Letters to the Editor
-
"Support the Middle Class" Magnets?
What an encouraging piece! It's so good to see that thinkers like Krugman are gaining (even more) traction and that folks are waking up to how socially and economically destructive the GOP has been during the last 30 years or so. Perhaps in the next few years, some of the people who drive around with "Support the Troops" magnets on their cars will start caring about the wage stagnation and general economic disparity that the GOP has allowed to fester...perhaps a "Support the Middle Class" magnet will come into vogue!
-
Less Racist? (Christian Nationalism)
I guess I would hope that the US is becoming less racist, but the problem is complex. First of all, regardless about what the public's attitude toward "interracial couples" is (aren't we all interracial?), there's still no way to galvanize a reactionary popular vote like pointing at urban African Americans. The "let them eat cake" response to Katrina proves that.
Secondly, we may be morphing towards an era when the community bound by racism becomes one bound by a Christian Nationalism (citing Salon's former columnist Michelle Goldberg): in short, a world of mega-churches, implicitly dominated by whites but open to all, who focus their intolerance on those who question:
1) America's supposedly Christian origin.
2) Its supposedly European "majority"
3) The need to protect same from outsiders.
Unfortunately, the know-nothing wing of American democracy has reinvented itself many times over the centuries; there seems no reason to believe it can't again.
This is not to say, however, that Krugman isn't right: it may well be that a pendulum is moving a good direction for now.
-
If only...
If only we could count on Democratic members of Congress to hold up their end...
-
In U.S. politics, it's all about race . . .
. . . and it always has been.
Reagan made racism fun again for white America. That's why the Republicans miss him so much.
Paul Krugman is more than an economist-turned-pundit. He is a truth-teller. And the Big Truth he tells is this: The definition of a liberal is a person who is not a racist. And liberals aren't racists because their consciences won't let them be racists.
-
miscegenation
Sir,
I remember reading that the data from online dating sites show that colored men stand less of a chance attracting dates. I think this was mentioned in the book "Freakonomics" by a Chicago economist. In your piece on Hair Salon politics on this website, motherly african american affection towards Barack O' Bama does not wish to vote for Mr. O' Bama because he might be killed by the "white male" power structure. These factoids make me a little sceptical of Mr. Krugmans use of a single statistic on the acceptability of miscegenation to underpin his argument. I think that while there is a greater tolerance for miscegeneation, it is a question that begs further research. A scholar of the stature of Mr. Krugman should not base his arguments without viewing race as a complex structure and doing more homework.
-
You gotta be kiddin'
"The definition of a liberal is a person who is not a racist. And liberals aren't racists because their consciences won't let them be racists."
Really? I didn't know that. So, all of those good liberals who send their children to all white public and private schools are definitely not racists. And those same whites who clamor for more unrestricted immigration from third world countries in the hope that they will replace blacks aren't racists either. Nope! These non-racist liberal whites just happen to use blacks as props in their status competition with white Christians to see who is more "enlightened", so long as they themselves aren't inconvenienced. Liberal = non-racist my ass!
-
@Roger Rice
So, all of those good liberals who send their children to all white public and private schools are definitely not racists. And those same whites who clamor for more unrestricted immigration from third world countries in the hope that they will replace blacks aren't racists either. Nope!
Nothing but a bunch of strawman bullshit.
-
A Little More Progress From Those Progressives, Please
Speaking as a protoconservative who loathes neocons and doesn't have much patience with faux liberals either, I'd just like to remind those who've read the article (and will read Krugman's book) that as in nature -- look to the autonomic nervous system as a grand example -- there is a need for balance in our politiical and ideological quest. The sympathetic system might be the liberal faction and the parasympathetic (the one responsible for digestion and slowing the heart rate) might be the conservative "drag force." Both are necessary to this revolution's survival.
Lately we've been painfully short on solid progressive politicians, and while our society seems to stumble forward in spite of itself, I've really expected a lot more from our newly elected Democratic majority. As a lifelong Republican this feels truly strange, but more than the oddness of it there is that underlying urgency that right now we need our sympathetic component to speed things up. Yes, I know, my idiot partisans have been a little too much of a drag force, but we can't blame all the inertia on them. A useful fire requires tending.
I look forward to Krugman's book and hope it doesn't disappoint. It will make a fine companion to Goldwater's earlier, conservative manifesto perhaps.
Meanwhile, let's get the balance back for god's sake. And some reality, too. Like forgoing the inexplicable notion of one poster here that liberals cannot be racicsts. Racism isn't gone and it's only more obvious on the right, but I know good and well (because I associate far more with liberals than conservatives) that some of that group are even more culpable when it comes to racism, simply because they have set themselves up as the Good Guy model. They have to live up to the standard they've set for themselves, not just talk the talk. God knows we conservatives have our work cut out for us. At least I can be honest about that. While I and people like me are busy trying to repair the parasympathetic side of the system those others need to get real and get serious about their chosen mission. We all need you. It is a good time for liberals. Please don't blow it.