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While your self-description is interesting, it really doesn't change my point of view.
I had no expectation that anything could.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maineguy8888
That's because I have noticed an increasing tendency among whites to loathe whiteness.
I've noticed an increasing tendency among whites to overstate surgical wait-times in New Brunswick by a factor of about four.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maineguy8888
And so it wouldn't surprise me at all if there are some older white males out there who believe that being older, white and male is a wicked thing.
I've been a white male for quite some time. Old is a newer thing for me, but I've so far found it quite enjoyable, certainly no reason to fly off and align with any of the oddball political fringe-factions that old white males have lately become noted for supporting.
I've noticed an increasing tendency among whites to overstate surgical wait-times in New Brunswick by a factor of about four.
I've been a white male for quite some time. Old is a newer thing for me, but I've so far found it quite enjoyable, certainly no reason to fly off and align with any of the oddball political fringe-factions that old white males have lately become noted for supporting.
Yes, but I notice you left out the most salient question about your cohort: is it wicked??
While your self-description is interesting, it really doesn't change my point of view. That's because I have noticed an increasing tendency among whites to loathe whiteness. And so it wouldn't surprise me at all if there are some older white males out there who believe that being older, white and male is a wicked thing.
I find this kind of this statement amusing. As a white male, I still find that most institutions in this country are dominated by older white men, like myself. If all this "loathing" of white men as really present, you'd see changes that were rather radical. These changes are not occurring.
Let me give you an example. Out of thirteen district court judges in the area in which I practice law in, thirteen of those judge ships are held by older white men like myself. Both of our United States Senators are older white men. Three of the four members of our U.S. House of Representatives delegation to Congress are middle-aged to older white men. My state governor is an older white man. An extremely high percentage of corporate CEO positions are held by white men. As you are aware, the USA has had exactly one President that is not a white male. This year, we may get our first woman President ever. If elected, she will be our 45th President. White males make up well over 50% of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Far from being a "wicked thing", I am grateful I was born a white male. I think its opened career opportunities for me that were simply not available--in the same numbers--to either women or minorities when I sought them. I've supported my family comfortably for years and will go on doing so with my private law practice. I am grateful for the privileges I've enjoyed. I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. I do realize though that the world is changing and things that we used to take for granted are going to gradually have to be shared with other groups.
As I said earlier, I think most of the whining is coming from relatively uneducated blue collar men who believe the world has turned on them. Rather than identifying the real problems (globalization, an information economy that relies on brains rather than brawn, failure to get more education and update job skills) this group of blue collar men looks for scapegoats. They have identified minorities, women, liberals, As immigrants, "male hatred", and "declining standards of morality" as what has gone wrong in this country. Its really pitiful to watch because those who know understand they are wrong and going down a blind alley which can only hurt themselves.
Yes, but I notice you left out the most salient question about your cohort: is it wicked??
Oh, yes. Wicked in the extreme. Most of us wear pointy black hats around the house and spend countless hours conjuring up spells and curses to cast upon the unsuspecting young people of our towns. Some of us wait in the woods to see if little girls on their way to Grandma's house with baskets full of food might happen by. I myself always carry a carving knife, the better to be prepared should I happen upon any trios of blind mice. But if asked, most any one of us would honestly report on surgical wait-times in New Brunswick, so we aren't really all that bad.
While your self-description is interesting, it really doesn't change my point of view. That's because I have noticed an increasing tendency among whites to loathe whiteness. And so it wouldn't surprise me at all if there are some older white males out there who believe that being older, white and male is a wicked thing.
It's more than "whiteness"; a number of the characteristics associated with male assertiveness have come under subtle-but-regular censure by radical feminism, and the increasing proportion of young men raised in single-parent, female-headed households is making itself felt. This translates into issues such as a small, but growing number of "special snowflakes" intimidated by, for example, the privilege (and responsibility) of operating a motor vehicle:
When I entered Junior High school in 1961, I got two years instruction in American history. The community had fairly strong class divisions between the older, predominately-Protestant families on one side of "the Forge', and the predominant "white ethnics" on the other. So the focus was on the American Revolution and the development of the republic up to, and including, the Civil War, with heavy emphasis placed on the role of Constitution, and parliamentary procedure. In fairness, most of us were not "politically aware" enough to grasp their intent, but our teachers tried.
*******
In the fall of 1963, I entered the ninth grade, where instruction in history gave way to "civics". My instructor was a World War II veteran who had gone to Penn State on the GI Bill. He also played some football, (in a stable program that knew only three head coaches between 1930 and 2011) and helped to make a little bit of history when the team stood by its black players and turned down a segregated hotel in favor of an Army base.
Again, heavy emphasis was given to the organization of the "machinery of statecraft" -- not everybody's cup of tea, but I'm sure that the few who went on to the study of law, etc, recalled a few of those points years later.
I think the abandonment of this curriculum borders on criminal. By the time I reached high school in the fall of 1971 the focus was on the injustice done to the American Indians (still called by that name) and other so-called indigenous people. This was increasingly not balanced by any focus on the very real achievements of the dominating cultures. I have no problem with teaching what was lost as well as what was gained, but what bothers me is that we were increasingly taught that the Judeo-Christian cultures were war criminals. We were not taught that many of the "Indian wars" were the result of frontiersmen defending themselves. Say what you want about treaty violations, but if you are out there in a remote village and are attacked you will defend yourself. We were also not taught that prior to any land seizures smallpox and other diseases had already decimated native population levels and culture.
When it came to environment we were taught that we were raping the earth. We were not taught that environmental laws would merely move the "rape" elsewhere, to countries with no environmental or labor standards. In short we were taught to advocate actions that would make us feel good about ourselves, but would worsen rather than solve problems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
But that year brought the events of November 22-25; and when school reconvened on Tuesday, Mr. Colone devoted the day to a lecture on the sometimes-high price of life in an open, Constitutionally-protected society; how Lee Oswald probably benefitted from the protections against unreasonable search and seizure; how, if the assassination had occurred in states like Michigan or Minnesota, with no death penalty (and no Federal death penalty, save for kidnapping and espionage, on the books at that time) Oswald could face no more than a life sentence, and most important of all, how none of us would be safe if the law could be changed ex post facto.
Again, focus on the wrong aspects of the problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
I was to go on to a checkered career that a lot of people would view as a disappointment; never got much formal education beyond the baccalaureate level, and spent the last years in "fast-pace" warehouses with a lot of minorities and immigrants among the work force -- the rebuilding of a "post-industrial" economy. But I consider that just one more part of a well-rounded education, and a well-rounded life.
Why is that "checkered"? I for one am not a snob who devalues work which some don't rank high but must be done. You worked; that's what counts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
And the point I seek to make here is this: I don't think our present-day, over-bureaucratized, over-sanitized public educational system, dominated by the teachers' unions and the two-faced ideology called Political Correctness, is capable of providing anything close to the education I got between 1955 and 1967 -- in a community that was just a small part of the great American mosaic.
I agree. It is important to teach minority rights; it is just as vital to teach majority accomplishments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
And the revolting circus into which the current Presidential election has devolved serves as painful proof.
No question about htat. I am repping this post. And I'm sorry I didn't respond to the OP earlier. It is a work of art.
I find this kind of this statement amusing. As a white male, I still find that most institutions in this country are dominated by older white men, like myself. If all this "loathing" of white men as really present, you'd see changes that were rather radical. These changes are not occurring.
Let me give you an example. Out of thirteen district court judges in the area in which I practice law in, thirteen of those judge ships are held by older white men like myself. Both of our United States Senators are older white men. Three of the four members of our U.S. House of Representatives delegation to Congress are middle-aged to older white men. My state governor is an older white man. An extremely high percentage of corporate CEO positions are held by white men. As you are aware, the USA has had exactly one President that is not a white male. This year, we may get our first woman President ever. If elected, she will be our 45th President. White males make up well over 50% of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Far from being a "wicked thing", I am grateful I was born a white male. I think its opened career opportunities for me that were simply not available--in the same numbers--to either women or minorities when I sought them. I've supported my family comfortably for years and will go on doing so with my private law practice. I am grateful for the privileges I've enjoyed. I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. I do realize though that the world is changing and things that we used to take for granted are going to gradually have to be shared with other groups.
As I said earlier, I think most of the whining is coming from relatively uneducated blue collar men who believe the world has turned on them. Rather than identifying the real problems (globalization, an information economy that relies on brains rather than brawn, failure to get more education and update job skills) this group of blue collar men looks for scapegoats. They have identified minorities, women, liberals, As immigrants, "male hatred", and "declining standards of morality" as what has gone wrong in this country. Its really pitiful to watch because those who know understand they are wrong and going down a blind alley which can only hurt themselves.
As my father used to say: "Them's the facts!"
Yet millions of white people voted for a black candidate for President, to somehow try to atone for their being white.
Is that not an "on the ground" change??
By the way, if you TRULY want to be more hip, then you need to get with the times.....as in, more shame for for being older, white, and male.
Yet millions of white people voted for a black candidate for President, to somehow try to atone for their being white.
Is that not an "on the ground" change??
By the way, if you TRULY want to be more hip, then you need to get with the times.....as in, more shame for for being older, white, and male.
I think its time for you to face the fact that millions of white people voted for that candidate in 2008 and 2012 simply because they thought he was the better candidate. Maybe it offers a clue as to why his approval rating is far higher than that of Congress and why his party's nominee is leading in the race for the presidency this year.
Yet millions of white people voted for a black candidate for President, to somehow try to atone for their being white.
Soft spot noted, but some people were probably motivated simply by a desire to turn away from the eight years of "miserable disgrace" and failure that the other party had fostered and overseen. "Vote for Us! We Drove You into the Ditch!" is not really that strong a campaign platform.
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