly, individuals should think, feel, and do what they deem necessary within accordance of the law of the land (ultimately the golden rule applies, treat others as you wish to be treated… until they give you a reason not to :))  If an individual believes they must feel hatred or animosity towards another due to their skin color, eye color, religious belief, or any other perceived difference, then they should not feel uncomfortable with receiving animosity due to their belief.

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Buck68 -  Where does liberty end and license begin?  How do we know?  What’s the famous Rationalist quote…”I disagree with your belief, but i’ll defend to the death your right to say it“?

Zach – I was leading into this at the end of my previous answer so here goes.  I believe in this quote absolutely, but it is terribly difficult to practice everyday.  Absolutely,
it is this mans right to speak his mind and state his opinion, but just as it is his right to have the opinion that a black man would make a worse president than a white man, it is also my right to disagree with him and think his opinion ill-informed and ignorant.  I would not want to live in a world where it was not a persons right to express their opinions regardless of how poorly thought out they may be, but I have a dream for a world where the vast majority of people are able to look beyond this type of thought and explore deeper.  It is not unreasonable to ask a person to dig deeper within themselves to explore why they think a thing and what value that thing has.

I always come back to the golden rule.  Treat others as you wish to be treated.  If a man wishes to be treated with respect, then he should treat those around him with respect.  Now, I try to live up to the motto of turn the other cheek, but that can only last for so long and so when appropriate, when enough cheeks have been turned and enough chances have been given, the patient man must return the gestures of another in-kind.  When diplomacy fails, we all must be able to stand up for ourselves, at least.

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Buck68 – One man, one vote.  Some say it fulfills ‘all men are created equal’.  Others suggest it erases any distinction of merit or responsibility, and enfranchises an ever Lowering Common Denominator – Accelerating Dumbing Down [the ultimate ADD]…

Zach – Again I have two schools of thought on this topic.  First, the electoral college is archaic, it is from a bygone era where we still differentiated between slave and free states, where slaves where counted as 3/5 of a person towards population of a state and state influence was weighted accordingly. An era where few could read and write, and even fewer still could actually get the political news and make informed decisions or even make it out to the polls due to difficulty in traveling.
However, I am also in agreement that not everyone makes informed decisions and one man, one vote is not always the best road.  The majority can be wrong, just as an individual can be wrong.  But that does not mean we should keep to an old practice for lack of something perfect.  Perfection is entirely based on perception and is ultimately impossible.  The only way we can possible improve on something is by making the first step of acknowledging its flaws and deciding to find a better solution.
One final thought on this is related to social situations and racial inequality.  Some people use the past as a crutch to hide from social responsibility.  Blaming the injustices of the past for their current state and refusing to take personal responsibility for their own life because of those past injustices.  This is not just a problem among black people or white people, it is not just an issue among christians and muslims, it is an issue that every part of society must deal with.
If you get knocked down, pick yourself back up, but your brothers and sisters should want to help you get back up too.  If we can learn the difference between helping someone get back up after they have been knocked down and blaming someone or something else for knocking that person down then I think we will be moving in the right direction towards a stronger society.