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Authenticity (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by [M] to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world
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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

What is her reasoning that racism allows the system to exist? It seems like a desire for geopolitical power could easily create the same situation without racism.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    My understanding (with by words - just bcs I find it obvious):
    Few people create & maintain the system actively, the rest of them/us just feed it money & don't do anything when it's killing children or exploiting the poorest countries on Earth.

    Racism, lack of compassion, the general idea that we (developed countries measured by GDP?) are automatically somehow something more just bcs we were born here & entitled to nice lives supported by a greater number of lives elsewhere, etc.

    (To clarify, racism isn't just the thing towards black people in USA, every nation has it's own forms, and they are rarely based on color, usually it's nationality. So it's easier to say X country should have lower wages bcs it's providing us cheap goods.)

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Racism, lack of compassion, the general idea that we (developed countries measured by GDP?) are automatically somehow something more just bcs we were born here & entitled to nice lives supported by a greater number of lives elsewhere, etc.

    Right. My point is that the first is independent of the second two. You can lack compassion and only care about yourself while also not being racist.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    My point is that the first is independent of the second two.

    ... so compassionate racists too??
    Yeah, I don't think so, not really, the least thinking pleb.

    You can lack compassion and only care about yourself while also not being racist.

    Hm, not really in practice - the argument is valid only on theoretical, isolated personal level.
    But that's is not how racism works/exist, racism is a systemic issue.

    If you are "not racist" (~don't have those prejudices) but people around you are ... and you are selfish & without compassion then it is in your best personal/economic/social interest to act just as racist as the rest, so "not racists act racists and participate in racist activities" (and especially not speaking against racism, at least not unless/until you can monetise it).

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Because not seeing the Palestinians as humans makes it easier to ignore the genocide

    If people were being genocided, then that would be an issue. However, we are civilized enough in the West to realize that it is merely Muslim Arabs who are being killed. This makes the justification significantly easier to believe

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    I don't entirely believe that. I think that we in the West are entirely capable of ignoring the suffering of people far away regardless of race. The race of the genocided people might make them easier to ignore for the mean Westerner, but I think with sufficient distance and potential for geopolitical influence, anything is possible.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    because all things equal it’s easier to get your country to support funding genocide of the other

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Sure. But does this additional ease move the needle from impossible to possible? My intuition is that it does not.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I mean yea, that’s usually how it goes. You start with the racism first to build an enemy. Use that as an excuse to gather power and manufacture consent. The genocide is just an after thought to the people in power but it’s part of the whole shebang.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    My default position is that the average person is okay with genocide regardless of who is being genocided as long as those people are far away and don't impact their lives. Caring about people you have never met is not a default human response.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    that’s true until they see it on tv / in person

    they are only far away if they are out of mind

    but if you precondition your population to see them as vermin fist it softens the horror

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