alanjjohnstone
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Often i have heard that socialists are colour-blind but is that a virtue?
Should we not be aware of racism and its pervasive influences such as “hidden” institutional racism rather than blatant prejudice. How can it be detected unless by collating statistics? By asking questions. How do we know whether US police have been targeting minorities and they are being singled out disproportionately to their numbers other than anecdotal evidence, if race details isn’t insisted upon.
Regards ALB’s post on France, isn’t it important particularly during this pandemic that we know about its affect on BAME whether it is physiological or because of their socio-economic status. Many states in the US declined, at first, to produce infection and mortality rates based on ethnic origin to disguise which communities were more vulnerable yet neglected.
For example https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53065306
We got an annual employee survey and i regularly put my racial/ethnic origin as Native North American and urged others to do the same for it meant if 5% of employees were, the employer had to devise a human resources policy for such. I wanted life for management to be more difficult.
I’m assuming the French new law permits anonymous collection of data such as opinion polls on voting intentions, and wider political and social beliefs. I’m guessing its aimed at tracking individuals – and i bet its related to stuff like Google profiles built from from my search patterns which are then traded commercially. But i’m guessing as i said
https://www.mansondirect.com/transa.html
Its a quote is from his court speech which is an interesting insight into his way of thinking.
He concludes
“We’re all our own prisons, we are each all our own wardens and we do our own time. I can’t judge anyone else. What other people do is not really my affair unless they approach me with it. Prison’s in your mind…Can’t you see I’m free?”
Lincoln and slavery by Howard Zinn
To underscore the above post that there is no change in substance for Biden
The Democratic National Committee’s council on climate change irked party leadership when it published policy recommendations this month that ventured beyond presidential candidate Joe Biden’s plan…The council’s proposals far exceed Biden’s current climate plan
One senior Democrat familiar with the DNC’s workings said climate council members overstepped by putting out recommendations ahead of the convention that are unlikely to be adopted in the party’s platform, which will be drafted by a DNC committee by its August convention.
“It’s a nonstarter,” said the Democrat, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter. “Nobody takes them seriously. Joe Biden will be writing the platform for our national convention.”
A blast from the past
Angela Davis offers her insight
It seems as if the pendulum has swung in Biden’s favour. His early strategy of doing little and hoping events would expose Trump has seemingly paid off with the pandemic and the protests.
However, the media now claim that this has emboldened Biden and he is now growing more radical. Yet little evidence is provided apart from the usual politician rhetoric. No real policy change has been announced.
The pandemic has not brought Biden towards Medicare4All. He hasn’t taken responsibility for his past law and order policies that contributed to the racialisation of crime and has distanced himself from defund the police – fancy name for cutting police department budgets and re-directing the savings towards some social services such as mental health. (as an aside after some crimes attributed to mental health issues Blair promised more psychiatric nurses – so he created “community psychiatric nurses”, reduced the rigorous course length and made much of it on-the-job training)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/joe-biden-race-reforms-democrat-seizes-moment
To become a serial killer, it is a series of escalating steps and it does appear that cruelty to animals is one of the early stages and child psychologists recognise the risk and can intervene to stop the progression. I’m sure Bijou is better qualified to explain it.
Affinity to pets is a human trait, visits to the zoo a childhood adventure. That animals can be dangerous, that some carry diseases is all part of life. We also know other children can be bullies, can be the transmitters of infectious diseases, the purveyors of tall stories, exert peer pressure and prejudice yet the benefits of socialisation and friendships outweigh the negative aspects.
But we know romanticism can unduly influence our view of the world – such as the early “noble savage” studies of other cultures.
I’ve mentioned the desirability of agriculture to change its model to a more sustainable one such as agroecology. This article describes its benefits and suggests the reasons why it is not as prevalent as it should be.
“…agroecology has the potential to build resilience and sustainability at all levels, by reducing vulnerability to future supply shocks and trade disruptions, reconnecting people with local food production, and making fresh, nutritious food accessible and affordable to all. This, according to the scientists, will reduce the diet-related health conditions that make people susceptible to diseases, and provide fair wages and secure conditions to food and farm workers, thereby reducing their vulnerability to economic shocks and their risks of contracting and spreading illnesses. However, the findings show that very little agricultural research funding in Africa is being used to transform such food and farming systems. The scientists found that only 3 percent of Gates Foundation projects in Africa support sustainable, regenerative approaches or agroecology. “
“a new study by researchers from Biovision, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and the United Kingdom-based Institute of Development Studies shows that such sustainable and regenerative farming techniques have either been neglected, ignored or disregarded by major donors…most governments, both in developing and developed countries, still favour “green revolution” approaches, with the belief that chemical-intensive, large-scale industrial agriculture is the only way to produce sufficient food.
“These approaches have failed,” said Herren, winner of the 1995 World Food Prize and 2013 Right Livelihood Award. “They have failed ecosystems, farming communities, and an entire continent,” he said ……Dr Lusike Wasilwa, a senior research scientist at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), believes that donors are investing more money in industrial agriculture not because it is the magic bullet for Kenya and other African countries, but because they have an agenda.
“Kenya needs to wake up and find its position in production of crops such as avocado and macadamia nuts, which are largely grown using sustainable and largely environment-friendly methods,” Wasilwa, who is also the director of Crops Systems at KALRO, told IPS. “No donor is willing to support such crops that could easily make Africa rich,” she said.
“It’s clear that in Africa as elsewhere, vested interests are propping up agricultural practices based on an obsession with technological fixes that is damaging soils and livelihoods, and creating a dependency on the world’s biggest agri-businesses. Agroecology offers a way out of that vicious cycle,” Olivia Yambi, co-chair of IPES-Food said in a statement.
But where do people learn about capitalism – from experiences and interaction with it.
We brought up to believe that the police and the State are neutral arbitrators. The protests and demonstrations tell us differently.
The 13 biggest dairy companies in the world have the same combined greenhouse gas emissions as the UK, the sixth biggest economy in the world, according to a new report.
Interview with Pavlina Tcherneva, an economics professor at Bard College and a research scholar at the Levy Economics Institute, author of The Case for a Job Guarantee.
The Scottish government is going to court to defend the practice of sending live baby calves to Europe…live exports form a large source of income for Scottish farmers, and Holyrood is fighting back, trying to get the case dropped.
Regards my other comment on Bregman, isn’t Carolyn Steel expressing an attitude that she might be receptive to further dialogue with ourselves and could be invited to give us an online talk and take some questions from ourselves. Or do a print interview?
We now got the web tools to make more use of.
Plus PaddyS has now experience of such online discussions to demonstrate the advantages of exploring podcasts and internet radio appearances and he could be comfortable as a host.
I think one of the past popular features in the Standard is when we do an interview. Way back in the 70s with Tony Benn, more recently with Kliman and Paul Mattick Jnr, also our exchanges with Michael Albert. Perhaps, we could approach Bregman for an interview for the Standard.
Or even more ambitiously to give an online talk and Q and A now that we are getting accustomed to the technology of Zoom and Discord.
Certainly some clearances was to remove people for sheep particularly in Scotland but wasn’t one other purpose of the Enclosures was to dispossess the peasant of his small piece of land and the degree of self-sufficiency it brought so that they could become a slum dweller in the new cities and fodder for the factory.
Or was that only a side-benefit and incidental?
