Two more random links

[conuly]

One on a personal experience of Forest Kindergartens, a must-read

One on racism and anger and "Not Being a Racist".

Hey, I'm not a racist* but I think that I don't need to use profanity and petty indignation to express that fact. (This may be the only way to end "I'm not a racist" without sounding like a twit, come to think....)




*At least I don't think I am, and consciously figure the whole thing makes no sense. And I do hope people will smack me (metaphorically) should I ever need it.

Comments

On link #2:

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Well, some of his points are wrong.

F'rinstance, They seem to think there was once a time of innocence when oppression wasn't happening, or that we can easily extract from our accounting of those crimes the great and noble things about our forefathers and view them in some patriotic vacuum. But we can't. Anymore so than we can say that the man who beats his wife might still be a loving father.[...]

Newsflash: People are, well, human. Villain is all dark, hero is all light. Humans aren't, and it is entirely possible for someone with deep and persistent flaws to also have virtues. It's not black and white (if you'll excuse the expression). It's just as stupid and shortsighted to deny the virtues because of the faults as it is to do it the other way around and excuse the faults because of the virtues.

Granted, his point is correct in that history has no Golden Age in which all humans, everywhere, were happy and content and well-fed and emancipated. I don't really think we're going to see one in our lifetimes, either.

I can see the indignation, though. Like many overreactions, it's a cumulative thing, and the penultimate straw is out of proportion to the reaction. (After a few incidents of being accused of racism because you enjoy--for instance--pork chops and jacket potatoes for dinner instead of [insert X ethnic dish here], pettiness and indignation start to seem not unwarranted.)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Well, holy shit, way to discount all us have-nots of the wrong skin tone. I oppose Obama's health-care plan because it's based on forcing us to give money to the bloodsucking insurance companies whether or not we want to, and whether or not we have any confidence in the alleged medical care this would supposedly obtain for us.

What is needed is full medical and dental care for every citizen, without question, paid for by our taxes, and allowing maximum freedom of choice as to caregivers and treatments. The blood-sucking insurance companies need to go. The army of bureaucrats it takes to triage the citizenry into Eligible and Not Eligible can go. And if this means the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber, then so be it.

I voted for Obama because he was the non-Republican who had a chance of winning. Since the Reagan administration, the Republican party has more and more become a franchise of the wing-nut Dominionists, whom I do not wish to support in any way, but seeing what Obama has been doing so far, I can't help but think McCain couldn't have been any worse. Even if he did exactly what Obama is doing, at least he wouldn't have been breaking any promises thereby.

The whole concept of 'race' is a stupid and nasty notion with no scientific validity whatsoever. The fact that the majority of people in this country still believe it does have validity only serves to illustrate our desperate need to teach science, especially to our young people, before the nation slips back into an intellectual Dark Age.

More than it already has, I mean.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Ummm... just so you know I'm not saying it's you discounting anyone. What I meant was the author of the article, and others quoted in it, who want to make this into a 'race issue'. That's a red herring, and all it can accomplish is to create more divisiveness.

This isn't about peoples' epidermal hues, ancestry or cultural identity. This is about providing an adequate level of care to all our citizens, which is something the more advanced nations seem to have figured out already.

Needless to say, if we weren't STILL having to pay for an illegal and unjust war of occupation for the benefit of certain mega-corporations, there would be a lot more money available for fixing childrens' teeth, buying insulin for the elderly, etcetera.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I really do need to get around to reading more Tim Wise.

Also, if you liked that first article, I recommend "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv. Great book. I felt... a little odd about the article, myself. I grew up very much more in that European tradition of playing and learning out-of-doors... and I find it a little disturbing that most of America needs an actual article spelling out the benefits of this. It also does, I suspect, have something of a down-side-- I don't think I'll ever be comfortable living in the inner city, for example-- or for that matter, even in an apartment rather than a house. They just feel too claustrophobic to me. I need a Yard-- which is becoming less and less affordable, I fear.