Post by RonOsecond attempt to post
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-immigrants-
bad-genes-latest-disparagement-migrants-rcna174271
Migrants made this country as great as it is. Even the native Americans
came from Asia. Trump's stupidity has been used against the Irish,
Asians, Eastern Europeans, Italians, and Jews. It seems to be nuts that
it should surface again in this day and age.
(My third attempt to post this.)
The United States has always had a strong authoritarian streak, and we
have never really reckoned with it as a country. It's such a part of the
culture and history of the United States that those of us born and
raised here often have a hard time even seeing it, and will hotly deny
it exists. How do you explain the color red to somebody who has worn
red-tinted shades his whole life?
Authoritarianism, nativism, and racism will keep respawning here in the
US until we acknowledge our history and identity is intertwined with
them, and discover how we might move forward without them.
Post by RonOYesterday I went to see Wild Robot with my wife and daughter and we
usually sit through the entire credits because my daughter likes to know
what went into making the movie. I noted that DreamWorks studios
talented staff reflected the melting pot of what this country has become
just in the surnames of the people that had participated in producing
the animated feature you could tell that they came from all over the
world. The US is literally a nation of migrants, and racist idiots like
Trump can still exist here.
Of course, when the Republican Party screams about immigrants, their
followers know they don't really mean *immigrants.* Nobody is arguing
Melania Trump should be deported. They mean non-white people... and the
rank-and-file waving "MASS DEPORTATION NOW" signs have no intention to
provide exceptions for legal immigrants, naturalized citizens, or even
birthright citizens.
Post by RonOWhen the Methodist church apologized for supporting the Eugenics
movement, I looked it up because I had been a member of the church for
decades and had never been told that we had ever supported eugenics.
From what I could find out it was the young earth creationist faction
of the church (Young earth, old earth, theistic evolution creationism
exist within the Methodist church because it takes no position on that
aspect of Biblical beliefs) that got everyone else involved in eugenics.
They were worried about the degeneration of the US population and
believed that you could breed better Americans. They obviously did not
believe in evolution.
Yah. It ties in closely with Eco's assessment of ur-fascism, too: The
cult of tradition, the Golden Age from which all good things derive, and
any departure from which can only be deterioration and sin. Read the old
creationist warbling about how Adam and Eve had "perfect" genes —
whatever that means — and how the human races has been decaying since
then. To reactionaries who long for the simplicity and clarity of some
imagined Good Old Days, eugenics is just another way to turn back the clock.
(Incidentally, I'd suggest Eco's essay as required reading for anybody
even vaguely interested in politics.)
The right is openly advocating eugenics, ethnic cleansing, permanent
minority rule, patriarchy, theocracy and white nationalism, and yet some
folks still get the howling fantods if we dare call it fascism.
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Kestrel Clayton
"Every normal woman must be tempted, at times, to stoke the fire,
host the black mass, and begin eating hearts." — Rose Bailey