The All Things Political Topic - Those who do not move, do not notice their chains

[Darkpriest]

31 minutes ago, Hurlsnot said:

Strangely enough, we have a fairly large Romanian community in the Bay Area. 

None of them were forced to live on plantations and pick cotton for a few generations though, so I do think they have a bit more privilege. But YMMV while trying to oddly cherry pick specific scenarios that may or may not disprove white privilege is a thing. 

I guess they are the ones whose families were not killed off during the Ottoman occupation of Romania? I mean, you are quite ignorant, if you think that only people sold to slavery over the Atlantic by tribes who captured villagers of other tribes had it hard. 

There has been plenty of slave trade in the arabic and ottoman world (of white eauropeans no less, shocking!) , there was plenty of use of forced labor during various wars of conuest in every single part of the world. For some reason though each section of the world should simply blindly accept the view of slave owning democrats trying to clear their own conciousnes for domestic votes? Funnily enough, the Unions descendnands do not even think of returning the land and governance of it to the native americans? Shouldn't that part of history be better accounted for and resolved? 

[Malcador]

5 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

You got the interest rate you deserved based on your income, credit history, etc. Not because your wife ticked the "hispanic" box on the loan application.

How do you know this ?

[Gfted1]

12 minutes ago, Malcador said:

How do you know this ?

I dont.   I mean, its weird that two 6-figure earners would get a slightly poopier interest rate (3k back over 120k?) simply because she selected that box on the form, and no other reason. But I can get behind these banking racist fatcats getting their comeuppance and wish I too could find a loophole for some relief.

[Malcador]

I guess I don't know all that much about Hurlshot's financials.  But ok.

[Gfted1]

Oh, hes stated them a few times. You must have missed those posts.

[Gromnir]

somebody is not paying attention or perhaps is aiming for willful obtuse. "loophole" is an inappropriate way to describe if it were determined that hurl and his wife paid $3k more than were appropriate. what hurl references were a settlement and not a punitive damages situation, which means hispanic and african american borrowers on average were likely cheated considerable worse than the $3k.

and have had this discussion previous regarding cost o' living in places such as nyc and why the guy in san francisco who cleans p00p off of sidewalks made $70k a year as base salary. live in san jose is so expensive that hurl has little more disposable wealth than the teachers in rural tn and tx receiving a relative pittance. only monetary advantage for hurl over tx teachers is probable retirement 'cause he and wife may take their money earned over decades and then go live in brownsville, tx. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Chairchucker]

4 hours ago, Darkpriest said:

I somehow doubt that a white russian would get the privilage you are talking about in Oz, when compared for example to a Spanish white person or an Argentinian... 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policy

They would! We have a long and 'proud' history of preferring immigrants from European countries over, in particular, immigrants from Asian or African ones.

[ComradeYellow]

13 hours ago, Chairchucker said:

Is it worse than Russia or China? Dunno. Frankly I think the government of both those places seem pretty garbage, and we shouldn't be using them as a yard stick. It's like measuring how much of a good person you are against Jeffrey Dahmer. "Haven't killed or eaten anyone today, so if you look at this graph, I'm still on zero and therefore: good person."

Funny how most people who have not been there jump to these conclusions, and it's mostly white people.

Biggest problem in Russia:  Corruption.  Biggest problem in China: Pollution.

Other than that, their services and living conditions are quite functionary, China has even more public service and cheaper price tags than most Western countries so fuuuu

[Chairchucker]

On the other hand, a fair bit of ink has been spilled with regards to Russia's treatment of LGBT people, or China's approach to unapproved dissemination of certain topics like for example the Tienanmen Square incident.

[ComradeYellow]

There may be a grain of truth to that, but both are sovereign countries and it's up to the citizens in said countries to judge their governments actions, not white beta male geeks fully indoctrinated in Master Race global imperialism, which neither Russia nor China subscribes to btw.  Sovereignty is the key word.

Perhaps instead of spending almost $1t on military we should be investing in infrastructure, reform of the penitentiary hell, education and all that sort of "commie stuff".  But not the Master Race, no!

Edited February 4, 2022 by ComradeYellow

[Chairchucker]

lol 'white beta male geeks' also get the hell out of here with that 'no one outside of a country can judge that country' garbage

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Well this went places lmao. Sorry to hear that Hurlshot.

The average home price for the area I grew up in is around $250K. I think my parents bought their house for around $100k, so that's gone up. Looking at this real quick, it looks like rents have risen really high as well. I sure as hell feel like I'm getting squeezed when I have to pay. The whole situation seems untenable.

[Gromnir]

A butterfly conservatory is shutting down due to right-wing harassment

unfortunate, the npr article misses the punchline

Threats from QAnon conspiracists have forced a butterfly sanctuary in the Rio Grande Valley to close

The harassment escalated in late January when a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia, Kimberly Lowe, visited the nature conservatory, Treviño-Wright said. Lowe demanded the center give her access to the river “to see all the illegals crossing on the raft.” Treviño-Wright said Lowe tackled her when she asked Lowe to leave the premises.

The center closed last weekend during the We Stand America border security rally. Former state Rep. Aaron Peña had informed Treviño-Wright that the center could be a target during the rally and that she should “be armed at all times or out of town.”

Attendees of the rally, largely composed of staunch Trump supporters, did stop at the conservatory. Ben Bergquam, a contributor for the far-right site Real America’s Voice, posted a minutelong clip on Twitter, repeating false claims about sex trafficking.

...

am personal not the least bit motivated to search for mr. bergquam, (sounds like a character from a vonnegut novel) in hopes o' finding a link to his video, but feel free to do so at your leisure.

HA! Good Fun!

[Gfted1]

1 hour ago, ComradeYellow said:

Perhaps instead of spending almost $1t on military...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, *checks pamphlet* thats how we get our free oil from the ME and cheap gasoline.

1 hour ago, ComradeYellow said:

we should be investing in infrastructure, reform of the penitentiary hell, education and all that sort of "commie stuff".

But Im with you here! Theres currently ~10T in US home mortgage balances...if we just halved our military expenditures, and eliminated racist lending practices, we could be living the good life in free houses in just 20 years! Another ~51B in annual foreign aid would probably pay for a lot of college too. Smh. *shakes fist at sky*

[Gorth]

UK politics... It's like an episode out of "Yes, Prime Minister".

 

For all his posturing and wanting a war against the Soviet Union (which it still seems to be in the minds of many Britons), the dear Boris Johnson has dug himself in so deep, that no fanning the flames of fear or unrest can stop his slide into oblivion. All the pointing at big bad, external enemies falls for deaf ears in his own party. As for the Yes, Prime Minister reference, it's now so bad that his secretary, top civil servants and head of policy making have abandoned the sinking ship. For various reasons, but all boiling down to lack of trust in his capabilities. The letters of no confidence have started piling up in the conservative party, so he may not be put to the peoples test in the next election...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60253231

Four senior aides to Boris Johnson have resigned from Downing Street within hours of each other amid growing pressure on the prime minister.

Director of communications Jack Doyle confirmed his exit shortly after the departure of policy head Munira Mirza.

They were followed on Thursday by chief of staff Dan Rosenfield and senior civil servant Martin Reynolds.

The top aides' resignations came as Mr Johnson faces increasing questions over his leadership from within his party.

 

You know it's bad when the civil servants start scurrying away...

 

[ShadySands]

Russia joins NATO, problem solved. No? Oh.

[ComradeYellow]

56 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

Russia joins NATO, problem solved. No? Oh.

Russia would never join       such a godless enslaving enterprise.

Whay?

Their own experience in such matters xD

[Hurlshort]

6 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

I dont.   I mean, its weird that two 6-figure earners would get a slightly poopier interest rate (3k back over 120k?) simply because she selected that box on the form, and no other reason. But I can get behind these banking racist fatcats getting their comeuppance and wish I too could find a loophole for some relief.

Um.

 

Do you really think teachers make 6-figures?

 

I don't know where you got that. Combined, sure, we clear low six figures. Whoopie. That would be cool if we lived somewhere else. Of course, somewhere else pays thier teacher less. Yada yada, you have heard this before.

[Elerond]

1 hour ago, ComradeYellow said:

Russia would never join       such a godless enslaving enterprise.

Whay?

Their own experience in such matters xD

They have applied to it already several times

Edited February 4, 2022 by Elerond

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Hurlsnot said:

Um.

 

Do you really think teachers make 6-figures?

 

I don't know where you got that. Combined, sure, we clear low six figures. Whoopie. That would be cool if we lived somewhere else. Of course, somewhere else pays thier teacher less. Yada yada, you have heard this before.

the internet is never wrong and it tells us six figures is possible. although hurl likely needs a doctorate, +20 years experience and something else? dunno. 

in case is not clear, am not serious 'bout faith in the internet. have no idea if the linked is accurate.

HA! Good Fun! 

[Gorth]

2 hours ago, ComradeYellow said:

Russia would never join       such a godless enslaving enterprise.

Whay?

Their own experience in such matters xD

 

That would explain why they applied for membership twice... first under Yeltsin and then under Putin

[BruceVC]

11 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Hell, housing is a basic need and should be free.

But I might have misunderstood your case. I thought:

1) You got the interest rate you deserved based on your income, credit history, etc. Not because your wife ticked the "hispanic" box on the loan application.

2) Then Wells Fargo misdeeds were revealed and an opportunity presented itself for you to get free money.

3) Profit?

@Gfted1 I often find myself agreeing with the sentiment of what you raise even if we may have different reasons for that common view. And I am interested in your view of what I am suggesting or asking 

I have been following this debate you and Hurlshot are having and its very interesting for me. I do think you are raising valid questions and I hope Hurlshot reads this because its a more positive understanding of what Wells Fargo did and his opinion matters because he raised this. Also for me this debate is also relevant to the current debate that Im having  @Gorth and @Chairchucker about systemic racism in Oz banks

@Hurlshot 

Thanks for posting the link below so we can get on understanding of what Wells Fargo did. Normally when people have an issue with global companies and or the financial sector they dont post links explaining the criticism towards the bank. I read what they did and its one the worst cases of abuse I have ever come across when banks decide on loans and credit. 

But this malfeasance occurred mostly from 2004-2009 and that was during the dark days of the 2008 crisis and unfortunately their were example of this type of behavior. And Im glad that they are paying that $175 million relief

But it also only impacted about 4000 black and Hispanic clients when it came to the way they created  irregular loans and terms and about 30000 black and Hispanic clients were subjected to unfair bank charges 

So I dont think we should attribute something to this thats not necessarily connected ?But your case must be valid if you getting money back so you are 

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-settlement-wells-fargo-resulting-more-175-million-relief

But I am not clear  on something about how you applied for the loan, did you and your wife apply together and you shared your expenses, salary slip and other necessary paperwork with the bank? 

 

[BruceVC]

10 hours ago, Chairchucker said:

On the other hand, a fair bit of ink has been spilled with regards to Russia's treatment of LGBT people, or China's approach to unapproved dissemination of certain topics like for example the Tienanmen Square incident.

Oh so you do know something about the human rights reality of China, why didnt you respond to my question about Russia and China with the same alacrity and agreement 

I am just teasing because I want to tell you something. You and Gorth have responded in detail to my posts about structural racism and what " white, male privlidege " means and I have read what you have mentioned and I hope you continue to share your view on these topics 

But when I ask questions I am not trying to catch you out, I am making a point and sometimes you allow the other person to come to his own conclusion which is the same as your point. 

So I wasnt comparing Russia, China and ME to Western countries around their human rights records  because then its easy and meaningless. You  wont address any societal issues in  any country with that type of " whataboutism" because its well known these countries dont believe or support human rights or care about freedom in the same way as much of the  world does

But Gorthfuscious made a final statement in his post which I quoted below so my question was more about his framing of how any country can become racist. If I am correct with what he is saying then I agree that any country ruled of fear and nationalism will descend into some sort of discombobulation ....but surly the US is not an example of fear and nationalism? The Trump presidency was an anomaly and hopefully we wont see another disruptor like him again unless the Democrats  continue to fail to galvanize belief in their policies .....they can could literally hand victory  to the GOP and hopefully not Trump but another Republican candidate is fine. Much of the societal issues in the US  since Trump became president was not normal for how the US president conducts itself with decorum  and protocol. But he did have an impact on  emboldening certain right wing groups globally and he continues to feed the far right media like Newsmax with conspiracy theories about " the big lie "

But that only occurred in the US because of Trump and his presidency so the US shouldnt be judged on the current political problems and  dichotomy in the US generally? Anyway I was asking only because the Trump presidency was still regulated by the US Constitution and Congress and no US president can do anything he wants 

Any modern country ruled by fear and nationalism seems to move from systemic (or low key) racism to overt racism as a tool to focus peoples anger... from Germany 1933 to Trump 2016

 

 

[HoonDing]

NATO will stop at nothing to prevent the bolshevik hordes taking over their Lebensraum

[majestic]

28 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

NATO will stop at nothing to prevent the bolshevik hordes taking over their Lebensraum

Ukrainian moderate right wing extremists worthy of support, no doubt.