h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I voted Democrat and I also wish the protesters would just stop. It isn't productive in the least and when they burn things and instances of violence break out, they're very counterproductive. Those who are protesting and didn't vote are especially galling to me.

I'll be protesting by renewing my donations to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. (I had to curtail my donations after my recent reduction in pay.)

You're right, Hoo.

I didn't vote for Trump, but he deserves a chance to show what he can do. We've extended that chance to every president-elect in the past, and it's a tradition that deserves to be observed.

As I have suggested in other places - the US election was not won, just as that "Brexit" wasn't. Both were lost by people that never bothered to get out and vote. And cry in loud ways later.

I'm not sure Brexit was lost by non-voters. The turnout was high: 72%

British expats who live and had lived outside of the UK for 2yrs were denied a vote? That was approximately 2% of the electorate.

They were bound to have voted in so when the rules were set out they were "deliberately" excluded, very odd!

Then there was the racist propaganda that undid years of patient work, we are apparently as accepting of immigrants as the good ole boys of the deep south of the USA.

So its not just sour grapes mate its polarized the nation

I just heard one "good" thing about the republicans now running our federal government.

My state of Texas and specifically our lawsuit loving Atty General and Governor are less likely to be wasting state money on lawsuits against the federal government with Trump in the White House and republicans running congress and the senate. They'll also be less likely to pass anti-abortion legislation. They're expecting the Federal government to do that for them.

"Then there was the racist propaganda that undid years of patient work, we are apparently as accepting of immigrants as the good ole boys of the deep south of the USA. So its not just sour grapes mate its polarized the nation" [Bob Stafford]

There are progressive people everywhere, including the Deep South. But yes, I was dismayed by Trump's xenophobic comments. As Hoo has pointed out, roughly fifty million voters cast ballots for Trump. There are 146,311,000 registered voters, and 218,959,000 who are eligible to register and vote.

Please do not tar the American voters for the actions of about 35%. I'll grant that people who stay home and do nothing are responsible [on some level] for allowing the winners to win, but if we allow that, we should not apply it to just one election. There were people who stayed home and allowed Obama, Bush Jr., and many previous presidents to win.

I voted. I *always* vote. I accept the results. I want to move on and engage positively with the system.

Hillary's "basket of deplorables" statement was very detrimental to her campaign. Painting all, most, or even many Trump supporters as racist was wrong. Not all or even most Trump supporters are racist.


But they all, every last one of those that voted for Trump are at least somewhat tolerant of some level of racism and bigotry. That isn't deniable. They likely had other issues, like making sure an anti-abortion jurist gets appointed to the Supreme Court. But they had to tolerate some alarmingly bigoted aspects from Trump and his surrogates.

The country needs time to cool down. President Obama is trying to be a bridge between his administration and the one that will replace it.

George W. was famously gracious and left that wonderful letter to Obama when they changed admins... unlike the rest of the republican party that swore they would do everything they could to deny Obama a single victory, the nation be damned.

"every last one of those that voted for Trump are at least somewhat tolerant of some level of racism "

Yep.

One of the things the Left seems not to understand is that racism is not AND NEVER WILL BE a deal-breaker for a lot of (white) people. It's not that they themselves ARE racists, or even do racist things. They just care about other things MORE.

Here how it seems to play out:
Voter: I'm voting for Trump/Nick Griffin/Nigel Farage.
Lefty: You can't do that! He's a RACIST!
...
Voter: Yeah. So?
(sound of crickets).

Apart from anything else, everyone knows everyone's a little bit racist (there's even a song about it), so the "revelation" that someone has that attribute, as though it's a magic argument-winning bullet, falls flat.

We saw this a few years back when the BNP rose in the UK. "He's a racist" was presented as the beginning AND END of why you shouldn't vote BNP... so the BNP started winning.

Then the BBC let Nick Griffin on Question Time, mainstream politicians started permitting debate about immigration, and the BNP pretty much self-destructed. I was perversely grateful to Griffin for being the political bellwether that woke the UK establishment up (or at least most of it - Gordon "that bigoted woman" Brown obviously didn't get the memo). His job done, he was banished to the fringes where he belonged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM

"everyone knows everyone's a little bit racist"


I don't believe that.

It's neurological, Mr. X. The first glimpse of an alien face triggers something negative. Then your conscious mind takes over and you reconsider. But this might not be the same definition of racism that others have suggested.

If antisemitism [for instance] is a set of false assumptions, is pro-semitism any better? Are you doing any favors by saying that black is beautiful in cases where there is little that's beautiful? Or is a general policy of positive thinking supposed to help the world get past awkward moments?

I don't know.

I think that racism is a much over-used word. It is slapped against anyone that is Pro-Israel, Anti-Israel, Anti-Muslim, Anti-Sihk - and yet people of these collections of persons are of nearly every "race" on the planet.

It does seem that the human nature is to be immediately averse to those who look different. Including 'Mongoloids' (Down's Syndrome). Some people from east of the Atlantic have a complete loathing of any of us west of those waters.

But as Paul points out, most people engage their mind and temper their reactions.

The key to it is hate. We all have natural affiliations: our family, our neighbourhood, communities of interest, industry, nationality, politics, religion, etc. It's how we treat those who are different.

Again, just my opinion. I think that "hatred" is something grown and built by repeated reinforcement of existing mistrust.

I loathe some individuals, seriously dislike others. But I don't feel "hate" toward anyone - reguardless of histories and circumstances.

I don't hate anyone either.

"It's neurological, Mr. X. The first glimpse of an alien face triggers something negative."


I disagree. I know the studies you're talking about, and there's a selection bias. They've only done these scans on adults from Western cultures. Specifically, I think they've only done it on Americans.

But racism is /learned/ behavior. Children, who by definition have not had time to learn it in the first place, are demonstrably not prejudiced. By extension, while this is certainly not guaranteed to happen, there is no conceptual reason why someone who's just not taught racism in the first place won't simply grow up to not be racist. Furthermore, there's no conceptual reason, and for that matter demonstrated examples where people who WERE taught racism and WERE racist fully UNLEARNED the behavior. Including high-profile civil-rights leaders.

The refrain that "everyone is a little racist so don't feel bad about it" is just an excuse to be lazy and not try to improve yourself or anyone else.

Which isn't a criticism of you specifically, just a pet peeve I have with society in general. So you know.

Back on Post 27, Orcus lightly objected to my describing our President Elect as a "Reality TV Star".


Yesterday, Trump tweeted, "Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!"

"Finalists!"