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- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: BEYOND offensive truck in Detroit
I have a theory on why that might be too.
There's a concept in western society...especially in America, I guess an ideal, a type of national ethos, part myth and part truth, that regular folk can work their ass off and make good. It's seen as the land of opportunity. And in many ways it is. We all know the story - everyone does - the kid who comes with nothing as an immigrant and makes a zillon. People like arnold schwarzenegger and that kind of thing. Or even people who were enterprising in a non-legit way like Al capone. The idea also is that any natrual born usa kid can grow up to be the president one day.
That's the great thing about western nations...that hard work is rewarded and if you just try hard enough - you too can break out of your social limitations and become rich and famous.
And it's true in a handful of cases.
But I think the idea has a darker subtext. And that's the never stated but internalised concept: The reverse of it. If anyone can get rich if they just try hard enough...then surely people who are in a bad way somehow didn't try or they somehow made choices to earn what's comming to them.
No one says it...but I think people think it. I see it all the time in judgment of people from lower socio economic conditions.
And I think that's the thing you are seeing. People won't help the homeless people in our own streets because in some fucked up way we think they made their own situation - when a shit ton of the time they just suffered some real bad cards being delt to them.
So my view is that both things are true.
In terms of individual gifts - people help those overseas as they're the cases we recogise as fucked up - while we secretly blame people in our own community if they're in tough times. But in terms of getting together as an entire society and doing things on governmental and global levels - no one gives a shit cos they arn't enough like us.
Or at least that's the way I see it. Maybe I'm wrong though. It's a controversal issues that's for sure. All i know is something like 18,000 kids will starve to death today...and it won't be on the news here. But if 20 people died in a train crash it would be. I can only assume that 20 local lives matters more than 20,000 little african kiddies.
Re: BEYOND offensive truck in Detroit
is that the kid from Waterworld or mad max?
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: BEYOND offensive truck in Detroit
But I think the idea has a darker subtext. And that's the never stated but internalised concept: The reverse of it. If anyone can get rich if they just try hard enough...then surely people who are in a bad way somehow didn't try or they somehow made choices to earn what's comming to them.
And you know what, to a certain degree that's a correct and just idea; you're conscious is just giving you a hard time about it because you've been brought up to be kind and caring about your fellow human beings on the individual level (which is great, by the way, don't get me wrong!). Although I am 100% convinced that the specific kid in your picture hasn't done anything to deserve his situation, I am also convinced that to a great extent his community as a whole is very much responsible for their collective poorness. Very much so. The African people, instead of working together on their famine problems, choose to fight amongst each other. Tribe vs tribe vs tribe. This is civil war at it's hardest and their total disregard for the well-being of their own children is sickening to me.
That's why I'm saying: hold the group responsible instead of being politically correct. The individual should never be judged by the actions of his ethnic peers - that would be racism, but ignoring the real underlying reasons for their situation is dishonest towards those communities who have worked hard to have things like social security, minimum wage, orphanages, health care infrastructure, basic access to technology, ... available to as many people as possible.
We need to realize that they have to want to get out of the rut they are in before we can help them. And by the way, sending money to the "poor Africans" seems like a very disrespectful way to treat an entire race. "They can't make it on their own, if we don't help them" is sort of patronizing, isn't it?
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: BEYOND offensive truck in Detroit
I'm not saying the rest of the world is backward...but I question to what extent it's ok to leave something before it becomes a duty to get involved.
I don't know the answer to that question by the way. I'm just saying. It's a question that exists in my head.
I can't help but think of my childhood.
As a child i saw world vision ads on TV or whatever, and my parents explained to me about how there was fammine in africa and so on, and how we live in a world where not everyone has the nice middle class life I was leading.
This would have been 1982 or something.
Here we are some 30 years later and it's still fucked over there.
But look at the changes here. Look at my 1982 fucking atari or whatever and then look at your iphone...the world is getting better and better yet we kind of accept that some things can't change.
I don't really know what the solution is. But I'm starting to feel as a species we need to grow up and stop pretending the world is fine.
Re: BEYOND offensive truck in Detroit
I'm not saying the rest of the world is backward...but I question to what extent it's ok to leave something before it becomes a duty to get involved.
I don't know the answer to that question by the way. I'm just saying. It's a question that exists in my head.
I can't help but think of my childhood.
As a child i saw world vision ads on TV or whatever, and my parents explained to me about how there was fammine in africa and so on, and how we live in a world where not everyone has the nice middle class life I was leading.
This would have been 1982 or something.
Here we are some 30 years later and it's still fucked over there.
But look at the changes here. Look at my 1982 fucking atari or whatever and then look at your iphone...the world is getting better and better yet we kind of accept that some things can't change.
I don't really know what the solution is. But I'm starting to feel as a species we need to grow up and stop pretending the world is fine.
This is exactly the opinion Bono expresses all the time. Yet because the guy makes millions off of something he worked incredibly hard for many people think he's full of shit. It's like he'd need to be poor to be taken seriously but what you just expressed Monkey is basically what he's been preaching for years. Africa is going down in flames yet in our society even the poorest of the poor have sat at a computer with internet and used a cell phone. Future generations will judge us for our complacency when it comes to these things. We do need to take care of our own but at the end of the day we're all people and we all share this planet and the sad reality is there isn't anything in terms of poverty over here that compares to the dire situation in other parts of the world. Yes there are individual cases but not on a mass level.
As for the original topic in this thread the bumper stcikers spew hate and that in itself makes it wrong. The bumper stickers are disgusting plain and simple.
