tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post7327396991134878357..comments2024-03-26T08:18:06.895-04:00Comments on Moristotle & Co.: Tuesday Voice: The plantation of the mindUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-51969317358018843972016-09-15T22:58:12.862-04:002016-09-15T22:58:12.862-04:00Excellent column! Now living in the the South I ha...Excellent column! Now living in the the South I have been corrected many times about the following: it was the Northern aggression against the South, not the Civil War. I think his comparison is quite brilliant and a way of thinking that just might open up some closed minds.Sharon Stonernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-32233580138646821772015-09-16T09:29:50.999-04:002015-09-16T09:29:50.999-04:00The Southern Gentleman was first an English Gentle...The Southern Gentleman was first an English Gentleman as was the Australian. England believed in the power of the wealthy as did most of the founding fathers. Remember while the shooting of the Revolution started in the North most of the leaders were from Virginia and the freedom they wanted had to do with family money. In someways the Revolutionary War was the first battle for free trade.<br /><br />I don't believe they saw a day that the common person would have a vote or hold a seat of power. I could look up the date it was changed but in's not that important; for many years after the war only land owners could vote or run for elected office. Today it is getting harder for the poor to vote and if you are not rich or good friends or willing to sell your soul you cannot afford to run for office. History repeating itself. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-12918108550104933012015-09-15T19:19:53.745-04:002015-09-15T19:19:53.745-04:00Excellent to and fro and very interesting subject ...Excellent to and fro and very interesting subject matter, Ed. I think you are right with your comparisons to corporations and plantations. And the mentality of all involved from top to bottom. My question is this. How did the "Southern mind set" get to Australia? They call them Bogans here - the poor, loud and the proud. (This is not really a serious question BTW.) Other then Hawaii, California is the closest, so I guess it's there fault. Just kidding, ya'll!!Vic M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06736914347731234718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-50536213820763526212015-09-15T19:03:13.737-04:002015-09-15T19:03:13.737-04:00Maybe imperialism would have been a better word th...Maybe imperialism would have been a better word than industrialism. For those who haven't read Imperial Leather (Anne McClintock), it is a must read. Best book I've ever read. <br /><br />...race, gender and sexuality in the colonial contestBettina Sperryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14834001147504433082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-88928389106405158522015-09-15T18:53:45.172-04:002015-09-15T18:53:45.172-04:00Interesting read. I see plantation life and corpor...Interesting read. I see plantation life and corporate lifestyles as an extension of industrialism and Victorianism as it arose out of Europe, specifically as it addressed social class distinctions. . <br /><br />Sorry, have to stop thinking and do my farm chores for the evening. Bettina Sperryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14834001147504433082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-59996627366911818742015-09-15T18:52:53.635-04:002015-09-15T18:52:53.635-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Bettina Sperryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14834001147504433082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-83581609208492902622015-09-15T16:40:45.861-04:002015-09-15T16:40:45.861-04:00Thanks. I lived in Northern Cali for 6 years it wa...Thanks. I lived in Northern Cali for 6 years it was almost like being in Mississippi. Only without the forest fires.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-65558718020303604552015-09-15T16:32:45.034-04:002015-09-15T16:32:45.034-04:00The idea of the corporations being the "new p...The idea of the corporations being the "new plantations" has the awful stab of accuracy about it, and it seems us "slaves" have accepted this as a sad fact to which we can only submit, at least if we want to keep alive the dream of one day being "in the big house". Some of us, however, long ago let go of the illusion that most of the wealthy and powerful got there through "hard work", and also let go of the illusion that bigotry and ignorance are limited to the South. I spent two years living in Los Angeles, and I recall a conversation in which a woman told me she was so happy to have left the South for good--"Too many rednecks," she said. All I could think was that she was wearing blinders--I ran into plenty of what we call rednecks, they just came with a West Coast accent rather than a Southern drawl. <br /><br />Good piece, Ed. <br /><br />-mjh Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-35796687694481148832015-09-15T15:59:06.917-04:002015-09-15T15:59:06.917-04:00I agree with Saundra one of the worst things that ...I agree with Saundra one of the worst things that happened in the South after integration was Church Schools which do the same as Charter Schools they create a lack of diversity. The only answer I can think of is a College like compound where everybody is bused, because as long as you have poor neighborhoods their schools will never match the better off neighborhoods. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-83860393336417630542015-09-15T14:15:58.566-04:002015-09-15T14:15:58.566-04:00The following is kind of off the grid from Mr. Rog...The following is kind of off the grid from Mr. Rogers’s article but still relevant and important:<br /><br />We have made some changes [writing from South Carolina], but I must agree with Mr. Rogers. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave the US Attorney General the right to investigate schools that he or she believed were still participating in discriminatory activities. Charter schools are even more profoundly segregated than most public schools and magnet schools, [which] with a few exceptions have failed for more than 40 years to achieve diversity. I am not aware of a true diversity policy that will protect African American students from feeling isolated, alienated, and discriminated against by the majority population. M. Hinton ["In need of a newer model," in <i>Diverse Issues of Higher Education</i>, 27(18), 2010] stressed that “as the demographics of those who comprise college shift, there has been no move to make the culture more inclusive, rather, the student must fit narrow cultural norms” (p. 43). I believe this is across the board for all aspects of life for people of color.Saundra Carrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-66498269135576581222015-09-15T11:18:20.489-04:002015-09-15T11:18:20.489-04:00To anyone else who finds today's column an int...To anyone else who finds today's column an interesting, engaging read, please share your reaction to Ed Rogers's thesis. Does it explain anything that you may not previously have understood? <i><b>Has</b></i> "plantation mentality" spread to other parts of the country, as Ed contents? How do <i><b>you</b></i> see all this in relationship to capitalism? (See Patrick Sawyer's comment above, and Ed's response, immediately below it.)<br /> Please contribute your thoughts on today's thoughtful essay. We appreciate it.Moristotlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02211602374384087074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-90790452880040636402015-09-15T09:18:52.955-04:002015-09-15T09:18:52.955-04:00I'm not against capitalism itself, but uncheck...I'm not against capitalism itself, but unchecked its only goal is to feed the ones at the top. The owners of the plantations could produce nothing without the slaves and their product if only sold to the rich would not have given them the income needed to run their everyday business---same with the corporations today. However, unchecked capitalism does not factor in the people who keep the machine running. Teddy Roosevelt and then F. D. Roosevelt saw the dangers and the harm that unchecked capitalism could do and past laws to to hold the banks and corps, in check. Most of those laws are gone. The American people have given their right of control over to the corporations. Now the beast we call capitalism is free. In some ways the civil war was a good thing(I believe slaves and other problems could have been resolved without war)the land in the south was burned up from planting cotton over and over. The owners could not afford not to plant the cotton but the price of growing it was increasing and the buyers in the north wanted cheap cotton but each field produced less cotton each year. This is what happens with unchecked capitalism it feeds on its self but we suffer. <br /><br />As for the flag any change you see is because they do not want to be seen as bigots. As for national sentiment before we elected a black man president it was a very rare sight to see a Confederate flag waving in the north or on the west coast as for as that goes. I don't know if there has been this many people with so much hate in heart all along and no one noticed or there is something in the water. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676316.post-18586185483309834602015-09-15T07:48:23.824-04:002015-09-15T07:48:23.824-04:00Ed,
What an interesting read! I'm not sure I...Ed,<br /><br />What an interesting read! I'm not sure I'm entirely with you but I do follow your argument. Let me ask you...your point about large corporations being the plantations of old...in your view would you extrapolate further and say that capitalism is the ultimate issue/concern? <br /><br />Also...how do you process the recent angst the country has had over the Confederate flag in SC? I understand that even pro golfer, Bubba Watson, repainted his replica of the General Lee from the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard to cover over the Confederate flag. An almost meaningless act, I realize, but it does seem to represent a change in national sentiment. Is there not some movement in the country against the use of the Confederate flag? How does this play into your thinking?<br /><br />Engaging read. Thanks for contributing it.<br /><br /> Patrick Sawyernoreply@blogger.com