Are the Humanities Doomed?

[marshwiggle]

Did D's abandon the blue collar working class? Or did R's do a better job of messaging to them?

Both.

The Dems made minority rights a central issue, which is legitimate, of course, and failed to capitalize on what they did do for American workers.  FAUX News hopped into the breach and began building the MAGAmonster which will eventually eat its father. 

These are interesting:

Deseret News: How the Democrats lost the white working class

From the article:

With similar economic stances, something else had to distinguish the two parties from one another. From the 1990s on, party politics have "become overwhelmingly defined by cultural issues," says Pierce, who adds this "alienates people, especially people who feel powerless like working-class voters."

The Democratic Party has taken up the mantle of speaking out about racism, but analysts say that this has come at the expense of addressing the issues that many Americans are most concerned about.

"When you see progressives say things like, 'It's all about race,' they effectively deny that something economically significant has also happened. And that's sort of like saying (to the white working class) 'The economic pain that you're feeling isn't real,'" says Lisa Pruitt, a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

By focusing on race and dismissing the concerns of the white working class, Pruitt adds, progressives "are calling people racist by definition."

That sums it up pretty well.

[Wahoo Redux]

Well, there are reasons that I am a registered independent.  And the number of independents is growing----I think it is at 49%.

Trouble is that Western culture is still awash in racism, sexism, and homophobia, and unfortunately the conservatives tend to negate or even deny and oftentimes outright embrace these bigotries, often for political gain----so we have to keep beating the drum.  What's too bad is that the liberals can't both fight bigotry and champion blue collar causes...then again, having grown up in a blue collar town and done many blue collar jobs, I am dismayed how often bigotry is endorsed by people who share many of the same issues as, say, Mexican migrants or lesbian couples...

So, I'm not sure that is summed up very well, Marshburger.

[marshwiggle]

Well, there are reasons that I am a registered independent.  And the number of independents is growing----I think it is at 49%.

Trouble is that Western culture is still awash in racism, sexism, and homophobia, and unfortunately the conservatives tend to negate or even deny and oftentimes outright embrace these bigotries, often for political gain----so we have to keep beating the drum.

"Awash" is pretty over-the-top in comparison to all previous human history, or even the society of a few decades ago. As long as there are human beings, there will be various kinds of discrimination, but the level of all of this is vastly less than in the past by any objective measure.

What's too bad is that the liberals can't both fight bigotry and champion blue collar causes

All they'd have to do is admit that in many ways social class is a bigger issue than all of those other things. The amount of bigotry that exists after adjusting for social class will be much smaller.
 

[bio-nonymous]

All they'd have to do is admit that in many ways social class is a bigger issue than all of those other things. The amount of bigotry that exists after adjusting for social class will be much smaller.
 

^ This.

I usually never weigh-in on conversations of this type, but it's Friday and I am throwing all caution to the wind!

Some people get extremely upset when the following comparison/contrast is made:

Who is more oppressed in today's society and will likely have a more difficult time succeeding--

1) The poor white male from Appalachia who grew up in a rundown trailer with chronically underemployed parents and who never owned a new pair of shoes?

OR

2) The black female from affluent suburbia whose Mom is a lawyer and whose Dad is a professor?

Who has more privilege? You make the call.

[marshwiggle]

All they'd have to do is admit that in many ways social class is a bigger issue than all of those other things. The amount of bigotry that exists after adjusting for social class will be much smaller.
 

^ This.

I usually never weigh-in on conversations of this type, but it's Friday and I am throwing all caution to the wind!

Some people get extremely upset when the following comparison/contrast is made:

Who is more oppressed in today's society and will likely have a more difficult time succeeding--

1) The poor white male from Appalachia who grew up in a rundown trailer with chronically underemployed parents and who never owned a new pair of shoes?

OR

2) The black female from affluent suburbia whose Mom is a lawyer and whose Dad is a professor?

Who has more privilege? You make the call.

To put it another way, let's have a contest to predict a student's  outcome. You can choose to know either
1) the student's race and gender
OR
2) the student's address growing up

Would ANY sane person pick number 1?

[Wahoo Redux]

"Awash" is pretty over-the-top in comparison to all previous human history, or even the society of a few decades ago.  As long as there are human beings, there will be various kinds of discrimination, but the level of all of this is vastly less than in the past by any objective measure.

Absolutely agree.  You've stated the obvious, my friend.  I hate to post it, but no duh.

However, bigotry is STILL one of the biggest, most divisive, most grinding problems facing our culture, even if we have made real progress in their area.  Google "Black Lives Matter."  We are, indeed, awash in cultural tension.  Desantis is predicating his bid for the White House on people's anti-LGBTQ bigotries.

All they'd have to do is admit that in many ways social class is a bigger issue than all of those other things. The amount of bigotry that exists after adjusting for social class will be much smaller.

Again, duh.  I agree with bio-nonymous, but what percentage of white dudes come from Appalachia?  What percentage of black dudettes come from academic / medical families in the 'burbs?  History and racism have something to do with the answer and have something to do with our racial tensions today. 

Simply put, you've got some stuff that is waaaaaayyyy too simple, there Marshy.  The history of race and colonialism is insoluble at this point in North America----just admitting that social class is now a factor isn't going to cut it.

And that still does not alter the work liberals are doing for the working class vs. the negation of the conservatives.

[marshwiggle]

"Awash" is pretty over-the-top in comparison to all previous human history, or even the society of a few decades ago.  As long as there are human beings, there will be various kinds of discrimination, but the level of all of this is vastly less than in the past by any objective measure.

Absolutely agree.  You've stated the obvious, my friend.  I hate to post it, but no duh.

However, bigotry is STILL one of the biggest, most divisive, most grinding problems facing our culture, even if we have made real progress in their area.  Google "Black Lives Matter."  We are, indeed, awash in cultural tension.  Desantis is predicating his bid for the White House on people's anti-LGBTQ bigotries.

All they'd have to do is admit that in many ways social class is a bigger issue than all of those other things. The amount of bigotry that exists after adjusting for social class will be much smaller.

Again, duh.  I agree with bio-nonymous, but what percentage of white dudes come from Appalachia?  What percentage of black dudettes come from academic / medical families in the 'burbs?  History and racism have something to do with the answer and have something to do with our racial tensions today. 

Simply put, you've got some stuff that is waaaaaayyyy too simple, there Marshy.  The history of race and colonialism is insoluble at this point in North America----just admitting that social class is now a factor isn't going to cut it.

A factor????

If someone gets pulled out of a river and they're not breathing, it doesn't matter whether they fell in because they were drunk, because someone pushed them, or because they tried to commit suicide. They need to be resuscitated, and it's the same regardless.

Similarly, if a neighbourhood has lousy schools, whether it's because of segregation decades ago or because the local plan shut down making lots of people unemployed, the solution is still to improve the school; banging on about what led to the problem isn't going to fix it. And, the measures that need to be taken to fix it are going to be similar to what has worked in lots of other communities even if their schools were messed up for different historical reasons. Lamenting the historical reasons for the problem won't improve outcomes for a single student.

 

[Wahoo Redux]

Marshy, you've posted the obvious again.  What are you doing?

[marshwiggle]

Marshy, you've posted the obvious again.  What are you doing?

Shouting at people "YOU'RE RACIST!" might not be as useful at enlisting their support in trying to improve the local school as working WITH them so that ALL kids will do better.

As they say, "You can get more flies with honey than vinegar."

[Wahoo Redux]

Marshy, you've posted the obvious again.  What are you doing?

Shouting at people "YOU'RE RACIST!" might not be as useful at enlisting their support in trying to improve the local school as working WITH them so that ALL kids will do better.

As they say, "You can get more flies with honey than vinegar."

Ummmm...Again, yeah.  That's obvious.  And it is simplistic.

We have big problems with overt bigotry in North America.  Those folks need to be called out.  And racism in particular has been a stubborn problem for Americans.  You seen the resurgence of Nazism?  Right now it is turned towards immigrants and trans, primarily by Republican politicians and their useful idiots.  Sometimes shouting "Racist!" and "Bigot!" is appropriate.  And the conservatives are NOT overly concerned with children or education----look at what conservatives have done to school budgets, look at the attempts at hostile takeovers of school systems, look at the demonization of teachers in the public sphere. 

The bigger point, Marshwanderer, is that the dems have been working for education and the working class.  The conservatives have successfully buried these achievements in decades of fear mongering and propaganda about The Other.  "Admitting" anything about "social class" achieves very little without honestly reckoning the tide of B.S. surging through social media.

[Wahoo Redux]

The Gettysburg Review is getting the axe

For those not in the humanities, this is one of the premier literary journals.

The story is the same: admin citing budgetary problems.  Apparently, they had no idea the Review was even a thing at their own university.  They did not consult or inform anyone beforehand, simply pulled out the red pens.

Dr. Spacecase on Reddit has a very nice overview of the situation.