tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post7071297713334299876..comments2024-03-29T07:43:55.457-04:00Comments on Moristotle & Co.: LabelsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-35919211970574446142017-02-09T06:05:43.363-05:002017-02-09T06:05:43.363-05:00Sounds like something worth waiting for! Thanks. S...Sounds like something worth waiting for! Thanks. Submit an article for publication? We would welcome it. If you can communicate with Vic, he can give you my email address.Moristotlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02211602374384087074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-3402588685668529002017-02-09T00:01:49.154-05:002017-02-09T00:01:49.154-05:00Thanks, both of you, it's been a pleasure :) ....Thanks, both of you, it's been a pleasure :) . I have some thoughts about the impossibility of being a product of one's self and the paradox of free will but this can wait for another time.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-29328696822561524832017-02-08T07:20:31.817-05:002017-02-08T07:20:31.817-05:00I too want to encourage you to give up more though...I too want to encourage you to give up more thoughts on this touchy discussion if you have any. I appreciate you and this respectful dialog. And thanks Morris, for your thoughtful encouragement too.Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-8786175902639117912017-02-08T07:04:37.919-05:002017-02-08T07:04:37.919-05:00And thank you, Michael, for engaging Vic here on M...And thank you, Michael, for engaging Vic here on Moristotle & Co., where we highly value both thoughtful articles and thoughful commentary. Return anytime. You are welcome.Moristotlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02211602374384087074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-39342494647238298542017-02-08T06:58:35.506-05:002017-02-08T06:58:35.506-05:00Yes Michael, I agree on my wanting to wear rose te...Yes Michael, I agree on my wanting to wear rose tented glasses on this matter. I suppose I am the eternal optimist constantly wanting to place the aspiration bar high. <br /><br />Being of proud Cherokee stock, it seems ignorant for "white" folks to think the most important American is that color. Getting more general or generic, I suggest the hardest and most important lesson a human being has to learn in this life is to take responsibility for himself and his OWN actions. Only then can we say, "We are a product of ourselves. Thanks so much again for engaging with me. Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-68985036502206212192017-02-08T03:27:10.482-05:002017-02-08T03:27:10.482-05:00To an extent, yes it does support your 'scream...To an extent, yes it does support your 'scream' summation - but I think you are viewing the idea of everyone 'coming together' with rose-tinted glasses. The label of 'just American' or 'us Americans'<br />is, despite its innocent phrasing, linked to a specifically white American identity. This is why certain groups are able to tell blacks who have lived in America all their life to 'go back to Africa' - they are not 'real Americans' because 'real Americans' are defined as /white/ Americans. The choice for black Americans, as I understand it, is between an identity based on either a) 'passing' as white, b) relinquishing their own identity and becoming 'non-white', or c) asserting their own identity as uniquely black.<br /><br />For context, my thinking on this topic has been shaped by Pierre Bourdieu's seminal work 'Distinction', in which he difference at the heart of identity and identity at the heart of the self, a place (as you and Jake well know!) is of crucial importance to an individual's wellbeing. It's well worth reading.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-39007328585249326882017-02-07T18:00:10.670-05:002017-02-07T18:00:10.670-05:00Absolutely. In far too many cases it seems, "...Absolutely. In far too many cases it seems, "you can't fix stupid". <br />I have permission to share this - I got a private email from someone who asked that question to an African American young lady with whom she worked, "why did they call each other "nigger". The girls answer was, "It is a form of endearment for us now. I only say it to friends and LOVERS." <br />It seems to me that substantiates my "scream" summation. Doesn't it? So I still don't fully understand why it needs to be kept alive. Perhaps it is an effort to turn a strong negative into a good positive. ?Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-51671319818813056572017-02-07T04:42:28.570-05:002017-02-07T04:42:28.570-05:00Ah, but if it is not the gun or money but the valu...Ah, but if it is not the gun or money but the values of the person who holds them which are dangerous, are not certain minorities justified in their concerns about the use of racial epithets insofar as they reveal the values and respect (or lack thereof) of those armed persons which use them?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-5554624897477477792017-02-07T03:40:25.979-05:002017-02-07T03:40:25.979-05:00Michael, you raise some excellent points and I tha...Michael, you raise some excellent points and I thank you for engaging with me. Most of the thoughts I was having when I read your first comment was if a person had, for example, advanced credentials, that they are to be believed. I have not found that to be true in 'some' instances. Some folks with extra knowledge, but without wisdom are as screwy as the rest of us. And we must always question them AND ourselves for the 'truth of it'. I agree with your reference of "powerlessness" around a 9mm or a bulging wallet. For me, it is not the gun or the money that will harm us, but the person without values and common respect holding them.Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-80116270062189638262017-02-07T02:11:30.743-05:002017-02-07T02:11:30.743-05:00I would question your assertion that power is a so...I would question your assertion that power is a societal perception that we all choose to allow to rule. Does my unwillingness to concede power prevent the police from arresting me, my boss from firing me, or my neighbours from attacking me? We all put out our pants the same way, but not everyone carries a 9mm handgun or a Centurion card in their pocket.<br /><br />(P.S. I tried commenting on the first article but received an error which lost my post after I tried to submit and I didn't want to write it out again. My thoughts there were much as they are here, though I wonder if 'political correctness' is less to blame than ideological tribalism of all stripes)Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-72714750925898368842017-02-06T06:50:56.707-05:002017-02-06T06:50:56.707-05:00While I believe you cannot teach wisdom, you can t...While I believe you cannot teach wisdom, you can teach questioning. And encouraged questioning is the road to wisdom.Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-64576760896777709932017-02-06T06:26:08.280-05:002017-02-06T06:26:08.280-05:00To possibly further "political incorrectness&...To possibly further "political incorrectness" and from my point of view, credentials is excellent knowledge gained and wisdom is not something that can be taught. Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-32819235550082499732017-02-06T06:01:08.892-05:002017-02-06T06:01:08.892-05:00I don't disagree. Power is still a societal pe...I don't disagree. Power is still a societal perception that we all choose to allow to rule. Or at least give "more" credence to. However, don't we all put our pants on the same way - one leg at a time? I'm loving the feed back coming in. I was beginning to wonder, on both articles, if no one wanted to poke at the outer boundaries and discuss the "touchy" things. I firmly believe that being "politically correct" in discussions and communications is destroying discussions and communications. And just like the rest of the world right now, we are going backwards and losing the plot of acceptable behavior. So bravo! Love it! And thank you!Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-48296862960336469762017-02-05T21:08:59.206-05:002017-02-05T21:08:59.206-05:00I feel that this, like your previous post, boils d...I feel that this, like your previous post, boils down to issues of power. Words can be brushed off if the person speaking them lacks the capacity to act on them, but when spoken by an individual with power they can become harmful, hurtful, dangerous - it's the difference between a stranger calling a person crazy and a psychiatrist calling a person crazy.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-50044991820179952432017-02-05T18:31:53.552-05:002017-02-05T18:31:53.552-05:00Yes, I would love a black voice to explain it. Yes, I would love a black voice to explain it. Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-4461907525998230052017-02-05T10:04:34.800-05:002017-02-05T10:04:34.800-05:00The fact is that whites here no longer use that na... The fact is that whites here no longer use that name, against people of color it's "Yard Apes" now. The first lady was the Ape in high heels. Your friends in school stopped using the word because they didn't want to seem uncool. When I first came back to the South there was none of the names or talk you hear today. But your friends grew up and became their parents. The first black President and the open racist that is in the white house now is what changed all of that. As to why blacks can use the word nigger or gays can use the word queer with each other? They took the word of hate and made it their own. You cannot use it because it was your race that made it a word of hate. Myself I don't like hearing these names by any group. I had a very good friend in Washington State that during the LA riots in the sixties, stood fast with his brothers in LA. He came from a very well to do family. Had a college degree and a damn good job. I asked him why the strong support for the rioters that he had nothing in common with? His answer: "Their is not a black person in the US that has not been called nigger by some white person." I hope this helps answer your question. It is a subject that needs a black voice to explain and goes much deeper than labeling.Ednoreply@blogger.com