Minister Farrakhan Reminds Black Detroit to Stick Together

[HiPointDem]

26. It's nothing to do with intelligence. If I gave you that impression, it wasn't my intention.

Last edited Fri May 24, 2013, 09:23 AM - Edit history (1)

I said I'm not going to try to convince you because it's not something you'll be convinced of by argument, evidence, education.

E.g. If I ask a random assortment of people in the street whether or not the US is a democracy, I'll get an assortment of answers, and the differences will be more about their different experiences rather than their different intelligences or knowledge bases.

"Yes" is the default, because we're indoctrinated early on with the idea, in school, from media, via public rituals (4th of july, elections). We're inculcated with emotional attachment to the idea, it gets intertwined with our very identity -- but we don't generally think much about it very consciously, or deeply -- unless we have an experience that makes us question what we've previously taken for granted, like a fish doesn't think about the sea until it's poisoned so to speak.

Dozens of unconscious concepts like that are involved in how people think about a situation like Detroit and how it came to be that way. There's a master explanation handed to us by 'the powers that be,' but the reason it rings true (to those for whom it does) is because of underlying beliefs, values, concepts, and not so much because of some deep study of a broad database of 'facts,' or because of any greater or lesser intelligence.

My ideas about detroit are based on experiences which contradicted the standard narrative. I also like study and research, which helps, but without the experiential challenge and interest in the question i could have read the same research and come to different conclusions.

I believe economic and political elites build up or tear down regions economically in a planned, strategic way, in pursuit of their own interests, and irregardless of the interests of the residents or the general population. They do so by investment and disinvestment, as well as other associated means. They have the economic power to do so, so they do it, just as in say latin america elites will shoot peasants and take their land -- because they can, because it serves them.

According to the mainstream narrative that's a crazy idea. If you're deep into the mainstream narrative you'll think so too, and you will not be able to hear, or you will discount as unrepresentative, anything I offer as evidence.

If you're questioning mainstream narratives because something in your own experience has made you uneasy, then you'll think about it and see if anything rings true to you. If it does, you'll look for more information.

But drawing that conclusion leads to different conclusions about how to help fix Detroit.


and as for criminals: i think we all understand intellectually that someone like Bush -- who lied us into war, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people, the destruction of institutions, families, communities, and the destabilization of the middle east -- is a bigger 'criminal' than say some jean valjean stealing bread to feed himself, or even someone like jodi arias, who killed one person.

in fact, i think we all would agree that jean valjean is no criminal at all, that when the state conspires to starve people by withholding resources from them that people aren't 'criminals' just because they won't lay down and die on command.

but we (& by 'we' i mean basically middle class americans) don't somehow feel it with the same emotional depth. bush is enjoying his life unmolested while millions of people are salivating over the jodi arias coverage and would gladly pull the switch to fry her. why?

(not that arias is any jean valjean figure, just that the depth of hatred some people feel for her is so out of proportion to the damage she did in comparison to someone like bush...)