As an issue there are few that get as much interest in modern American society as tax cuts. And I think a problem in this society is that people think it's obvious why some people would want tax cuts, which is where you get a massive fail.
It's not obvious enough.
If it were obvious then the issues could be discussed intelligently, while instead people seem to be intransigent, I think is the word, with two sides who are crazed enough at times to endanger the entire planet's economy over the issue!
Seems it should be figured out.
The best answer I have is that some people get really rich, and then they eventually die. If they have descendants, often those descendants are not as capable as the person who got really rich!
It's the same problem that nobility have. The guy who became king is a bad-ass. His kids? Not so much.
Well the descendants want to do well as well, and of course it kind of bites for them to realize they're not as good as the one who became king, or master of finance, which means they engage in all kinds of bizarre behavior around the issue.
With nobility maybe they'd start a war and just get killed, but with finance, maybe they start a financial war and go bankrupt! (I think there are people who would rather start a physical war and get killed because of their shoddy skills than end up bankrupt.)
So there you have it: people who really need tax cuts are people afraid of losing their money.
Oh, how is it that Americans can miss something so simple?
Well the United States has bizarre beliefs about money, and many in this country believe that rich people are automatically awesome and intelligent.
They do not realize that you can both be rich and stupid.
Our global financial system is getting really competitive. It's easier to lose your money, ergo people afraid of losing their money are fighting hard for a leg-up, which means tax cuts!
Many of these people gained their money from someone else giving it to them while for the most part the ones who fought hard and earned it themselves, like say, Warren Buffett, are more agnostic towards tax cuts because they are not as afraid.
They know how to make money.
The others are those pitiful things called descendants, who have that eternal problem that Mother Nature or chance or Fate can give some dude or dudette all kinds of abilities to conquer and dammit, just leave their kids high and dry as ordinary as the day is long.
I don't blame them for wanting help!
Now then, when you see people howl about the need for tax cuts, just look at how they got their money, and you will be puzzled no more.
James Harris
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Country music is not racist
One of the odd things to me is a feeling at times that I need to defend liking country music, which seems to be colored by concerns about American racism. But the thing is, in my experience, country music has rarely if ever had anything to do with race, and when it does, it has stood out as being peculiar to certain artists, and not the genre itself.
For instance one of my best memories was from when I was a soldier in training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, and us soldiers just loved bars. And one night when we went to a country bar, I had a great night dancing. At one point, holding in my arms a beautiful blonde, one of many wonderful women I danced with that night, I asked her about the willingness of the women to so freely dance, and she said they just liked dancing. Such a simple answer. Her husband was taking a break. No big deal. To my embarrassment I got a little forward, and she just corrected me and I flew straight the rest of the night.
When you look for innovation in American music it's all over the place, but it's worth pointing out that you can usually find it in country music, where you will find any number of other genres considered with covers, can see a wellspring of appreciation for all forms of music. And listen to artists who tell you of inspirations from all over.
I grew up with country music as I grew up in Georgia, USA, so to me it's just natural. I heard country music along with everything else.
And for those who appreciate it, it has so much to offer, especially for those couples that, well, just like to dance.
James Harris
For instance one of my best memories was from when I was a soldier in training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, and us soldiers just loved bars. And one night when we went to a country bar, I had a great night dancing. At one point, holding in my arms a beautiful blonde, one of many wonderful women I danced with that night, I asked her about the willingness of the women to so freely dance, and she said they just liked dancing. Such a simple answer. Her husband was taking a break. No big deal. To my embarrassment I got a little forward, and she just corrected me and I flew straight the rest of the night.
When you look for innovation in American music it's all over the place, but it's worth pointing out that you can usually find it in country music, where you will find any number of other genres considered with covers, can see a wellspring of appreciation for all forms of music. And listen to artists who tell you of inspirations from all over.
I grew up with country music as I grew up in Georgia, USA, so to me it's just natural. I heard country music along with everything else.
And for those who appreciate it, it has so much to offer, especially for those couples that, well, just like to dance.
James Harris
Monday, January 31, 2011
My take on American racism
Having grown up "black" in the American South as I grew up a black kid next to a farm in a small town in Georgia, in the United States, I have my own unique view on American racism, which is a subject on which I've given much thought.
Here I will present my own very peculiar and highly opinionated take on what most people in the United States think is American racism, which is wrong: they think I suggest that it is physical repulsion for someone because of their race.
Physical repulsion is key here to the wrong definition!
That's important as I've encountered American "whites" that I see as being very racist who claim they aren't! And it's like, they may put a hand on my shoulder as if that proves it! See? Not physically repulsed!--they seem to be saying.
But racism is not physical repulsion.
It's believing you're superior or that another person is inferior because of the color of their skin for the most part, as that is usually the biggest racial indicator that people use, though they also go with a variety of physical characteristics.
Surprisingly to some, scientists are not quite sure what race is, and a good introduction can be seen on, yup, the Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(classification_of_humans)
I've noted on this blog that I believe that racism is actually about class in the United States and is an attempt by some people to believe they're members of a nobility (without actually saying it).
Why? Because I believe, a lot of early American settlers came from England, and pretending to be nobility was kind of a bad thing to do, which could be punished. Americans are dead-set on not actually stating that they believe they are noble by birth, so American racism is a bizarre variant where they behave as if they are, while refusing to state they believe they are.
It is an attempt at a back-door into English nobility, in my opinion.
So yes, a white man who is racist can not only date a black woman, he might marry her! Because American racism is not physical repulsion. It is a feeling of innate superiority on the basis of "race". So a racist white man might marry a black woman because he feels he can dominate someone he believes is inferior. Just like a noble in Old England might marry a commoner. (Of course, women can find men who will marry them because they're believed to be inferior for lots of reasons of which race is just one.)
And a white racist can have black friends!!!
He or she simply associates with people believed to be innately of a lower class.
So why again the dodge? Why is American racism presented so often as physical repulsion as if that's all that matters?
Again, because America inherits a lot of its heritage from England, and pretending to be royalty is a major crime under feudal law!!!
Commoners are not allowed to pretend to be of a higher class.
In the South where I grew up Southerners would claim to be "gentlemen" and engage in a lot of pretend royalty behavior, which they would not admit was pretending to be actual English royalty in any way shape or form because that is forbidden under feudal law!
But that's what they were doing and still do when they engage in such behavior.
You see, they wish to be English nobles. They wish to be better than commoners. They wish to be royalty.
So they find some people to be beneath them and that is American racism, in my opinion.
So how racist then is modern American society? I'd say, not really.
Most Americans actually shirk from seeing themselves as innately superior to anyone, and really are not racist. But God help you if you run into one who is.
He may lie to you incessantly. She may calmly inform you that she is not racist and then just as calmly insult your intelligence to your face, because of your race. He may quietly inform you of bizarre things as if they were absolute facts.
My favorite such thing is the assertion that Asians do not like black people.
Living in San Francisco, I know quite a few Asians and haven't noticed much if any American racism from any of them.
But I'll end with a story that puzzled me for a while.
I was at a private party a few years back at a new nightclub that had been rented for the occasion. In the course of a conversation with a seemingly nice fellow where it's pertinent for the story to note that he was white, I realized he was becoming a bit agitated as he talked about having lived in Chinatown, and not getting along well with the Asian community there.
Inwardly I shrugged, not particularly caring, as I was half listening to him, but he got my attention quickly when he said to me like a confidant that he was sure I knew how Asians were, and that they really didn't like black people, even more than white people.
So yeah, end of that conversation, but what made the story fascinating to me for years was that I was actually eye-flirting with a beautiful Asian woman, which was why I was distracted while I listened to him! He'd not only reacted badly to try and convince me of the hopelessness of my interest I surmised later, he'd tried to smear the entire Asian race while so doing!
But why? Well, it occurred to me that it made him feel inferior for her attention to be on me, if he thought himself the superior male, by race, then he needed to convince me.
More than once in San Francisco I've been informed by whites that Asians don't like black people. Isn't that fascinating? In my experience, Asians seem to take you as you are, more than anything else, and to adjust based on how you behave--not the color of your skin.
Which is what we should all do, and I think, thankfully, most Americans do.
James Harris
Here I will present my own very peculiar and highly opinionated take on what most people in the United States think is American racism, which is wrong: they think I suggest that it is physical repulsion for someone because of their race.
Physical repulsion is key here to the wrong definition!
That's important as I've encountered American "whites" that I see as being very racist who claim they aren't! And it's like, they may put a hand on my shoulder as if that proves it! See? Not physically repulsed!--they seem to be saying.
But racism is not physical repulsion.
It's believing you're superior or that another person is inferior because of the color of their skin for the most part, as that is usually the biggest racial indicator that people use, though they also go with a variety of physical characteristics.
Surprisingly to some, scientists are not quite sure what race is, and a good introduction can be seen on, yup, the Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(classification_of_humans)
I've noted on this blog that I believe that racism is actually about class in the United States and is an attempt by some people to believe they're members of a nobility (without actually saying it).
Why? Because I believe, a lot of early American settlers came from England, and pretending to be nobility was kind of a bad thing to do, which could be punished. Americans are dead-set on not actually stating that they believe they are noble by birth, so American racism is a bizarre variant where they behave as if they are, while refusing to state they believe they are.
It is an attempt at a back-door into English nobility, in my opinion.
So yes, a white man who is racist can not only date a black woman, he might marry her! Because American racism is not physical repulsion. It is a feeling of innate superiority on the basis of "race". So a racist white man might marry a black woman because he feels he can dominate someone he believes is inferior. Just like a noble in Old England might marry a commoner. (Of course, women can find men who will marry them because they're believed to be inferior for lots of reasons of which race is just one.)
And a white racist can have black friends!!!
He or she simply associates with people believed to be innately of a lower class.
So why again the dodge? Why is American racism presented so often as physical repulsion as if that's all that matters?
Again, because America inherits a lot of its heritage from England, and pretending to be royalty is a major crime under feudal law!!!
Commoners are not allowed to pretend to be of a higher class.
In the South where I grew up Southerners would claim to be "gentlemen" and engage in a lot of pretend royalty behavior, which they would not admit was pretending to be actual English royalty in any way shape or form because that is forbidden under feudal law!
But that's what they were doing and still do when they engage in such behavior.
You see, they wish to be English nobles. They wish to be better than commoners. They wish to be royalty.
So they find some people to be beneath them and that is American racism, in my opinion.
So how racist then is modern American society? I'd say, not really.
Most Americans actually shirk from seeing themselves as innately superior to anyone, and really are not racist. But God help you if you run into one who is.
He may lie to you incessantly. She may calmly inform you that she is not racist and then just as calmly insult your intelligence to your face, because of your race. He may quietly inform you of bizarre things as if they were absolute facts.
My favorite such thing is the assertion that Asians do not like black people.
Living in San Francisco, I know quite a few Asians and haven't noticed much if any American racism from any of them.
But I'll end with a story that puzzled me for a while.
I was at a private party a few years back at a new nightclub that had been rented for the occasion. In the course of a conversation with a seemingly nice fellow where it's pertinent for the story to note that he was white, I realized he was becoming a bit agitated as he talked about having lived in Chinatown, and not getting along well with the Asian community there.
Inwardly I shrugged, not particularly caring, as I was half listening to him, but he got my attention quickly when he said to me like a confidant that he was sure I knew how Asians were, and that they really didn't like black people, even more than white people.
So yeah, end of that conversation, but what made the story fascinating to me for years was that I was actually eye-flirting with a beautiful Asian woman, which was why I was distracted while I listened to him! He'd not only reacted badly to try and convince me of the hopelessness of my interest I surmised later, he'd tried to smear the entire Asian race while so doing!
But why? Well, it occurred to me that it made him feel inferior for her attention to be on me, if he thought himself the superior male, by race, then he needed to convince me.
More than once in San Francisco I've been informed by whites that Asians don't like black people. Isn't that fascinating? In my experience, Asians seem to take you as you are, more than anything else, and to adjust based on how you behave--not the color of your skin.
Which is what we should all do, and I think, thankfully, most Americans do.
James Harris
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