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The New York City subway system is facing the need for a major overhaul. Thread such as Governor Cuomo Ignoring Subway Disaster have discussed the problems and the finger pointing going into bringing the system up to snuff. The system in a sense is a victim of its own success. The city is gentrifying. Middle class, upper middle class and wealthy people go out at night and use the subway. The subways need upgrades to handle this new business.
So, in the latest identity politics hysteria anything looking remotely like a Confederate symbol is subject to attack. We're removing statues of Robert E. Lee. Someone notices a tile scheme (picture below) looking a bit like the Confederate battle flag.
I don't think that historical symbols such as tiling or Robert E. Lee statues are holding back minorities from producing and earning on their merits. The culture of grievance has gone way too far.
I think it's way past time to stop relitigating a war that ended 162 years ago.
"So, in the latest identity politics hysteria anything looking remotely like a Confederate symbol is subject to attack. We're removing statues of Robert E. Lee. Someone notices a tile scheme (picture below) looking a bit like the Confederate battle flag"
You don't seem to understand, If we get rid of EVERYTHING that could possibly offend someone, It will fix EVERYTHING! Ok, so we won't have anything left because there really isn't much in this world that doesn't offend someone but that's ok, I guess.
I was going to say that this world is becoming too thin skinned but I won't because that might offend someone.
Oooh, oooh, oooh , we should burn some books too!
Last edited by ltdontcare; 08-19-2017 at 01:43 PM..
"So, in the latest identity politics hysteria anything looking remotely like a Confederate symbol is subject to attack. We're removing statues of Robert E. Lee. Someone notices a tile scheme (picture below) looking a bit like the Confederate battle flag"
You don't seem to understand, If we get rid of EVERYTHING that could possibly offend someone, It will fix EVERYTHING! Ok, so we won't have anything left because there really isn't much in this world that doesn't offend someone but that's ok, I guess.
I was going to say that this world is becoming too thin skinned but I won't because that might offend someone.
Oooh, oooh, oooh , we should burn some books too!
Obviously. To make those people happy let's start with Bibles and Torah Scrolls.
In the world of 'identity politics' and 'virtue signaling', we choose our heroes and choose our victims on the basis of historical perception rather than historical accuracy. Thus, Robert E. Lee offends while George Washington, also a slave owner, does not.
Much of this is to do with subordinating history to contemporary politics. It is the management of history to support a political agenda. This isn't a new phenomenon although it has tended to be the hallmark of dictators and authoritarian regimes. But what we are seeing in the democratic west - and this is far from limited to the USA - is a new authoritarianism and intolerance which is using the tools of the technological revolution to impose its norms and police the recalcitrants.
Where to draw the line? I consider myself moderate left and I've long been tired of political correctness. Certainly there are a few words and maybe some symbols that should be discouraged, but not many.
I don't understand the reasoning behind it and I don't know who is behind it or what their political agenda is.
In the UK, people were banned from flying their own flag, the Union Jack, because it might offend immigrants. Trying to understand that, I figured it was due to past guilt from way back when those countries were part of the Empire and were exploited by the British. So I put that down to guilt--it was unfair to the British though.
But it got worse and then I heard that maybe we weren't supposed to say Merry Christmas. I said it anyway, always have. No one ever used to be offended by it--if I said it to one of my Jewish friends back in the day, they just took it as, "have a nice day on Christmas." They could wish me a happy days for one of their religious days and I was fine with that too.
When did it change? And why? It's just silly bickering over words and a waste of time. People need to grow up and stop being "offended" by every little thing. Is this really something people want or is it some sort of political agenda that is beyond the scope of understanding for the majority of us?
Endowed rights are not injured by being offended by statues and flags.
Eradicating history is deliberate. . . to insure that the ignorant can be easily manipulated.
Endowed rights are not injured by being offended by statues and flags.
Eradicating history is deliberate. . . to insure that the ignorant can be easily manipulated.
Taking a statue down does not "eradicate" history. What one learns from a statue is next to nothing.
Why would anyone build such statues in the place? What are they supposed to represent?
Good question.
Statues represent a perspective at the point in time that they were erected. The Charlottesville statue was erected in 1924. Cities and towns across the globe have statues that were erected mostly in the past two hundred years. They generally glorify or remember people, regiments, organizations, etc. that, at the time, were considered worthy of recognition. Over time, their significance tends to fade and they become objects of urban art as much as anything. Most people don't give them a second thought.
What has happened in Charlottesville is that a statue has become the unwitting centerpiece of a modern political struggle which has very little to do with why the statue was erected in the first place.
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