Hmm. On racism and media.

[kickaha]

So I ran across this... http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/01/21/chavez.ap/index.html

In it, Pres. Chavez of Venezuela apparently said "Go to hell, gringos!" in reference to the US in a radio address.

Okay. So he's unhappy, and he even probably has good reason to be.

So where's the outcry that would happen if a US politician said "Go to hell, wetbacks!" in reference to Mexico or any other Latin American state?

In case you couldn't notice, I'm not one that ascribes to the (to me, idiotic) idea that only whites can be racist, and only men can be sexist. Racism and sexism are endemic across races and genders, IMO, and equally stupid and moronic in whatever form they pop up.

Now, one could argue that gringo hasn't the punch that other racist names might have... but I'm not so sure, having grown up in a Hispanic-Anglo racially tense area. Gringo was spat with the same venom as wetback, in my personal experience, which makes this just...

*shakes head*

Idiots, idiots, everywhere, and not a brain to think.

Comments

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

I suspect Chavez will continue to grow more strident in his rhetoric as the price of oil continues to drop.

Venezuala's oil production is dropping due to mismanagement and under investment, and international capital would be insane to invest in Venezuala based on the recent strings of nationalization. The net result is that if oil drops into the $30s he's going to really start feeling the pinch. And it is looking increasingly likely that it *will* drop in that fashion. The Saudi's seem to be pursuing a policy of trying to use lower oil prices to attack Iran, and the world demand for oil is falling (as a response to the higher prices of the last year). Oh yes, and oil inventories are at a record level.

I expect Venezuala to go the route of Cuba: declining economic fortunes due to government mismanagement.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I just keep waiting for *anybody* not associated with the right-wing (present fiscal-only conservatives excluded ;) ) to stand up and say "CRAZY MAN TALKING!"

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

Frankly, I think it's the distinction between the knee-jerk anti-socialist and sober minded realists who look at Chavez and see him running Venezuala towards a cliff. Most of both the left and right wing are basically knee jerkers. They don't *REALLY* understand what's going on, they just know which side they are on...

I swear, it's the blues and the greens all over again... didn't we learn this lesson in the 1500 years ago... :(

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

I think knee-jerk reactions are what we've evolved to favor, actually. When confronted with a large carnivore, survival and reproduction went to the primates who immediately decided to "run!" or "attack!", and almost never went to the primates who asked themselves, "what are the long-term consequences to the environment of my possible actions?"

Of course, now that we've pretty much solved the immediate-survival problem, the hardest part of the job is getting people to understand that we need them to step outside of the short-term. Add the fact that most political parties and special interests have figured out that they need to keep people *in* the short-term, and "sober minded realists" of every stripe are kind of screwed.

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

The thing that pisses me off about the currently dropping oil prices is that we were *this close* (where "*this close*" almost certainly means "still not close enough, dammit") to convincing the American public that we can't afford to marginalize alternate energy sources, and we should accelerate investment in such before it's too damn late.

But noooo, we can't have our precious oppressive, oil-based economies threatened by energy sources that won't mortgage our futures, financially and environmentally, so those prices have to COME DOWN!

Jeez, I sound like a flippin' Democrat. Somebody ask me about gun control, 'K?

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

Don't be quite so sad.

First, a lot of the oil price run up was driven by specualtion, not fundamentals. Generally inventory levels track price pretty well, and inventory levels last summer were suggesting $30 a barrel oil, it was pure bubblism that drove prices to the $70s.

Second, as the decline in oil demand shows, the high prices *did* have an effect on behavior. Since a lot of the thing which consume oil are investments that ametorize over years (like cars, power plants, etc) that demand reducion effect will propogate forward.

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

I firmly support gun control. I feel that the things that governments with guns are allowed to do to people should be strictly controlled :) If there's anything we have learned from the history of the 20th century it's that governments with guns are very dangerous! Gun's don't kill people, governments kill people :)

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

I usedta have a bumper sticker that said, "gun control is hitting what you aim at". :)